CAD Forum

I'm on 2020 with only a few complaints. Is anyone using 2021? Are there any huge improvements or drawbacks?

Unfortunately, we're on Windows 7. So, I can't install 2021.

2021 SP2 since SP0
Not much different.
Not better or worse than 2020.
No PDM.

Frederick_Law wrote: ↑Wed Mar 10, 2021 2:48 pm 2021 SP2 since SP0
Not much different.
Not better or worse than 2020.
No PDM.

Pretty much the same here.

I have installed it but we are using 2019 due to the Windchill version we have not being compatible.

That said, one nice little enhancement that is sure to not make the "flashy feature list" is when you double click dimensions to edit, it no longer delays to show the Property Manager for the dimension. The edit box shows right away. It's not perfect though, adding a new dimension and placing it still delays the edit box waiting on the Property Manager. I'll take every little bit I can get though.

jcapriotti wrote: ↑Wed Mar 10, 2021 11:33 pm I have installed it but we are using 2019 due to the Windchill version we have not being compatible.

That said, one nice little enhancement that is sure to not make the "flashy feature list" is when you double click dimensions to edit, it no longer delays to show the Property Manager for the dimension. The edit box shows right away. It's not perfect though, adding a new dimension and placing it still delays the edit box waiting on the Property Manager. I'll take every little bit I can get though.

I hadn't even noticed that one, since I keep Instant 3d turned on and generally edit dimensions with a single click, but there are a few other nice enhancements (while none of them blew me away, they have made my life a little easier).

I like being able to set a default mate type for slot mates in Document Properties, since I don't believe I've ever wanted anything other than "centered in slot".

The context pop-up for sketch relations in Drawings was long overdue, though I'd like to have a talk with whoever made the decision to have it not appear if the last item selected was model geometry instead of a sketch entity. That little glitch added to my firm belief that at least some of the people making decisions about implementing enhancements have never actually used the software.

I've had this problem with 2020 that the RMB menus on features with fail or warning icons don't work. Is that an issue in 2021? Also maximizing the SW window when there are multiple windows requires you to select one and wait.

matt wrote: ↑Thu Mar 11, 2021 8:41 am I've had this problem with 2020 that the RMB menus on features with fail or warning icons don't work. Is that an issue in 2021? Also maximizing the SW window when there are multiple windows requires you to select one and wait.

I haven't noticed either of those behaviors, but I didn't notice either of them with SW2020 either.

Glenn Schroeder wrote: ↑Wed Mar 10, 2021 8:23 pm

Frederick_Law wrote: ↑Wed Mar 10, 2021 2:48 pm 2021 SP2 since SP0
Not much different.
Not better or worse than 2020.
No PDM.

Pretty much the same here.

Same here as well. I have noticed a few more crashes every day but I believe it's because I have the MasterCam for Solidworks Add-In installed. Nearly every crash I have is when I'm using that Add-In.

Waiting for Service pack # and higher before the jump and also License server needs to be upgraded for this to happen for SW2020 and 2021, what a pain with a yearly upgrade every 12 months!!
Still using 2018 and 2019

I loath the thought of trying to put together a "test plan" for updating to a newer version. I've done some rough numbers on hours and direct cost to update and I cannot honestly go to the money people here saying it's a good investment. The only real reason for us to update is to not get so far behind the wave that the complexity of updating grows exponentially with each year. From what I've seen I won't do anything less than an SP4 and that has to be out for several months. We're on 2019 SP4 and might go to 2021 very late this year or early next.

bnemec wrote: ↑Thu Mar 11, 2021 11:30 am I loath the thought of trying to put together a "test plan" for updating to a newer version. I've done some rough numbers on hours and direct cost to update and I cannot honestly go to the money people here saying it's a good investment. The only real reason for us to update is to not get so far behind the wave that the complexity of updating grows exponentially with each year. From what I've seen I won't do anything less than an SP4 and that has to be out for several months. We're on 2019 SP4 and might go to 2021 very late this year or early next.

When I came back to SW from SE, I had to catch up on 5 releases. That was a lot of learning, and some of the most important stuff is in the fine details. It took a while to catch up, and probably I still haven't after a few years. It might be best to limit upgrade cycle to 2 or 3 years.

bnemec wrote: ↑Thu Mar 11, 2021 11:30 am I loath the thought of trying to put together a "test plan" for updating to a newer version.

Depends on your setup.
I had 4 versions installed and able to run them all together.
Currently I have 3: 2019 SP5, 2020 SP4, 2021 SP2.
2020 SP5 refused to install.

Beside the program installed in different folders, all other files are in different folders also.
To prevent maxing up versions.

I'll install SP0 as soon as I can and copy files there to test.

bnemec wrote: ↑Thu Mar 11, 2021 11:30 am The only real reason for us to update is to not get so far behind the wave that the complexity of updating grows exponentially with each year.

This is a big reason IMO. Skipping releases means more things get broken that you have to deal with at once. I might skip one version but not more than that. Ironically, Windchill has forced the issue. We just went to 2019 and until we upgrade Windchill to version 12, we are stuck since v11 doesn't support the newer versions of SolidWorks. And Windchill looks like its a beast to upgrade.

2021 vs 2020 has some good stuff (check out the www.solidworks.com/whatsnew), but the unsung hero is probably all the work under the hood on graphics performance -- especially in Drawings it now uses the new 'graphics pipeline' that's been around a few years. On top of that, a ton of quality work, i.e. fixing SPRs.

drbooshkit wrote: ↑Fri Mar 12, 2021 6:10 am 2021 vs 2020 has some good stuff (check out the www.solidworks.com/whatsnew), but the unsung hero is probably all the work under the hood on graphics performance -- especially in Drawings it now uses the new 'graphics pipeline' that's been around a few years. On top of that, a ton of quality work, i.e. fixing SPRs.

Yeah, they keep saying that they are focused on bug fixes. It'd be nice if they would feature freeze for a year or 3 and only fix bugs though. Seems every time they add a new feature it has bugs. I was so excited about the 2020 feature to be able to use envelopes only to drive in-context features. It seemed a good way to make sure that you don't accidentally create relations, but when I tried to use it and messed up I'd get thrown into almost a perpetual loop (you may have to click on the image for the video to show, new forum and I'm not sure, but it's not showing in the preview): I still can't get an answer as to when the new Structure Systems that's supposed to replace Weldments will be ready for production use...I was more than slightly annoyed that they finally added the ability to use a spline (which I considered a bug), but only added it to SS, not Weldments because they've "stopped development" on Weldments.

Frederick_Law wrote: ↑Thu Mar 11, 2021 3:50 pm

bnemec wrote: ↑Thu Mar 11, 2021 11:30 am I loath the thought of trying to put together a "test plan" for updating to a newer version.

Depends on your setup.
I had 4 versions installed and able to run them all together.
Currently I have 3: 2019 SP5, 2020 SP4, 2021 SP2.
2020 SP5 refused to install.

Beside the program installed in different folders, all other files are in different folders also.
To prevent maxing up versions.

I'll install SP0 as soon as I can and copy files there to test.

PDM: only one at a time and must test "everything" on a few updated clients connected to a test PDM server rig before updating production servers. Well, that's what I'm told anyway, I've never done it.

jcapriotti wrote: ↑Thu Mar 11, 2021 6:39 pm

bnemec wrote: ↑Thu Mar 11, 2021 11:30 am The only real reason for us to update is to not get so far behind the wave that the complexity of updating grows exponentially with each year.

This is a big reason IMO. Skipping releases means more things get broken that you have to deal with at once. I might skip one version but not more than that. Ironically, Windchill has forced the issue. We just went to 2019 and until we upgrade Windchill to version 12, we are stuck since v11 doesn't support the newer versions of SolidWorks. And Windchill looks like its a beast to upgrade.

I was hoping that some of the regressions would be fixed in the interim releases that were skipped over so I wouldn't need to explain the lost time for each one.

I just went from 2011 (old job) to 2021 (new job). How's that for a leap?

mattpeneguy wrote: ↑Fri Mar 12, 2021 3:19 pm I still can't get an answer as to when the new Structure Systems that's supposed to replace Weldments will be ready for production use...I was more than slightly annoyed that they finally added the ability to use a spline (which I considered a bug), but only added it to SS, not Weldments because they've "stopped development" on Weldments.

I try to us SS instead of weldment. End up move back to weldment.
End treatment in SS is, I have no idea how it work.
Might try it again later.
Primary and secondary frame? And try to get end treatment to work?

Frederick_Law wrote: ↑Mon Mar 15, 2021 3:52 pm

mattpeneguy wrote: ↑Fri Mar 12, 2021 3:19 pm I still can't get an answer as to when the new Structure Systems that's supposed to replace Weldments will be ready for production use...I was more than slightly annoyed that they finally added the ability to use a spline (which I considered a bug), but only added it to SS, not Weldments because they've "stopped development" on Weldments.

I try to us SS instead of weldment. End up move back to weldment.
End treatment in SS is, I have no idea how it work.
Might try it again later.
Primary and secondary frame? And try to get end treatment to work?

I haven't even tried SS. Weldments work pretty well for me.

Still using SW2018 and SW2019, Can't move to SW2020 or higher because the PDM needs Newer Server Microsoft license upgrade which costs money!!
among other stuff I usually wait till SP 3 or higher which is usually August September. Also Upgrading PDM is also a bunch of work too!!

drbooshkit wrote: ↑Fri Mar 12, 2021 6:10 am 2021 vs 2020 has some good stuff (check out the www.solidworks.com/whatsnew), but the unsung hero is probably all the work under the hood on graphics performance -- especially in Drawings it now uses the new 'graphics pipeline' that's been around a few years. On top of that, a ton of quality work, i.e. fixing SPRs.

Is the drawing graphics performance improvement noticeable? This is something I've been looking forward to when we jump. Just had IT upgrade the license server so I can actually give it a test-run go if I get brave.

Andy_Sanders wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 1:57 pm [Is the drawing graphics performance improvement noticeable?

Depends on your workflow.
Look into "Detailing Mode".
It save model geometry in drawing file so user can open drawing only.

Craig Makarowski wrote: ↑Mon Mar 15, 2021 4:17 pm Also Upgrading PDM is also a bunch of work too!!

Amen bother....we have over 500 users to upgrade.....with 75% at home working now.

Working great here, on 2021 SP2 - a lot better than SP0

matt wrote: ↑Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:49 am I'm on 2020 with only a few complaints. Is anyone using 2021? Are there any huge improvements or drawbacks?

We did an update from SW2019 SP4 to SW2021 SP2 just about a week and a half ago, to keep op with allied partners. These are the type of moments you wish you could actually turn back the clock.

Most issues we are experiencing, is that we lost control of the drawings created out of our models, both existing designs as well as new designs:

• displaying models has become an issue; in some cases, it is only partly shown, depending zoom view

• file sizes doubled on model files and tripled or even quadrupled on drawing files

• implemented welds in weld assemblies keep on disappearing from your view from the sheet when zoom function is used...

• ...rebuilding will bring it back, but sometimes only for a blink of a second...

• ...thus they are also not shown when a drawing is exported to a pdf format

• more complex models are impossible to add dimensions too, as SW freezes up for multiple minutes, or crashes eventually

I've fiddled about with various performance options, which helped me reducing files sizes, but at some drawings, for some reason the performance options within the system options are greyed out.

We're running SW on a i9-9900K desktop pc with an AMD Radeon WX 5100, 32 Gb ram and Win10 Pro incl latest SP's, so that should not be a bottleneck at all.

Frederick_Law wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 2:26 pm

Andy_Sanders wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 1:57 pm [Is the drawing graphics performance improvement noticeable?

Depends on your workflow.
Look into "Detailing Mode".
It save model geometry in drawing file so user can open drawing only.

As a side note; I've got Detailing mode switched off at the moment. Used it for a while and did not notice a real improvement. Did run into problems with an assembly containing scanned data. Saving of the drawing for this assembly proved to be impossible (waited for 90 minutes or so, than I killed the process). With detailing mode off SW saved the drawing in a minute or so. So in my case it did not really help performance.

Reennie wrote: ↑Mon Apr 12, 2021 7:32 am

Frederick_Law wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 2:26 pm

Andy_Sanders wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 1:57 pm [Is the drawing graphics performance improvement noticeable?

Depends on your workflow.
Look into "Detailing Mode".
It save model geometry in drawing file so user can open drawing only.

As a side note; I've got Detailing mode switched off at the moment. Used it for a while and did not notice a real improvement. Did run into problems with an assembly containing scanned data. Saving of the drawing for this assembly proved to be impossible (waited for 90 minutes or so, than I killed the process). With detailing mode off SW saved the drawing in a minute or so. So in my case it did not really help performance.

I experienced similar issues with this detailing mode. A typical drawing of about 12 Mb (of a model assembly of 7 Mb) expanded to a whopping 70 Mb in size...

Robert Wijnands wrote: ↑Mon Apr 12, 2021 5:34 am

matt wrote: ↑Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:49 am I'm on 2020 with only a few complaints. Is anyone using 2021? Are there any huge improvements or drawbacks?

We did an update from SW2019 SP4 to SW2021 SP2 just about a week and a half ago, to keep op with allied partners. These are the type of moments you wish you could actually turn back the clock.

Most issues we are experiencing, is that we lost control of the drawings created out of our models, both existing designs as well as new designs:

• displaying models has become an issue; in some cases, it is only partly shown, depending zoom view

• file sizes doubled on model files and tripled or even quadrupled on drawing files

• implemented welds in weld assemblies keep on disappearing from your view from the sheet when zoom function is used...

• ...rebuilding will bring it back, but sometimes only for a blink of a second...

• ...thus they are also not shown when a drawing is exported to a pdf format

• more complex models are impossible to add dimensions too, as SW freezes up for multiple minutes, or crashes eventually

I've fiddled about with various performance options, which helped me reducing files sizes, but at some drawings, for some reason the performance options within the system options are greyed out.

We're running SW on a i9-9900K desktop pc with an AMD Radeon WX 5100, 32 Gb ram and Win10 Pro incl latest SP's, so that should not be a bottleneck at all.

Hello Robert,.. curious.. have you guys tested a near equiv card like NVIDIA Quadro P2000 5GB and see if it helps... or not?

We currently have SW2021 SP02 deployed on 64 machines. I'm just IT so I couldn't tell you specifics, but a lot of our engineers are on Dell Precision 5520 laptops, upgraded to 32GB RAM. They're not brand new machines by any stretch of the word, but they're holding on pretty damn well all things considered.

Solidworks PDM on the other hand... uffda.

Robert Wijnands wrote: ↑Mon Apr 12, 2021 5:34 am We did an update from SW2019 SP4 to SW2021 SP2 just about a week and a half ago, to keep op with allied partners. These are the type of moments you wish you could actually turn back the clock.

• implemented welds in weld assemblies keep on disappearing from your view from the sheet when zoom function is used...

• ...rebuilding will bring it back, but sometimes only for a blink of a second...

• ...thus they are also not shown when a drawing is exported to a pdf format

Have welds placed in the model ever worked? I have attempted to use them from time to time over the years with limited to no success.

I've installed 2021, only used it a little right now. Just testing.

matt wrote: ↑Fri May 14, 2021 11:55 am I've installed 2021, only used it a little right now. Just testing.

Is there an SP release schedule somewhere? We will be upgrading later this year from 2018. Depending on SP at the time we will either go to 2020 SP5 or 2021, I would that to be SP4 but might look at SP3 if SP4 was right around the corner.

MJuric wrote: ↑Fri May 14, 2021 2:21 pm Is there an SP release schedule somewhere? We will be upgrading later this year from 2018. Depending on SP at the time we will either go to 2020 SP5 or 2021, I would that to be SP4 but might look at SP3 if SP4 was right around the corner.

If I were you, I'd stay with 2018. If not.......next best would be 2020 SP5. Both are more stable than 2021 so far.

Just my $0.20 (raised for inflation).

I think SP schedule is the same every year.
SP0 Sep
SP1 Dec
SP2 Feb
SP3 Apr
SP4 Aug
SP5 Nov
+/- a month

mike miller wrote: ↑Fri May 14, 2021 2:36 pm If I were you, I'd stay with 2018. If not.......next best would be 2020 SP5. Both are more stable than 2021 so far.

Just my $0.20 (raised for inflation).

We really have no reason to move away from 2018 except that we are getting more and more "Future Files" from customers. Right now we have a machine with 2020 installed on it that everyone remotes into when this happens

Waiting until 2021 SP4, preferably 5 would hopefully get us away from some of the early 2021 stability issues. I'm not crazy about the idea of upgrading to 2020 SP5 and already being almost a year behind but that may be the better choice.

We do have a PDM but our SQL servers have already been upgraded due to requirements of other software. We also have CAMWorks....which will also have to be upgraded.

Frederick_Law wrote: ↑Fri May 14, 2021 2:57 pm I think SP schedule is the same every year.
SP0 Sep
SP1 Dec
SP2 Feb
SP3 Apr
SP4 Aug
SP5 Nov
+/- a month

Hmmm, we have several upgrade integration projects in the works that might actually push us out to Aug which would get us to SP4. If we move to SP4, fix as much as we can, then install SP5 as soon as it comes out that might be the way to go.

Just installed 2021 SP3, same $#!+.

MJuric wrote: ↑Fri May 14, 2021 2:21 pm Is there an SP release schedule somewhere? We will be upgrading later this year from 2018. Depending on SP at the time we will either go to 2020 SP5 or 2021, I would that to be SP4 but might look at SP3 if SP4 was right around the corner.

No, they don't issue schedules. I got sp3.

Frederick_Law wrote: ↑Fri May 14, 2021 3:19 pm Just installed 2021 SP3, same $#!+.

All the developers have probably been reallocated to fix the platform...

mike miller wrote: ↑Fri May 14, 2021 2:36 pm If I were you, I'd stay with 2018. If not.......next best would be 2020 SP5. Both are more stable than 2021 so far.

Just my $0.20 (raised for inflation).

I agree. Stay with 2018 as long as possible, or go to 2020. The odd number years seem to be troublesome. (2019 was terrible. I've heard enough about 2021 that I'm staying with 2020.)

MJuric wrote: ↑Fri May 14, 2021 2:21 pm Is there an SP release schedule somewhere? We will be upgrading later this year from 2018. Depending on SP at the time we will either go to 2020 SP5 or 2021, I would that to be SP4 but might look at SP3 if SP4 was right around the corner.

It's here. Keep in mind that these times are approximate. https://www.solidworks.com/sw/support/downloads.htm

Glenn Schroeder wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 6:14 pm It's here. Keep in mind that these times are approximate. https://www.solidworks.com/sw/support/downloads.htm

Perfect, Thanks

We upgraded from 2018sp5 to 2021 sp3
For me worst decision ever

Lapuo wrote: ↑Tue May 18, 2021 9:22 am We upgraded from 2018sp5 to 2021 sp3
For me worst decision ever

Couldn't agree more.

SPerman wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 7:53 am I agree. Stay with 2018 as long as possible, or go to 2020. The odd number years seem to be troublesome. (2019 was terrible. I've heard enough about 2021 that I'm staying with 2020.)

We had pretty good luck with 2019 SP.5, but that said I hold the same view that the odd years tend to be the most prone to poor performance. 2018 was one of my favorite builds - i think we stayed on it for nearly 2 years despite being on subscription. I usually run our systems about a year behind and only upgrade to the SP5 service pack's.

@Lapuo , @Bradfordzzz ,
Just curious what you guys find worse about 2021 than the version you're on? Seems to be very dependent on the type of work you do.

jcapriotti wrote: ↑Thu May 20, 2021 9:18 am @Lapuo , @Bradfordzzz ,
Just curious what you guys find worse about 2021 than the version you're on? Seems to be very dependent on the type of work you do.

SLOW

@Lapuo In what areas?