NX9 only 64 bit?

[RUGmechanic]

I am using NX8 at the moment. Found no bugs so far and runs smoothly. Constraint navigator is a real improvement. Good product.
Now, I am not sure were I read it (release notes ?), but in versions 9 and later, only 64 bit architecture is supported. This will have an effect on our hardware and software investments.
In order to plan ahead, does anybody know if there will be a 8.5 release or is the next one 9.0 and what will be the release date(s) approximately?

Thanks in advance

Older budweiser

 

[Arkance/PhoeNX]

The release notes for NX8 state that the next major release will be 64bit only.

Anthony Galante
Technical Resource Coordinator

NX4.0.4MP10, NX5.0.0->5.0.6, NX6.0.0->NX6.0.5, NX7.0.0->NX7.0.1 & NX7.5.0.32-> NX7.5.4.4, Beta NX8.0.0.25

 

[JohnRBaker]

The release notes for NX8 state that the next major release will be 64bit only.

That's not quite accurate. What the NX 8 Release Notes actually says is...

"...NX 9 will be available as 64-bit only..."

With that in mind, please note that nowhere in the NX 8 Release Notes does it state that NX 9 is the NEXT major release of NX.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

UG/NX Museum:

http://www.plmworld.org/p/cm/ld/fid=209

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[Arkance/PhoeNX]

please note that nowhere in the NX 8 Release Notes does
it state that NX 9 is the NEXT major release of NX.

Hi John, that may be true but the attached image from the NX8 release notes implies that NX8 is the last release for 32bit. Does that mean a NX8.5 is now considered to be a point release?




Anthony Galante
Technical Resource Coordinator

NX4.0.4MP10, NX5.0.0->5.0.6, NX6.0.0->NX6.0.5, NX7.0.0->NX7.0.1 & NX7.5.0.32-> NX7.5.4.4, Beta NX8.0.0.25

 

[JohnRBaker]

Let me ask you this; do you consider NX 7.5 to be a 'point release' of NX 7.0?

And as for what was in the NX 8 Release Notes, of the two statements, that NX 9 will support 64-bit only, and that NX 8 was the last release to support 32-bit Windows, it perhaps would have been better if we had STOPPED typing after the first one since it was all that we really needed to say.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

UG/NX Museum:

http://www.plmworld.org/p/cm/ld/fid=209

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[Arkance/PhoeNX]

No I don't consider NX7.5 to be point release of NX7. It installs seperate to NX7 and you need a new license, and the MRs and MPs are seperate.


Anthony Galante
Technical Resource Coordinator

NX4.0.4MP10, NX5.0.0->5.0.6, NX6.0.0->NX6.0.5, NX7.0.0->NX7.0.1 & NX7.5.0.32-> NX7.5.4.4, Beta NX8.0.0.25

 

[wmalan]

9? Yikes! I think by the time I get on that version, I'll be running my Flux Capacitor at 1.21 gigawatts! (We're still on 6).

--
Bill

 

[JohnRBaker]

Well then Tony, I think you've answered your own question, just don't confuse a 'point release' with a 'maintenance release'. The 'point' were talking about here is the FIRST one AFTER the integer, not the second one, which indicates the MR level.

And for the record, NX 7.5 is NOT the first 'point release' that we've ever delivered although I have to admit that it had been awhile since the last one. And like with NX 7.5, these prior 'point releases' were never considered to be maintenance releases, but rather primarily as enhancement releases, requiring a full install, a new license sheet and no backward compatibility, with this last item being the real differentiator between a Maintenance Release and a major release, irrespective of the 'name' seen on the start-up flash screen.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

UG/NX Museum:

http://www.plmworld.org/p/cm/ld/fid=209

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[Arkance/PhoeNX]

so to clarify, because now I'm confused:
NX8.5 (if released) is considered a point release of NX8 so therefore it will be available in 32bit.


Anthony Galante
Technical Resource Coordinator

NX4.0.4MP10, NX5.0.0->5.0.6, NX6.0.0->NX6.0.5, NX7.0.0->NX7.0.1 & NX7.5.0.32-> NX7.5.4.4, Beta NX8.0.0.25

 

[JohnRBaker]

Only as long as you understand that a 'point release' is called that because it shares it's integer-designation with another release. But then if you think about it, EVERY release is a 'point release' just that most are 'POINT zero' (i.e. NX 7.0) while some are 'POINT five' (i.e. NX 7.5) (or 'POINT one' as it was years ago with UG V11.1). Other than that, 'point releases' are just as much a MAJOR release as are any other integer-labeled releases and their development cycle will be just as long.

So while I can't 'officially' confirm your speculation about the name of the NEXT major release or where it 'numerically' fits relative to NX 8.0 and NX 9.0, I can say that the timeframe at which users will need to move to 64-bit only systems is perhaps a year further down the road then many of them had assumed.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

UG/NX Museum:

http://www.plmworld.org/p/cm/ld/fid=209

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[RUGmechanic]

The thread header should have been "an academic discussion about point-releases"
Anyway, thank you all for the input. Looks like a have a year or more to convince the management to transfer to 64 bit.


Older budweiser

 

[looslib]

I think there was also a 14.1 which could be installed as a full release. But that was due to errors in the 14.0 code base.
First didgit after the integer being non-zero releases have been rare and ususally require a new license file. Going back, I can think of 8: UG2 had: 9.1, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 11.1, 14.1 and NX7.5. Some of the 10.x releases may not have required new license files but he functionality was changing with .x release.

Whatever Siemens calls the next release, be it 8.1 or 8.5, it will run on 32-bit Wintel computers. When NX9.0 is released it will only be on 64-bit computers. Since 8.0 is out and John said "a year further down the road" for NX9, I would quess that 8.0 will have many MRs (8.0.x) or there will be a point release (8.x). Softwrae development needs to get released code out to their customers so they can get feedback on their next project. This release need is offset by the customers reluctance to trust newly released code and their need to keep the engineering staff productive. Yearly release schedules of new code releases seems to be a good balance, yet still has some comapnies lagging behind in their upgrade process. When you add a PLM system on top of your CAD system, you have additional checks and compatibility issues to juggle.
While I can upgrade CAD in a few minutes since the code is serve based, it takes a weekend to migrate and upgrade a PLM system. Add into that your engineering work-in-process and release of product scheduling and it all becomes a nightmare for coordination.


"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli

 

[kukelyk]

I think it is OK, only 64bit versions.
But when will NX support multi-core processors indeed?
Calculating toolpaths etc..

----
kukelyk

 

[JohnRBaker]

NX already supports SMP and has for years. However you do need to enable this by setting the environment variable:

UGII_SMP_ENABLE=1

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

UG/NX Museum:

http://www.plmworld.org/p/cm/ld/fid=209

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[uwam2ie]

toolpath calculation in own process is supported since nx7

 

[looslib]

I think the development team is working to suport multi-processors where they can. Some functions in NX just don't lend them selves to being split across multiple CPUs.
Toolpath calculation being passes off to another CPU core is one of the areas that uses the multiple cores available. Just having multiple cores helps in that the OS, office, and other apps can be run on different cores than NX.


"Wildfires are dangerous, hard to control, and economically catastrophic."

Ben Loosli