Wait For It - Wildfire 4.0 Not Til Much Later This Year

PTC Press Event (NEEDHAM, Massachusetts) --PTC's Wildfire 4.0 is still a ways off. I am told we (the press) will hear about it at PTC's annual user meeting (PTC/USER World Event, June 3-6, Tampa, Florida) and the actual release will be a months later, maybe not til the end of 2007.

Last year, PTC introduced Wildfire 3.0 at its press event so I was hoping for a big product announcement again this year, too. So far, the biggest announcement seems to be it's new product packaging and pricing, from the entry level $4,995 Pro/ENGINEER Foundation XE to the top of the line $24,995 Pro/ENGINEER Enterprise XE. What do you get at the highest price? Most everything, including products from PTC's recent acquisitions, namely Mathcad and Arbortext. For more info, see PTC Revamps Product Packages on TenLinks.com.

But my disappointment must have been small compared to the many financial analysts that seem to have packed the briefing room, many of whom traversed the globe to get here, only to be told that there would be absolutely no information on PTC's Q1. That information will not be released til next week and will be supplied by webcast.