There are several new enhancements coming in SolidWorks 2012.  Below is a quick run-down of the highlights they showed.  Unfortunately, they ran through it so fast, that I was not able to capture all the details.  I will add more to this list when I make my post on the General Session.

• You are now able to pin documents to the recently used document fly out.
• You can now switch document units on the fly with the unit switcher located in the bottom right corner of the status bar.
• You can now choose faces to ignore in sheet metal flat patterns.
• Swept flanges can now be created in sheet metal and flattened.
• You can now start typing a command in the search palette, and it will start narrowing down the possibilities (ala the Windows 7 Start button).
• New equation dialogue; you can change solve order and categorize (and sort) equations
• Exploded views are now shown on the drawing palette, and there is now a right-click option to explode an existing view.
• BOM’s can now be created without preselecting a view.
• Balloons can now be ordered numerically around a view.
• Magnet lines are now available to snap balloons too, like in 3DVIA Composer!
• Unused view labels (such as those from deleted views) are now automatically reused.
• Rendering
• Custom Compass
• BOM Hotspot
• Taking a cue from 3DVIA, selecting a component and hitting Tab will hide the component.
• Manufactured part costing will allow users to account for part costs based on material, machining, and set up.
• Motion Optimization
• Large Design Review – enables users to work with massively large assemblies.

DISCLOSURE: DS SolidWorks Corp paid for my conference fee, lodging, and some meals.