SW07 and Vista - What you NEED to know! 2

[SBaugh]

Taken from the Graphics Systems blog - Matt Luedke -

http://gxsc.typepad.com/graphics_systems_solidnot/2007/03/index.html

SolidWorks and Windows Vista
What you need to know about SolidWorks 2007 and Vista
Information provided by SolidWorks Corporation


Support for Microsoft Windows Vista
Starting with 2007 SP3, SolidWorks will support Microsoft Windows Vista. This will be a Pre-Release version. First customer ship is planned for SP4.

What versions of Vista is supported
Currently only the Business and Ultimate editions of Vista are officially supported. Home Premium, Home Basic, and all X64 versions are not supported.

Other information you need to know

SolidWorks 2007 Vista version is currently in pre-release
Please note that the graphics card drivers for open GL products like SolidWorks are not equivalent to those available for Windows XP. For this reason SolidWorks 2007 Vista version currently runs only in Software OpenGL mode.
For optimal performance, SolidWorks recommends that users continue to use SolidWorks 2007 running on Windows XP at this time.
As new Vista OpenGL drivers become available, SolidWorks will perform certification tests on those drivers results of the driver tests for the SolidWorks Vista version will be posted at:

http://www.solidworks.com/pages/services/VideoCardTesting.html

For those who must run SolidWorks on Windows Vista, please understand that while this version of SolidWorks is fully supported, graphic performance will be significantly slower than on Windows XP.
For now I would recommend to hold off and wait to run SolidWorks 2007 Vista version. Ask yourself this do you want to run the first version of SolidWorks for Vista on the first version of Microsoft Vista? If it was me I would wait for SolidWorks 2008 to switch to Vista.

Best Regards,


Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376

 

[J-C]

I thought there were some beta nvidia vista drivers out....I wonder how Solidworks for Vista would perform with the beta driver?

Jason

UG NX2.02.2 on Win2000 SP3
UG NX4.01.0 on Win2000 SP3
SolidWorks 2007 SP2.2 on WinXP SP2

 

[SBaugh]

If there are beta drivers they are what the are Beta and they are not supported by SW. So its a use at your own risk. I think its better to be waiting for SW08 or until the card MFG come out with enough drivers SW can get some certified drivers.

Welcome to world of upgrades outside of SW... and people want SW to work on stability. When they have to work off of other foundations such as new OS, VC drivers, etc... That's like telling the contractor to frame the house, before the foundation is completed.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

I won't be ugrading to Windows Vista till a new computer is required and that's probably several years away for both work and home.

All good-to-know information. A

for your troubles.

P.S. I like the contractor analogy.

 

[rfus]

I've stayed on 32 Bit XP Pro at the office (Intel 3.6Ghz, 2GB ram, Quadro3000, 2-21"ers). No headaches. Life is good.

I wen't full boar on the machine at home into x64 world. When i'm in need of memory or my mean machine i head home.(AMD FX-60 x64 4.2GHz Dual Core, 4 GB ram, Quadro3450, a 24" WUXGA, and a 29" CRT). Headaches galore. (not solidworks, but everything else). Life is slowly getting better. see below.

I have the home machine partitioned to run XP pro win32 and x64. I use this win32 partition to install programs that won't install on x64 and I can drag them over to the x86 program files, reboot in x64, and do the following below....but back to the point.

I was thinking about wiping this out and installing Vista x64 on this partition .....and then I asked myself, Do I really want to put a gun to my head?

Here's a way I have found to install certain hardware drivers for things like my Zune and make apps that won't install on x64 work.

Making something work on x64:

I will have to change .inf driver files for hardware to this.
[Manufacturer]

%MfgName%=Microsoft,NTx86

[Microsoft.NTx86]

With this:

[Manufacturer]

%MfgName%=Microsoft,NTAMD64

[Microsoft.NTAMD64]

This simple .inf change will pick up the hardware more often than not. Software that doesn't install on x64 OS (like software for the hardware), will then have to be installed on my win32 partition. I then copy all of the files over to my x86 program folder and reboot on the x64 OS.

I will then have to manually register all of the dll's like this:

regsrv all the DLLs in that directory. through cmd.

cd "\Program Files (x86)\ProgramXXX"

for %f in (*.dll) do regsvr32 %f [press enter]

you get tons of error messages but for the most part, after closing all of them, the app will be registered and should run. There are some bugs and major networking and internet issues with this hack in some apps. But like I said. Headaches Galore.

RFUS

 

[PDMAdmin]

Thanks for the info, Scott. I'll be waiting a while to upgrade to Windows Vista and its SW counterpart.

 

[Rocko]

You can still get computers with XP on them if you order them from Dell and request it.

 

[J-C]

Oh...I didn't know you can get Dell to give you XP still....when you configure a home pc or laptop on their site, Vista is the only option.

All the major PC manufacturer do this "Vista" only setup. Gee, how hard is it to offer the XP or Vista choice in a dropdown box like they do for everything else in the computer. I can choose to add a floppy drive or not but you can't choose the OS. They must be getting kickbacks from Microsoft.

Jason

UG NX2.02.2 on Win2000 SP3
UG NX4.01.0 on Win2000 SP3
SolidWorks 2007 SP2.2 on WinXP SP2

 

[Rocko]

You have to talk to a sales rep. at Dell to get it pushed through. Its mainly for corporate clients.

 

[Rocko]

Here you go Gildashard:

http://www.dell.com/content/product...d&cs=04&a=26748~0~249730&navla=26748~0~249730

 

[J-C]

Thanks for the link but those are the business class PCs which all the manufacturers still offer the choice of WinXP for. I mean the home PCs. You get to add more bells and whistles to the home PC which you don't need on a business PC.

Jason

UG NX2.02.2 on Win2000 SP3
UG NX4.01.0 on Win2000 SP3
SolidWorks 2007 SP2.2 on WinXP SP2

 

[ctopher]

We don't have plans to update to Vista until next year ... after extensive testing.

Chris
SolidWorks 07 2.2/PDMWorks 07
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 02-10-07)

 

[rfus]

Only offering vista and voiding you're warantee if you add something to your box is why I wouldn't go with someone like them. Yes, their laptops are nice. If you are not buying a laptop why go with dell? I'd buy a dell screen, but as far as a picking up a mean workstation, there are plenty of options to get exactly what you want. I listend to Jeff and picked up an Xi. I couldn't be happier with it.

 

[symjim]

Check the Dell Outlet for Dimension and Inspiron systems with XP. They're refurbished systems, but you can get some great deals with full one year warranties.

Otherwise, Dell ONLY offers XP on business class systems sold to businesses. (Optiplex, Latitude and Precision)

Online resellers, such as newegg and tigerdirect still have some stock of older systems with XP. It is getting hard for a non-business consumer to purchase XP, though.

 

[StefanHamminga]

Maybe interesting to know:

I installed SW2007 SP2.2 (the 32 bit XP version) on my test pc, running Vista Ultimate with the 100.65 WHQL driver for my Quadro FX 1400 and I could install, run, etc fine! Even hardware accelerated OpenGL worked as you would expect.
So perhaps there is hope for Vista...
One minor bug: the realview shadow bug reappeared (shadows display as full black).

Stefan Hamminga
EngIT Solutions
CSWP/Mechanical designer