October 2005 Readers Choice Award: SolidWorks

By DE Editors

SoildWorks 2006 Streamlines Design, Adds Power

More than 200 enhancements and new capabilities

In June, SolidWorks (Concord,MA) released SolidWorks 2006, the newest version of its 3D mechanical design software. It features a host of new capabilities, including more than 200 customer-requested enhancements. Innovations include fundamentally new approaches for analysis and validation of designs.

According to SolidWorks, version 2006 represents an exponential increase in performance with enhancements concentrated in two areas: overall system architecture and common operations, with big gains in large assembly and drawing processing. The most common commands are now interactive and instantaneous.

Additionally, SolidWorks 2006 will support the Windows XP Professional x64 Edition operating system with a soon-to-be-released service pack. A native 64-bit version of SolidWorks 2006 is expected to ship later this year. New productivity features include the 3D Drawing View, which for the first time enables an engineer working in a 2D environment to visualize assemblies in 3D.

In conjunction with this release, the company has also begun shipping COSMOS 2006, the latest version of its analysis software. COSMOS 2006 adds more than 100 new features with powerful design analysis functions in mouse clicks, templates, and help wizards. These new features are aimed at engineers and designers who could benefit from analysis, but don’t have the time to learn either the science behind it or new applications.

For more information, visit the SolidWorks website by clicking here.

SolidWorks 2006 from SolidWorks Corp. received the most votes in our July 2005 issue. Vote for your favorite product from this issue at the end of Briefings and Products.