After seeing the issues reprted for 2011, I have concerns about upgrading to this version. I would like to hear from users who have upgrade. Would you reccomend 2011? Were thing missed in your test method? Were issues seen imediately? Would you go back to 2010 if you could?
Honestly, if stability and wasted time matter, you should stick to the most mature release of the previous version.
I will never by choice run before SP3. All the hype about new features does not make up for the frustration of the inevitable bugs you will find.
Dougal,
Yes I agree, but part of the equation is timing. When will you get a chance to upgrade again..? What is the timing of supported versions with your PDM..? When will an upgrade require all new hardware..? on so on.
I try to target SP5 of SolidWorks and at least SP5 of my PDM, but as I said I need to balance with opportunity.
Is SP5 usually the last SP for a SW version? I'm not sure I have ever seen a higher SP.
If I could, I would go back to 2010.
We have numerous issue with SPR's on from December of 2010, all of which still show no expected estimate on which version they will be fixed in. Most I would consider rather serious. Lost in-context references when renaming (using SW rename), and custom properties / BOM related issues seem to be the most annoying to deal with on a daily basis.
Mark
Mark,
Are you on SP3, and if so, what percentage of "serious issues" did SP3 fix?
15% - 1 out of 7 SPR's
I had a few issues on 2011 to start with, but after a full re install ive been fine since.
Has anyone heard when SP 4.0 of 2011 is coming out?
Don't know about 4.0 but 2011 3.0 is working ok for us.
Thanks Jeff.
That is good to know.
We're running 2011 SP3 with pretty decent results. There's still some irregularities here and there but in terms of stability, I'd call it an improvement over 2010.
I haven't seen a lot of issues that are unique to 2011. But on the other hand, there aren't really (m)any compelling reasons to switch to 2011 from 2010 in the first place. 2011 is said to have corrected some memory issues, and behind the scenes type stuff that can't really be demonstrated, and the one big function that folks talk about with 2011 is Defeature. If you have a use for that, it might influence your decision. I personally have found both versions to be very stable, but at the same time they retain a lot of the interface bugs from previous versions.
I would stay with 2010.
If we could go back to using 2010 we would, as SW 2011 offers no real benifit over 2010. SW 2011 SP3 is exceptionally slow/frustrating to use with complex assemblies. It also requires almost twice as much memory as 2010 to open the same large assembly.
Robert,
Wow! Twice as much memory to open the same assembly? Are you on 64 bit, if so which OS XP/Win7?
My top priority is assembly performance and stabilty on 64 XP (stuck with XP for a while). Also stuck with Dell 490's/5160 3gh, Nvidia FX4500 for a while. Might be able to go Win 7 but can't upgrade hardware for a while.
I also hear of the slow mating issue?
The poor memory management in 2011 makes 8GB of ram insufficient some days. I'm also using a Dell 490, dual E5345, with 64-bit Windows 7. The newer computers here have 24GB of ram.
When I have more than about 200 mates, SW 2011 takes over 15sec to apply a simple coincident mate between two pre-selected surfaces. I did not have this issue with SW 2010 or when working in smaller assemblies in SW 2011.
On a side note, I've been very impressed with the switch from 64-bit Windows XP to Windows 7. Windows 7 seems to manage the multiple cores more efficiently and feels faster overall.
Are you using an assembly template from an earlier version of SW? If so, that could be causing some of the delays you're seeing. Check it out in this thread:
Just as Jeff stated about the old template. Also just remove Material & Mass from the Value/text expression field in your properties in your assembly template. Add the mass on a need to use base, material is never used on assemblies.
I am using a HP Z400 with 8GB memory running 2011sp3 on Win7 x64. So far the new release seems more stable than what I experienced with 2010sp5. The model I am currently working on has over 600 mates and only after reaching around 500 did I start to notice a bit of a slow down on mating. Adding a coincident mate to this assembly using preselected surfaces still takes less than 2 seconds to complete. So far 2011 has been a good experience.
So far, as I see a fairly even split in the responses, I begin to wonder if the difference is in the age and architecture of the hardware processor and graphics card?
Raymond,
I with you am reluctant to upgrade as well. 2011 sounds like it is starting out like 2010.
It took 2010 till SP 4.0 to be stable.
Here is a link I have been following that discusses some of the issues users are having.
https://forum.solidworks.com/thread/39857