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EdwinV1-Visitor
1-Visitor
October 3, 2018
Question

Goodbye Mathcad!

  • October 3, 2018
  • 4 replies
  • 6954 views

Mathcad was a pretty good tool. A quick and practical way to do your engineering calculations. That was version 9 way back and still my most used version. After that things didn't change much and together with some minor improvements, some issues came into being as well. I suppose their was no profit in leaving a program that worked just be what it was and so Prime came into being. And what a piece of junk it was. Slow, cumbersome and either lacking important functionality or simply not doing what it should.

 

Now on version 5 things should have been better. I mean, after eight years enough people should have complained that it didn't work. Right? Yeah. Too much to hope for. It's still slow, UI is still a mess, you can't comfortably input your work quickly and key features that worked fine as far back as Mathcad 9 still fail miserably.

 

As is the case with many programs, if any of the developer would actually have to use their own program for actual work, they would have known how bad it really is. I have no hope left that it will ever become usable. Which means that Mathcad is now dead. So goodbye Mathcad, it was nice knowing you.

 

I'll leave you with this image of my 10 minute random experiment of MP5, after which I finally had to give up on it.

mp5.png

    4 replies

    G
    gfraulini17-Peridot
    17-Peridot
    October 3, 2018

    I use MathCad Prime since one year. Previously I used MC 15.
    I'm a mechanical engineer and I've not the necessity to have a lot of particularly functions, but I use very often graphs and the main difference between MC before/after Prime, is that you have to specify the function dominio (with units) BEFORE you add the graph.

    mathcad2.JPGmathcad.JPG

    In my opinion, the new way is better.

    Bye

      D
      DJF16-Pearl
      16-Pearl
      October 3, 2018

      I don't think I disagree with anything you've said.  But I still use it as it is the best available tool for most of my jobs.  I'd think Maple is probably the best overall, but I don't have access.  

       

      That said, all you need is a range variable defining x to make your plot.  In some cases MC will default to -10 to +10 but sometimes it doesn't.  I know in other threads this was pointed out as a bug.  But I pretty much define a range every time I plot.

        G
        gfraulini17-Peridot
        17-Peridot
        October 3, 2018

        If you don't use units you can make a plot witout a previous dominio specification. Otherwise, with units, you must specify the dominio with units.

        mc3.JPG

          W
          Werner_E25-Diamond I
          25-Diamond I
          October 3, 2018

          I agree that Prime is a piece of junk which probably would never be developed to live up to the more than 10 year old Mathcad 15 and I also agree that it would be be an unforgivable mistake to recommend a young engineer to learn and use Mathcad or Prime.

          But to be fair it must be said that the problem in the plot example you showed sure is not a reason for bashing Prime (there are countless other reasons to do so, though).

          Your plot example would fail in good old Mathcad 15 and below as well and it just shows a misunderstanding of Mathcads/Primes quickplot feature. This feature where you do not have to define the variable on the abscissa only works for dimensionless abscissa variables. No change from old Mathcad to Prime.

          So to get the plot you expect you may either define the abscissa variable (possibly as a range with unit) or use the dimensionless variable provided by the quickplot feature and assign it the needed unit when calling the function to plot by writing B(x*mm) in the ordinate placeholder (this was shown by @gfraulini for Mathcad and it works the very same way in Prime).

           

          So you may blame PTC for not improving the quickplot feature to work with units, too, but in this case you can't blame them for making things worse than they used to be. Prime is so much worse than Mathcad in so many other cases but not in this one.

           

          V
          24-Ruby IV
          ValeryOchkov24-Ruby IV
          24-Ruby IV
          October 3, 2018

          Sorry, but...

          THE FOX AND THE GRAPES

          A Fox one day spied a beautiful bunch of ripe grapes hanging from a vine trained along the branches of a tree. The grapes seemed ready to burst with juice, and the Fox's mouth watered as he gazed longingly at them.

          The bunch hung from a high branch, and the Fox had to jump for it. The first time he jumped he missed it by a long way. So he walked off a short distance and took a running leap at it, only to fall short once more. Again and again he tried, but in vain.

          Now he sat down and looked at the grapes in disgust.

          "What a fool I am," he said. "Here I am wearing myself out to get a bunch of sour grapes that are not worth gaping for."

          654320[1].jpg

          W
          Werner_E25-Diamond I
          25-Diamond I
          October 3, 2018

          Sorry, but you either misunderstood my post and the criticism of Prime or you misunderstood the story about the fox and the grapes.

          J
          JD_74447024-Participant
          4-Participant
          November 16, 2025

          Hi Alfasoft & PTC Teams, 

           

          I hope you’re well. Please find attached a summary detailing my Mathcad maintenance-only renewal request for my existing licence (one seat, Mathcad 14, educational use).
           
          Could you please provide a quotation for the renewal, including:
          - Price for maintenance-only
          - Access to the latest Mathcad Prime release
          - Any education-rate options
          - Multi-year renewal pricing
           
          Thank you very much — happy to provide any additional information you need.
           
          Best regards,
          John Downes 
           
          Summary: 
           
          PTC Mathcad.
           
          Firstly, I have previously purchased several Mathcad licenses for a large sum. This was not a subscription based product as it was a One-Time Purchase. (I have License Keys to prove this)
           
          Secondly, I have been forced to move away from Windows 10 as it is no longer being supported and because of private data on my computer, it is essential for me to keep my PC up to date. 
          Unfortunately, I need to let PTC know that since I have upgraded to Windows 11 and have been forced to purchase a new computer due to obsolete cpu. I am therefore into a sticky situation where I cannot use Mathcad any longer due to a license error. 
          PTC should be able to provide a license to a loyal customer who has purchased their product since early 2000 and have been an existing customer for a long time since then.  
           
          It is a matter of principle that PTC honor the original purchase of this software, without all the bells and whistles of the new version. 
          In any case, it should be an educational requirement to allow my experience to be passed on to engineers of the future. 
          This software is an essential part of maintaining my responsibility and support on previous contractual obligations. 
           
          Can PTC let me know how to resolve this issue as they do not respond to my enquiries? 
          Contact Info@alfasoft.com is defunct, so are  uk_sales@ptc.com, and sales@alfasoft.co.uk, and support@pdsvision.co.uk 

           

          S
          StuartBruff23-Emerald V
          23-Emerald V
          November 16, 2025

          I agree with you as regards honouring extant "eternal" licences.  (It doesn't affect me, as I've long lost all of my CDs and licence numbers for Mathsoft Mathcad)

           

          I suspect, though, that the only way to keep your Mathcad 14 running is to keep your old PC for Mathcad work.  An inconvenience to be sure.  Unless someone knows a way to spoof the licensing software into thinking your new PC is your old one.

           

          OTOH, you could also try out Mathcad Express.  It's pretty potent in its own right (but nowhere near as capable as Mathcad Prime).

           

          AFAIA, Alfasoft are still in business - I've certainly had recent emails from them.  Their Mathcad subsite states:

           

          "For legacy licence re-activation, maintenance renewal, academic pricing or to buy PTC Mathcad via purchase order please contact us on

          +44 (0) 203 695 7810 or info@alfasoft.co.uk"

           

          Here is their UK contact information:

           

          Alfasoft Limited
          Np-105, Icentre Howard Way,
          Newport Pagnell, Milton Keynes,
          Buckinghamshire, MK16 9PY
          United Kingdom

           

          Monday – Friday 9 AM – 5 PM

          Phone: +44 (0) 203 695 7810
          Fax: +44 (0) 203 695 7819

          Email: info@alfasoft.com

           

          Company number: 9384342
          VAT number: GB212333852

           

          Stuart

           

          I regard the Professor licence subscription of £250 ($339.78) to be on the steep side for a Mathcad individual (hobbyist) annual licence.  I think £125 ($164.62) is nearer the mark for an individual to rent Mathcad Prime for a year; I'd probably pay it.

           

          Absolutely no way am I going to part with the Individual Subscription price of £662.40 ($872.25) for a year's subscription for a product that still can't do what the original Mathcad could, let alone half the things that people have proposed for both original Mathcad and Prime over the decades.  That kind of money gets me a perpetual home licence from one major competitor plus a couple of years of subscription from another one.  Or, I could also take an Open University mathematics module (MST125 = £636) and get the Mathcad Student's subscription for an extra £60.  Still, I can relax safe in the knowledge that nobody will take any notice of my opinion. 😊

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