I've got a client (and friend) that is starting to seriously consider leaving SolidWorks for On$hape.

In the past we'd discussed it from a theoretical perspective, and he didn't like the idea of relying on the cloud.  It creeps a lot of us out thinking about our stuff out there (not even a local back-up copy) and the fact that if we lose connection to the web, we are basically dead in the water until the connection is restored.  If the company goes belly up, then what?  Where's my files?  How do I continue working?

So considering that he's got 10-12 seats of SolidWorks and around 20 years of legacy data, I was surprised to hear how serious he's getting about making a switch.  He said he is going to get a couple of his team to start practicing with it.  I would say that's serious. 

He's tired of all the crashing, mate-flipping, lack of innovation, poor VAR support, etc. that SolidWorks has to offer us.  (I did tell him that he should have multiple VAR's.  That's just a fact.  You're pretty silly to have only one VAR if you have multiple licenses.)

He's tired of being tied to the Windows platform and all of the hardware issues he's dealing with on a regular basis (and this guy buys the best of the best computers, all BOXX top of the line).

He claims his Apple stuff works flawlessly and having to have a full-time IT guy for a company of 25 people just doesn't seem right.

He likes that whatever Apple product he is using at the time, all his files are at his fingertips.

He likes that On$hape has a built-in PDM and would allow him to effortlessly review his team's progress from the comfort of his living room or in an airport or hotel.

If you're a VAR reading this, I would recommend you start talking to your clients and passionately gathering all their complaints, then getting with other VARS, compiling those complaints, and taking these to SolidWorks on a unified front.  Because I'm sure this company isn't the only one that is at their wit's end.  And if everybody jumps ship, where does that leave you???

On$hape is producing video after video of former SolidWorks customers that are making the switch.

It's happening, like it or not.

A lot of us have been pushing for innovation and improvement and are not being heard so much. 

The future is voice commands, VR, and gesture control.  Fact, whether you work in a noisy cube or not, this will happen.  Why can't SolidWorks with their billions of annual revenue be the industry leaders?

Is ONE and TWO working?  Ask the question and get trashed here by people that don't even pay for their license.

Ask for more transparency, let's see the crash report log statistics monthly.  Are the crashes going down?  up?  Staying the same?

Compile the program in Linux or MacOS??  Anyone running SolidWorks in an emulated environment???  How's that working??

If my client moves, then that means I'm probably going to have to learn the new system they choose if I want to continue to support them.  This could mean I find something I like better?  I sure hope SolidWorks doesn't become the joke that is AutoCAD. 

I am certainly not a fan of this other platform and would rather SolidWorks focus on their core product and improve it to stay ahead of the game.  I have over 50,000 hours and tens of thousands of dollars invested in this software and would like to know that they are committed to their customers first and foremost.