A chronological history of UG/NX:
1969: United Computing releases it's first software product, UniAPT, the first mini-computer version of APT (Automatic Program Tool) for creating NC toolpathes and then postprocessing them for driving machine tools.
October 1973: Unigraphics is demoed for the first time at a trade show in Detroit.
September 1974 - 1978: United starts to deliver the first commercial versions of Unigraphics. During this period there are no release numbers. When a system is sold, they simply made of copy of the most recently compiled version of the code and that's what was installed at the customer's site. This was the situation when I started to use Unigraphics in 1977.
April 1978: Unigraphics version R1 is released (the 'R' stood for restructured as this was the first significant rewrite of Pat Hanratty's ADAM code which Unigraphics was based on). The code was very poor and not one customer tried using the software in production.
July 1978: Version R2 of Unigraphics is released. It wasn't much better.
October 1978: R3 is released. It was getting better but very few customers put it into production.
March 1979: Finally R4 is released and it proved to be very stable and worked quite well. Virtually everyone put it into production and many customer continued to use it for years.
April 1979: United Computing is shut down and the people and assets are moved to the CAD/CAM division of McAuto (McDonnell Douglas Automation Company) which had beed operating United as subsideary since 1976.
December 1979: McAuto releases Unigraphics D1 (the 'D' stood for double precision).
September 1980: Unigraphics D2 is released.
February 1981: Unigraphics version D2.1 is released. This is first version to run on 32-bit VAX systems from Digital Equipment Company.
September 1981: Unigraphics D2.2 is released. This version supported the 32-bit Data General MV series of mainframes.
November 1981: McAuto releases a completely self-contained single station Unigraphics system which sold for under $100,000 hardware and software combined, the first CAD/CAM offering to break this pricing barrier. Note that while there system had an on-board 25MB hardrive, the actual UG part files were stored on 8-inch 'floppy' discs.
March 1982: McAuto demos to a customer for the first time a prototype of an interactive Solid Modeling system. I performed that demo for Continental Aircraft Company so as to get some feedback as to what they thought of a system like that. This was a prototype using an interface similar to Unigraphics running on a VAX-780 mainframe and using the original PADL-1 code from the University of Rochester.
April 1982: Version D3.0 of Unigraphics is released. This the first version of UG that supported color raster displays. It supported only 7 colors (8 if you included the Black background).
September 1982: Unigraphics D4.0 is released.
May 1983: Unigraphics D4.1 is released. This was the first version of UG to take full advantage of the 32-bit architecture as well as virtual memory. UG was still available on 16-bit DEC and Data General systems.
McAuto also released UniSolids V1.0, the first true interactive Solid Modeling system. It was based on the PADL-2 code and could transfer Solid models to UG as a series of trimmed surfaces. This software was available on 32-bit VAX systems only.
June 1983: The first version UniPCB is released. This system was used to design printed circuit boards and supported multilayer boards and had some early auto-routing tools. You could pass 2D board layouts and UG Schematic connect lists from UG into UniPCB and eventually 3D Solid board assemblies were able to be transferred back, via UniSolids.
August 1983: McAuto releases what was basically a completely new version software called Unigraphics II, V1.0. This was developed to run on 32-bit systems only. It also replaced the serial database with a hierarchical one allowing for development of the first associative capabilities.
September 1983: Version 1.1 of UniSolids is released. This version ran on the 32-bit Data General MV systems.
March 1984: Now known as Unigraphics I, McAuto releases V5.0.
November 1984: Version 2.0 of UniSolids is released. With this version you could transfer 2D profiles from UG to UniSolid which could then be extruded or revolved to create solid models.
March 1985: Unigraphics II V2.0 is released.
August 1985: The last full enhancement release of Unigraphics I, D6.0, is released. It was then moved to a 'mainteance only' status, but was continued to be supported for many years since some customers could not afford to move to 32-bit hardware.
October 1985: Version 3.0 of UniSolids is released.
November 1985: Unigraphics II V3.0 is released. This is the first version of UG which supported shaded displays of 3D surface models, but this required very expensive design stations from Megatek and IBM.
March 1986: Unigraphics II V3.1 is released. This version supported, via some special software, the running of UG from an IBM PC used as a display terminal. The PC still had to be hooked to a mainframe where the UG code was being executed but it allowed the use of cheaper display hardware.
July 1986: Unigraphics II V3.2 is released. This version supported the new DEC VaxStation II/GPX which was the first true standalone 'workstation' that was powerful enough to run software like Unigraphics.
November 1986: Unigraphics II V4.0 is released.
March 1987: Unigraphics II V4.1 is released. This was the first system that supported a license conteol system which allowed us to sell UG in modules. Up until that time, when UG was installed you got everything for a single price based on the maximum number of workstations which could be run simultaneously on the mainframe where UG was installed.
April 1987: McAuto participated in the GM/EDS LTD (Live Test and Demonstration) (AKA 'benchmark') which part of our first significant effort to sell UG to a major automotive OEM (we had sold UG to a couple of truck companies like Navistar and DAF).
August 1987: McAuto launches its first on-line 'forum' where customers could come for help and where they could exchange ideas and solutions to common problems, the BBS, which is still in use today.
October 1987: Version 5.0 of Unigraphics II is released. This is the first version of UG that supported NURB curves and surfaces.
November 1987: GM selects Unigraphics as their primary CAD/CAE/CAM system for all but BIW (Body In White) design (that issue was resolved a couple of years later in a separate internal 'benchmark').
December 1987: Unigraphics II V5.1 is released.
June 1988: Unigraphics II V5.2 is released which was first version of UG to run on UNIX.
November 1988: McDonnell Douglas acquires Shape Data Ltd (Cambridge, UK) the developers of Romulus-D and Parasolid.
December 1988: Unigraphics II V6.0 is released. This released included a product known as UGDD (Unigraphics Detailed Drafting) which was a lower cost seat of UG designed to do 2D drafting tasks. It unique in the it used a tablet interface and depended on the use of a 4-button 'puck', a sort of early mouse.
December 1989: Unigraphics II V7.0 is released which included the new UG/Solids module, the first Solid Modeler integrated into UG and based on the newly acquired Parasolid kernel (note that I was the Product Manager for the UG/Solids project).
March 1991: Unigraphics II V8.0 is released which included a new standalone 'sketcher-based' parametetric modeler called UG/Concept. Similar to UG/Solids in that the models were fully integrated into UG and it's downstream applications, the big difference was that you could create constrained sketches and could drive the solid features by editing 'expressions'.
August 1991: Unigraphics II 8.1 is released.
November 1991: All of the commercial automation business of McDonnell Douglas, which included the Unigraphics division, is acquired by EDS (then part of GM). EDS promptly sold-off, merged or shutdown most everything else except the Unigraphics division which it provided needed fund immediately so that we could deliver the remainder of the software enhancements which we had promised GM in order to win their business and which MDC was no longer interested in funding as they had their own problems to contend with in the aircraft and aerospace businesses.
August 1992: EDS releases Unigraphics II V9.0.
November 1992: EDS demos Unigraphics V10.0 for the first time at AutoFact in Detroit. Note that with this new almost totally reengineered system, we officially dropped the 'II' designation (and avoided calling it 'UG III'). Unigraphics V10.0 delivered dully integrated parametric solid modeling as part of the core modeling version of UG. In other words, everyone got Solid Modeling when they transitioned from UGII, even if they had never purchased UG/Solids or UG/Concept (if they had they got a bit of extra capabilities that the other people had to pay some additional money for).
December 1992: Unigraphics II V9.1 is released. This was the last full enhancement release of UGII and was supported for several years until our customers had virtually all moved to the new UG.
March 1993: The first field testing of Unigraphics V10.0 was started.
October 1993: Unigraphics V10.1 was released and while this was technically the official launch of V10 it was treated by most of our customers as a sort of advanced 'beta' copy of the software.
March 1994: Unigraphics V10.2 was shipped to only those customers who had taken delivery of V10.1 and who specifically requested a copy.
June 1994: EDS releases Unigraphics V10.3 as the first actual supported release and customers finally started to put it into wider production.
February 1995: Version V10.4 of Unigraphics is released. Things were picking up.
May 1995: Unigraphics V10.5 is released.
October 1995: Unigraphics V10.6 is released.
November 1995: EDS announces that they intend to release UG on Windows NT.
January 1996: Unigraphics V11.0 is released. This was when the real transition from UGII picked up real speed. This version introduced the ability to have an imbedded spreadsheet in the part file which could be used to drive the parametric model and supported early optimization capabilities utilizing goal-seek routines.
May 1996: Unigraphics V11.1 is released. This is the first version of UG to run on Windows NT. Note that it still did not have an icon/toolbar type interface, it was still a multi-level, menu-driven system.
January 1997: EDS releases Unigraphics V12.0.
July 1997: Unigraphics V13.0 is released. This included a new sketcher tool as well as the first version to support WAVE.
January 1998: EDS acquires the MCAD business from Intergraph Corporation. This included the mid-range PC-based Solid Edge product.
June 1998: EDS spins-off UGS as a n independent company listed on the NYSE.
November 1998: UGS release Unigraphics V15.0. This is the first version of US which used toolbars and icons. Now while the code was running a true Windows implementation the UI was emulated such that both Windows and UNIX based systems would have a common looking User Interface.
August 1999: UGS acquire Applicon, one of the pioneers in CAD/CAM, who had fallen on hard times.
September 1999: UGS releases Unigraphics V16.0, the first version of UG with a true Windows-based user interface which did not depend on emulating a UNIX like interface. From now on, it would be the Windows look and feel which would be emulated on UNIX systems.
Deecember 1999: UGS becomes the first CAD/CAE/CAM vendor to receive worldwide ISO 9001 certification.
October 2000: UGS releases Unigraphics V17.0.
May 2001: EDS announces their intention to acquire the SDRC company and to eventually merge it with UGS which they still owned the controlling interest in.
July 2001: UGS releases Unigraphics V18.0. Unbeknownst at the time, this was to be the LAST version of software which would carry the Unigraphics name, ending a nearly 30 year run.
October 2001: EDS announces that they intend to not only purchase SDRC, but to also buy back all the publicly held shares of UGS and to form a new division which would merge the SDRC and UGS development and marketing teams into a single company. Also it was announced that the Ideas software would eventually be discontinued and that the major functionality would be moved to a Unigraphics-based architecture and which would form the foundation for a new, as yet unamed, combined product.
July 2002: EDS PLM releases the first version of the new consolidated software known as NX 1.0 (this was really Unigraphics V19.0 with a new name plate).
August 2003: EDS PLM releases NX 2.0.
June 2004: EDS decides to sell the PLM Solutions division to a group of investment bankers for something over $1 billion.
September 2004: The new PLM Solutions company releases NX 3.0.
December 2005: NX 4.0 is released.
March 2007: NX 5.0 is released.
May 2007: PLM Solutions is acquired by Siemens AG, and the Siemens PLM Software division is formed.
June 2008: NX 6.0 is released.
September 2009: NX 7.0 is released.
April 2010: NX 7.5 is released.
September 2011: NX 8.0 is released.
October 2012: NX 8.5 is released.
October 2013: NX 9.0 will be released.
Well that just about does it. It's been a long haul since those United Computing days, but we're still here, going stronger than ever.
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
![[bigsmile]](/data/assets/smilies/bigsmile.gif "[bigsmile] [bigsmile]")
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