SolidWorks - Putting More in the Box

NEW ORLEANS (SolidWorks World), February 7, 2007 - Judging from the appreciative responses of the crowd during the preview of SolidWorks 2008, SolidWorks (the company) seems set on improving a already good product. Several new features introduced onstage at SolidWorks World were greeted with joyful shouts and clapping. SolidWorks improvements offer a contrast to other vendors who by consensus have determined that CAD product have reached parity and require little in the way of further enhancement.

SolidWorks 2008 graphics are drop-dead gorgeous.

Is this because SolidWorks management is peppered with engineers while other CAD companies are marketing driven? To a marketing person, one CAD program probably looks like and works like any other. But an engineer is more likely to hone the actual tools based on past experience. This is great for making better filleting and bills of materials (both of which are enhanced in SolidWorks 2008 -- and much appreciated by the audience) but SolidWorks offers industry leadership in bigger ways. SolidWorks' overall vision is one that includes as well as transcends incremental changes; it looks at annual revision and even further; it looks past its competition. It is a vision of how software should behave. "Software should bend to fit the user, not the other way around," says John McEleney, CEO of SolidWorks, quoting Steve Wozniak, founder of Apple Computers.

To this end, SolidWorks hones its software to raise the bar for the industry. SolidWorks 2008's graphics are stunning. What appears to be a ray-traced image is being moved around in real time. I doubt if any user asked for that. SolidWorks appears to be saying "If you are going to show a model, why not make it realistic?" SWIFT (SolidWorks Intelligent Feature Technology) is making more of a contribution to SolidWorks2008, improving usability and decreasing modeling errors. Again, this was not asked for by the user community, it was an inspiration from within. There is an ongoing effort to make the SolidWorks interface easier to use. SolidWorks executives are not afraid to say that even their software could be easier to use.

Clearly, SolidWorks is not resting on its laurels.

Comments

[YourDesign]

For me SolidWorks is a best CAD solution. SolidWorks is more and more popular and many companies change currently use software for SolidWorks. Prices are alsogood for this product.

YourDesign - Way To The Future
http://www.yourdesign.ifastnet.com
CAD CAM Engineering Service

[johnny]

Pro/Engineer wildfire does have realtime rendering, but it is very pathetic compared to what Solidworks has. I use Pro/Engineer in my day to day job and I use Solidworks at home while consulting.

I like solidworks much better. It doesn't crash nearly as much as Pro/Engineer.

[rtara]

Gentlemen, thank you for the correction. The post has been edited to reflect Mr. Wosniak as originator of the quote.

[john mceleney]

Ralph is correct - Steve Wozniak said "the software should bend to fit the user, not the other way around."

While I completely agree with Steve's comment, I did not say it.

[John Burrill]

Great product gets greater?
Greater?
As in A>B?
I think you just said 'a great product gets bigger'
Research that, Ralph, and report back

[Ian Turner]

Pro/Engineer wildfire has had realtime rendering with shadows and reflections that move with the model for at least 3 years.

[ralphg]

>"Software should bend to fit the
>user, not the other way around,"
>says John McEleney, CEO of
>SolidWorks.

That's Steve Wozniak's line.

[Richard Williams]

A great product gets greater.