Solidworks 2009: Product Name Changes/Older Version Notification

We will start off this month long series by announcing the new name changes that Solidworks is adopting for its products.  Here is a table of changes:

Most notable is the change from the COSMOS name to simply Simulation.

Also new in 2009 will be a new icon notification when you open an older version file.  In 2009 you will see the following icon and notification appear when you open an older version file:

If you also have the save tool button on your shortcut bar, it will also graphically warn you of the older version of the currently open file.

One way to allow your computer to convert older files is to use the file conversion wizard which can be accessed by clicking: All Programs> Solidworks 2009> Solidworks Tools> Solidworks Task Scheduler.  That will allow you to schedule to have all your files converted overnight.  I used the tool to convert just over 300 files during beta, and had no issue.  We typically use this function to convert our library parts once we switch to the new version.  But remember, once you convert a file to the new version, you can't convert it back down.

Be sure to check back in every week day during the entire month of August to get a glimpse of completely new functionality found only in Solidworks 2009!