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SolidWorks 2008 Officially Announced!

18 June 2007 8 Comments

What's New In SolidWorks 2008Today, SolidWorks officially announced SolidWorks 2008.  The press release echoes the three goals they commited to on the last day of SolidWorks World 2007:

…the new SolidWorks 2008 release will let [customers and prospects]:

  • Focus on Design, not CAD
  • Reuse Existing Designs to Save Time
  • Improve Your Designs

Customizable Shortcut MenuFrom playing around with the beta and an early preview, it seems like they are definitely on track to meeting their goals.  SolidWorks Office Premium has over 250 customer-driven enhancements.  They have added several new features and improved existing features to help users more efficiently and effectively use SolidWorks to create their models and drawings.

Instant3D - Showing Ruler With SnapsTo enable users to focus more time on their design, and less on trying to figure out how to do things in SolidWorks, they have added some very interesting user interface changes, expanded on their SWIFT functionality, and added new functionality.  SolidWorks 2008 is currently in Beta 3 as of this writing, and I have heard talk of an additional Beta 4 cycle before release.

SolidWorks has compiled a list of the Top 10 enhancements to SolidWorks Office Premium:

  1. Streamlined UI and RealView
  2. SWIFT Instant3D
  3. SWIFT DimXpert
  4. Design Clipart
  5. Large Assembly Management Tools
  6. DriveWorksXpress
  7. COSMOSWorks Design Intent
  8. DFMXpress
  9. MotionManager
  10. TolAnalyst

Emissive MaterialOpening Pro/E in eDrawingsThe next several posts will cover some of these featured changes that SolidWorks has implemented in order to meet their three goals of helping users create better designs and reducing the time to market.  Several of the features have my mouth watering in anticipation, while others (namely the UI changes) almost give me pause from a CAD administrator’s view when considering how soon to roll it out after release.

But agree with it or not, SolidWorks is forging ahead with their vision of CAD.  The future should be interesting!

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  • Hey Brian, looking forward to your post. I will be interested on your take about rolling it out to your users and what you think that will entail. We use Copy Options to distribute standard settings to everyone. Doing that has allowed us to flow from version to version with little affect on users adapting to interface changes or new shortcuts. We also have a couple documents for users to references.

    Some will want to customize and if we find something that many people need we’ll add it. We have 11 full-time users, and quite a few consultants and offshore facilites that even use the same set-up.

  • Hey Brian, looking forward to your post. I will be interested on your take about rolling it out to your users and what you think that will entail. We use Copy Options to distribute standard settings to everyone. Doing that has allowed us to flow from version to version with little affect on users adapting to interface changes or new shortcuts. We also have a couple documents for users to references.

    Some will want to customize and if we find something that many people need we’ll add it. We have 11 full-time users, and quite a few consultants and offshore facilites that even use the same set-up.

  • Josh,

    Yeah, we use the Copy Options here too. My concern is mostly with certain users who don’t like change.

    My administration and support duties are on top of my regular full-time workload, and I know that there are going to be some definite issues and questions concerning the new interface, so that is what I was alluding to.

  • Josh,

    Yeah, we use the Copy Options here too. My concern is mostly with certain users who don’t like change.

    My administration and support duties are on top of my regular full-time workload, and I know that there are going to be some definite issues and questions concerning the new interface, so that is what I was alluding to.

  • SolidWorks 2008 Announced!

    At last the wait is over. SolidWorks Corporation today officially announced details of SolidWorks 2008 to the public. Highlights of the changes include an all new User Interface, expansion of SWIFT technology, and all new 3D Graphics. Packed with over

  • SolidWorks 2008 Announced!

    At last the wait is over. SolidWorks Corporation today officially announced details of SolidWorks 2008 to the public. Highlights of the changes include an all new User Interface, expansion of SWIFT technology, and all new 3D Graphics. Packed with over

  • right on, I hear ya. I can see some of the blank looks now. Hopefully the wild, yet tamable, engineer will adapt to his new surroundings :) we use autocad as a punishment.

  • right on, I hear ya. I can see some of the blank looks now. Hopefully the wild, yet tamable, engineer will adapt to his new surroundings :) we use autocad as a punishment.