I try to copy with mates a part and the software hangs. I don't know what has been done to our computers or network lately but overall performance is horrible. I have spent over a half hour trying to copy with mates a part in an assembly.
I try to copy with mates a part and the software hangs. I don't know what has been done to our computers or network lately but overall performance is horrible. I have spent over a half hour trying to copy with mates a part in an assembly.
Yeah I did too. Today is a different story. In fact today is one of the few times I've ever been able to reproduce a problem. Since we are still using 2015 version the pat answer of upgrade to the latest version will surely be brought up. To which I've been told 2017 is the worst one user has seen in 22 years of using the software. Apparently our servers don't support the latest 2018 version. Bottom line year after year we (the users) are forced to accept an inferior product at a premium price and then get inundated with service pack attempted repairs. Maybe every other software is the same? I don't know, but I can tell you I am sick of using this software. If I had a choice I'd deep six it in a minute. Unfortunately it's not my choice.
Mark, have you contacted your VAR about this particular problem?
I was the one with over 22 years experience with SWX complaining about SWX2017, but that was until SP4.0. If you can upgrade to 2017 and go to SP5.0 you should have a markedly better experience.
I'm sure I'll get referred to the VAR. There is a process to follow with issues, I'm at the second step which I'm sure will refer me to our VAR (which generally gets the response to update, as they even said the version we are using is well known for issues and we should get out of it ASAP).
Dennis you were not the one responding to a previous post of mine, so that makes at least two of you that were complaining. How did it feel to pay that $$ for an inferior product and have to wait 4 service packs to make it satisfactory? That is the real point here.
Mark Fitzpatrick wrote:
Dennis, you were not the one responding to a previous post of mine, so that makes at least two of you that were complaining. How did it feel to pay that $$ for an inferior product and have to wait 4 service packs to make it satisfactory? That is the real point here.
Mark, I'm not arguing with your right to complain as I've certainly done my share. I was just trying to help you get to a better place with the software.
I appreciate that.
VAR contacted still no reply yet...
This is awesome, I tried to create a SW RX file by recording what happened and I can't finish the recording because SW needs to shut down in order to create the video RX. It won't shut down because it's hung up. Genius!!!!
I used task manager to shut SW down and the RX program lost everything I tried to record!!!!!
I'm really impressed.
May I suggest you change your post title to something more descriptive about your issue.
That is my issue.
All you need to do is say "One and Two" and click your heels together three times...
That's the one thing I didn't try. Left the ruby slippers at home today...
I can say one thing about upgrading versions, most likely it will fix your problems. It seems as if you have been in a SolidWorks black hole lately.
Yes, it will probably fix your problems, but then there will be new problems. But at least you'll be a little bit further down the road before you start discovering those, most likely.
The issues with SolidWorks has been discussed ad infinitum on the forums. It is a big, complicated program. There are corporate problems where the profit goes to bolster Dassault's quarterly earnings reports instead of being appropriately reinvested back into SolidWorks itself.
SolidWorks makes enough money to ensure they have the best of the best software developers and a sufficient volume of talent to handle the challenges, but they don't have the say as to what Dassault does with the profit. And then the results can be seen on Glassdoor.
https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/SolidWorks-Boston-Reviews-EI_IE13824.0,10_IL.11,17_IM109.htm
"Lots of organizational change happening right now. Recently, a decent amount of employees moved on to other companies."
"Advice to Management
Stop the 3DExperience push and the resource investments. SolidWorks users don't want it and most don't care. Reinvest back into the existing product lines - innovate there and set yourselves apart from competitors - that's still your core strength; make better use of it.
Stop the hemorrhaging of your best talent - increase salaries more than the token 1 or 2%. Listen to the GPTW feedback without glossing over … "
"Pros
Good work/life balance. Good benefits.
Cons
No longer value employees' input to product and culture.
Advice to Management
Do your best to speak for what customers truly need. Keep the best employees motivated by finding a balance between what the parent company demand and the creative ideas from the team."
"Cons
Management has no idea what they are doing. The company is squeezing its customers for more money without more value. Prices will increase and value will decrease. It is becoming harder not to lie to customers. Dassault is really trying to push its expensive non-working software to SolidWorks customers"
"Cons
Your compensation review will list, for example, a 16% increase in revenue and thousands of new customers.. and then they'll hand you a 2.5% raise and tell you they don't care that that doesn't cover inflation or increases in employee contribution to your benefits. This is a $4 billion company, but they'll cut your pay each year with that 2.5% raise.
Advice to Management
Enforce the rule against lying to your co-workers. Fire people if several employees quit because of the same incompetent manager. Give substantial raises (or at least keep up with the cost of living). Make better efforts to keep your good employees; in this market, people can get 20% raises by leaving for another company. Clean house in your incompetent MIS department. Make sure your people know who they're reporting to."
"A company that's lost its mojo"
I think we'd all like to see SolidWorks get it's mojo back.
I'm loving that last quote - about SW getting its mojo back
I remember when SW was awesome - i think it was 2014...
Well, it's nice to know I'm not the only one getting frustrated with SW lately.
Last week I wiped my entire machine - re-formatted the SSD, re-installed Windows and started from scratch.
I've seen some improvement but I still see stuff that makes me laugh at the incredulity.
Sometimes I just stare at the SW screen, mouth open in speechless wonder and then cry out...
"YOU'RE INSANE" (at the computer, I mean...........although, lately...)
Yes SW is a huge program - I can't imagine the size of that balloon dog.
But we're all paying a high price and expect high quality.
There is little more frustrating than having to work ON your tools when you should be working WITH your tools
Please SW - get your mojo back - I don't want to have to start learning a new program
Well, I'm not going to get involved in this thread other than this post. There are a lot of arguments about when SW hit its peak. I bailed in 2012-3. It's interesting to see that the customer base seemed to grow even while the product was spiralling. The more things change the more they stay the same. Ever since the insane days of USENET (comp.cad.solidworks) we made this same argument about if you got value for your money. All I'll say is if you get emotionally involved with a CAD system, you've got to find something else to do with your life. If you can't continue to make money with the system, switch to something else. The truth is that they are all about the same, they all do the minimum to get by. Some individuals are more forthcoming than others, but even the good guys are gonna mislead you. And the bigger a company gets, the less they have in common with you as an individual.
Anyway, to me the decline of SW as a company started with some of Jeff Ray's comments on SaaS (cloud) in 2008-9 https://dezignstuff.com/jeff-ray-looks-to-the-horizon/ , and kind of finally fell off the cliff with Bernard Charles in 2013 saying they were going to drop Parasolid https://dezignstuff.com/bernard-charles-ceo-of-dassault-regarding-solidworks-were-going-to-drop-parasolid-poll-at-the-en… .
After that I stopped paying attention, and in fact didn't use the software for 4 years. It seems like they may have put the brakes on that thinking to some extent, but it was too late. They lost a lot of fans in that period. Many people went from being fanboys to just users thankful to have a job. From the look of the Glassdoor site, it was falling apart internally in 2015. For a lot of people it went from being a passion to just a job.
If your blood pressure gets high when you have repeated software crashes, here are some things to try:
You can't expect this software or the company that makes it to serve you, you have to play its game to get your work done. It's always going to be the 80/20 rule with functionality, quality, business, customer satisfaction, etc. Complaining about it will only annoy yourself and others who choose to listen. The fun part is inventing, developing products, building models, solving problems, visualizing 3d graphics, etc. That's why we are engineers. The software is not like a family member that requires emotional loyalty, it's just a tool. Treat it as such.
I used that feature several times yesterday with no problems; even using it to copy several Parts in one operation.
Have you contacted your VAR to help? After all, they're taking your money too.