So what are they asking? What have some of the people paid here in
the USA or Canada?
The special upgrade price which ends 31 Dec was about $2995USD for
the full package, and $2495USD for PCB without FPGA. You should have
called your local sales office to get it in writing.
As for features, yes there are a number of features that look
interesting, but the bottom line is:
1) Do they actually work? When will the 3rd service pack be available?
The majority work exceptionally well - a few need to have the
wrinkles ironed out. There probably won't be a 3rd service pack as
you have come to know service packs. AD6 has an automated web update
capability which allows smaller, more frequent patches - sort of like
Microsoft does with Windows.
2) Do they actually improve productivity?
Whether or not the new features improve productivity is dependent on
the user. You should watch the videos available on the Altium web
site and make the decision for yourself. The new video demos show
the software in actual operation by the developers that wrote the
software. What you will see on the videos actually exists in the
finished product.
If you do simple boards of only a few layers, you probably don't need
all of the enhancements. If you do the sorts of boards I do, with
478 ball BGA's, lots of differential pairs, 16-20 layers, lots of
manual interactive routing, etc - I believe you'll find the new
capabilities take a lot of the load off.
Are there bugs? - Sure there are. Have you ever had a brand new car
that didn't have things that needed fixing? We're talking about a
piece of software with millions of lines of code that occupies about
6.5GB on the hard drive with a full install. The developers have
done a remarkable job of packing in almost everything (within reason)
that users have asked for - it's almost too rich in features from my
point of view (my antique brain has difficulty remembering all of the
tools that are in the box).
As for testing - it would be wonderful if every piece of software
could be tested until it was completely free of bugs. I don't think
it has ever happened, or ever will happen (Windows, the Mars lander,
US Northeast Power Grid, ...). In my view, you test until you get it
to a point where the software reliably does its intended
function. From there on, you release the product into the world of
infinite variations of hardware and operating system configurations
that is the user community. Let them tell you that the software
crashes every time they use instant messaging while watching a soap
opera in a minimized window while downloading an mp3, and routing
that 20 layer board. All of that with any one of several thousand
combinations of motherboards, processors, ram configurations, video
cards, sound cards, network cards, printer drivers, resident
background programs, etc, etc, etc.
My point being that you can only test to a reasonable point. Beyond
that, you have to depend on user feedback to try and track down the
state related glitches.
The first issue needs no explanation. With Altium's history of
putting out sparsely tested software, the first release CD is for
use as a coaster for putting your soda on the desk. By the time of
the third service pack in 6-12 months, the product can actually be
tested. This is my experience going back to release 2.0 and I have
yet to find any exceptions.
With a cynical outlook like yours, you are probably better off
waiting until the product is near end-of-life. You can then be sure
you'll get something that has been tested to your satisfaction - of
course by that time the rest of us will be using AD7. Personally, I
trust Altium (Protel) to do the right thing. Nick Martin has always
taken care of those who bought his product. When you try to stay
cutting edge instead of stagnating like PADS, Orcad, and others in
the EDA world, you're going to stumble occasionally. For example,
Protel99 was a major change from Protel98 - it bombed. We got 99SE
free, and it steadily improved and expanded. DXP was a major change
from 99SE - it bombed. We got AD free, and it steadily improved and
expanded. The difference this time is that AD6 builds on AD2004, so
it has a proven core and runs on the same operating systems as DXP-AD2004.
The second issue is extremely important. I go back to the global
edits as an example. The new system is far more powerful than the
99SE style system and allows you to do things that were simply not
possible the old way. But in the process, it makes the simple
everyday tasks slower (requiring more keystrokes/clicks and use of
keyboard plus mouse in many cases), reducing the overall
productivity. As a result, the new way, while "better" in a
marketing brochure actually reduces productivity and hence is worse
in real life.
As you seem to be, I resisted FSO when I first got DXP - I liked the
old way of doing global edits. After using the inspector and list
panels for a while, I find I can do global edits as fast or faster
than I could before. I can also do a heck of a lot more that I ever
could with the old simplistic editing in Protel99SE. The end result
is I'm more productive that I was with earlier versions (fast + more
= better productivity). In my view, productivity has more to do with
the skill of the operator than with the particular tool you are using
(I once knew a guy that could non-destructively disassemble a feed
pump using only a small ballpeen hammer). I've gotten more skillful
at using the tools in AD, so my productivity has vastly
improved. Its a good thing too, because the boards I need to design
keep getting denser and more complicated as technology advances.
You can learn how to drive a car (which is more complicated than
riding a horse), or you can keep riding your horse. The car has more
controls than the horse, but it gets you there faster with less pain
in your backside.
So what have people's first hand experience been like?
I put my horse out to pasture. I like AD6.
Harry
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