Just opened a part in Solidworks and joy of all joy I got the best dialog box error message ever…
…Oh Ok. Brilliant.
In all seriousness this got me thinking about the quality of the Windows and Solidworks interface design (again). I’m a reasonably proficient user, but frankly most of the feedback messages that come out of Windows might as well just be blank. They’re usually along the lines:
“Error 3245: Fatal error in the jump strap is triggering a shutdown in memory kernel 0000 0000 0124 3456 3411 2207 xx. You cannot save your work or restart your computer.
OK?”
Yup something bad has happened, press OK and hold your breath to see if you’ve just lost an afternoons work… … … circle going round… … … “OH FOR F*** **** *** ** *****’S SAKE!”
It’s a very boring thing to say but my favourite feature that they could add to Solidworks or Windows would be stability and predictability. I know that’s not terrribly sexy. So I note with interest that this is the big claim that Solidworks is making for 2010. “Yes we listened to you and you said…. “F**** **** ***!!!” about 6 times a day on average. So this year we’ve innovated with an amazing new feature – Software that Works!! Yes now you can have bells and whistles AND Stability! Woo Hoo.”
Another major new piece of software that’s just come out is of course Windows 7. This also claims to be more stable too. How remarkable, is this a wonderful new and strange trend? Have these guys realised that people might buy more software if it doesn’t make you want to want to throttle yourself and jump out of the window?
I’ve got a nice blue Windows 7 package sitting here waiting to loaded and Solidworks 2010 is turning up tomorrow in a nice shiny new box… So this will be the big weekend I find out if their claims are true. This time next week, perhaps life be more stable, predicatable and calmer? I really hope so, otherwise I might be checking into a heart clinic soon. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Tags: Solidworks, Windows 7
