I find that clients in Sweden have at least three different versions of MicroStation at their offices - 2004 Edition, XM and some V8i. Apart from the obvious reason to update to the latest version available (getting all the new and possibly improved tools) and likewise obvious reasons to keep older versions(other applications linked to a version, fear of new things and a low training budget) are there yet other reasons to prefer one version over the other? I wonder about this......
The first thing that springs to mind isthe question "What tools do I really need in my daily work and are there tools in later versions that handle these needs best?"
The second question might be " Are there new tools in a later version that could improve my daily practices?"
The third could then be "Are there new tools in later versions that could not only improve but even extend my daily practices?"
If the answers to all these questions are "NO" - then of course stick with the 2004 Edition!
But if one or more answers tend to be "YES" the plot thickens.......
So what tools do You find the most important tools in Your daily work and that resides in XM or V8i?
And what tools would you want to see improved, introduced or reinvented in the next MicroStation?
Keep suggestions coming in - you are in the driving seat of a V8!
I agree Steve.
Fixing problems, with new functions and modified interfaces, doesn't quite seem fair to the Designers/Engineers who use the product.
Getting a list of Bug Fixes with each release(or sub-release) would be a big bonus also. Otherwise we have to test if the internally known bugs (that our users have found and reported) have been resolved.
A majority of applications out there have sub point releases with "Release Notes" to list the "Enhancements/Fixes".
Another 2¢ to the pot.
For us the driving force to upgrade has been bugs. Software bugs to be more specific. Bentley has the reputation of giving bug fixes to the "next release" philosophy. Makes it very difficult and costly for users.
Yes features of the next version are nice but sometimes getting 450 people to quit what they are doing and start with a new version is not pratical or cost effective. Getting Bentley to fix bugs in the current release would be a big step and also help solve the question about when to upgrade. Moving to a new version should always be a choice and not forced on the user. Just my 2¢