Official Solidworks 2009 Beta Information

So here are the official details of the Beta program for Solidworks 2009.  I got the opportunity to sit down with the Beta team and get all the insight into this year’s program.  There are a few new and unique changes to the program that I think will make the overall program more successful.

Before we get into the details, I want to take a minute to explain what the Beta program is about, and what participating in it means.  First and foremost the Beta program is put out there so that Solidworks users across a variety of industries can help to make the final build of the software as good as possible.  One scenario that was given to me was about company holding out to upgrade to a new version, and how that can affect the software.  In just a few weeks service pack 4 for Solidworks 2008 will be released for early visibility.  Now let’s say that a company chooses this time to finally switch to Solidworks 2008.  All of a sudden, an error that was never found is uncovered, and now there is a need for a hot fix to get it taken care of.   If just one engineer from that company had participated in the Beta of 2008, that error would have been fixed well before a final release.

So I would encourage everyone out there to at least give Solidworks 2009 Beta a spin, even if it’s just for a few days to see how it works.  It doesn’t cost you anything, and it’s a great lunchtime activity!  So onto the details:

The Beta program for Solidworks 2009 will officially launch in early June 2008

This year’s program will shrink down from a 15 week period to an 8 week program.  In the past few years, as the program lingered on, people lost interest, so the idea was to shorten it to keep the interest going throughout the entire run. This explains why we haven’t seen the program launch yet, so all the rumors of them not being ready or whatever else the black helicopter crowd wants to dream up, can be put to rest. 

In past years, Beta participants joined via an email link sent out to those who responded.  This year the Beta program will be available to everyone via the customer portal.  When the program goes live, there will be a special section on the customer portal where you can download Beta software, track your issue submissions, points, and general news regarding the program.  At this point, it’s a good idea to make sure you have a login into the customer portal. 

If you want a hint into how to score lots of points, explore the more obscure areas of the software and the entire interface including installation techniques, and software distribution.

So keep an eye out on the various blogs, and also via email for when the official release happens.  After seeing what I have seen for 2009, I am certain you will want to be part of shaping the final product scheduled to be released in early October of this year!  Thanks again to the Beta team for taking some time to speak with me about the program.

Comments

[Alessandro Tornincasa]

Hi all,
I totally agree with the fact that Beta testing is fundamental. I'm working for a reseller and I have to often face customers stepping into bugs. Once the bug is submitted to Solidworks support a service pack is prepared sooner or later, depending on the impact of that bug on customer or his number of licenses.
The job of a tech support engineer is then finding a workaround for the bug, and he is luckyly successful most of the times.

We would be all happy with having a perfectly working software in SP.0, but this can't be accomplished because there is a large number of scenarios where a feature can be used.
Take for instance mixed meshing with COSMOS: it's the new feature that is most subject to crashes or bugs. It's a new feature that can be used in an unlimited number of applications: furniture, weldments, structures, machinery.
It can't be perfect for all scenarios and therefore bugs are quite understandable and testers can't imagine or test all of these scenarios.
If all these issues could be tested during beta, maybe in Sp 0 or later SP 1 they could be already fixed and customers would all be happy.
Moreover, new operating systems or programs would be issued: take for instance Windows Vista, Office 2007, Xp 64. You can't test the product on everything, that's the price you pay for new features.
Some people prefer a more stable software with less features, but I personally prefer more features.

[Matt]

Kaamil,

"The main reason for the shorter Beta period is to keep interest and participation high. If very few users are participating and submitting issues by week 11 or 12 onward, then there's not much reason to drag it out. We also know how busy our users are. We can't expect them to be spending their time for 15 weeks testing. It's just not fair."

The reason to keep beta going is not so we can play with the software, its so you can fix it before you release it. Shortening beta does not do this. Shorter beta accomplishes less, regardless of how you look at it. Don't try to use wasting users time as an excuse to shorten beta. Every bug in the released product wastes more time than you can possibly save in beta.

"The message we're trying to get out to our users is that we need their input to make SolidWorks better."

Ok, 'splain me this - why did you remove the sliders and splitters? Did some customer ask for that? Why did you have to put them back? Where was the mistake? What did you learn? Really, I want an answer.

What about what you've done to the colors interface? Do you guys know that not everyone has or uses RealView? I'm concerned that you are asking the right people the right questions and coming to the wrong conclusions.

[Richard Williams]

Well Mike, I signed up for Beta Testing. I do have the time to do this. I'm retired. Maybe I can find something to mention. Take care.

[Kaamil]

Hi Mike,

It was really nice meeting you yesterday, and thanks for stopping by to talk to us about Beta. The message we're trying to get out to our users is that we need their input to make SolidWorks better.

The main reason for the shorter Beta period is to keep interest and participation high. If very few users are participating and submitting issues by week 11 or 12 onward, then there's not much reason to drag it out. We also know how busy our users are. We can't expect them to be spending their time for 15 weeks testing. It's just not fair.

Every company in the world that develops any kind of product (software, movies, toys, machines, etc.) depends on the feedback of focus groups and real world testing before finalizing a release. The SolidWorks Beta program is our focus group, so to speak. The more people participate, and the sooner they participate and use SolidWorks, the sooner we can find the bugs and fix them. It's as simple as that. There's no evil plot to take advantage of users, waste their time and steal their money, I swear it!

We're all engineers, and we know that the only way to develop good tools for them is to find out what the engineers want and what problems they encounter with our products.

The simple fact of the matter is that the nature of software engineering makes it impossible to discover every single bug by testing in a lab environment. Releasing a commercial product to our paying customers without first getting their input and experiences is not something we would do.

I hope to see you participating! I'll keep my eyes open for your Beta submissions and I hope you send us some cool models. But don't expect any special treatment or extra points for the contest!!

Thanks again, Mike. Be in touch.

[Devon T. Sowell]

Hi Matt-

Well stated, I agree.

Devon

[Mike Puckett]

The previous annon comment was deleted. If you want to leave comments or criticisms, at least have the guts to tell everyone who you are. See the comment left below? While Matt and I don't always agree, his comments are welcome because he doesn't hide behind annon comments and links to Autocad blogs.

[Matt Lombard]

"If just one engineer from that company had participated in the Beta of 2008, that error would have been fixed well before a final release."

That is twisted. Blame the customer for the quality of the software? Hook, line, and sinker.

"This year’s program will shrink down from a 15 week period to an 8 week program."

That's not encouraging. They didn't have time to fix all the bugs found in any previous cycle. Shortening it is the wrong answer.