Mathcad Prime 5.0 Release date

[MEstrada]

Has a date been set for the release of version 5.0 of Mathcad prime?

On the calendar, it says June 2018, but a day does not show announced.

Are these dates set in stone, or ice?

[LucMeekes]

Neither stone nor ice.

My guess is its rather mathematically. A statistical analysis is shown here: https://community.ptc.com/t5/PTC-Mathcad-Questions/Mathcad-Prime-5-0-some-new-updates/m-p/489877#M174257

Recent information is here: https://community.ptc.com/t5/PTC-Mathcad-Questions/Printing-issue-with-protected-areas-in-Mathcad-Prime-v4/m-p/550940#M180808

Luc

[rgunwaldsen · Accepted solution]

Seems like mid-July. This webinar has already been pushed back from June date(s). OK with me -- been waiting 15 months already, so can wait a bit longer (for bug-free release).

[LucMeekes]

There's no such thing as bug-free software ( unless it's also free of functionalty).
A more than 25 year old quote says: "How many bugs you may have found and solved in a piece of software, there's always one more bug!".

Luc

[rgunwaldsen]

I agree with you -- software bug frequency versus time typically has a weibull distribution. I just want to be far enough out on the curve to avoid most of the stupid stuff.

[DJF]

In the plotting webinar this week they said July 24th (2018) is the new target day.  The 2D plotting update seems to pretty much include all the plotting options you'd get in Excel.   The old 2D plots will also remain available.  It's a bit concerning that the axis labels now become like Excel - i.e. typed.  So if you change units, the graph will update but the labels will not.  Not exactly sticking with Mathcad's excellent unit handling heritage, imho.

[Fred_Kohlhepp]

---

@DJF wrote:

In the plotting webinar this week they said July 24th (2018) is the new target day.  The 2D plotting update seems to pretty much include all the plotting options you'd get in Excel.   The old 2D plots will also remain available.  It's a bit concerning that the axis labels now become like Excel - i.e. typed.  So if you change units, the graph will update but the labels will not.  Not exactly sticking with Mathcad's excellent unit handling heritage, imho.

---

Axis labels in Mathcad 15 are typed too.  If we shut off the arguments (dividing by units) to get a clean 2D graph for displays you had to type units into the labels there too.  The history is littered with complaints about plotting capability--long before Prime.  Still, getting back what we had in 15 would be an improvement; a disappointing improvement but an improvement over Prime 4.0. 

But what happened to the fabulous plotting improvements we were promised (originally for 4.0, then 5.0)??

[tietjee]

I watched a presentation of the plotting feature.  The plotting is done using an embedded feature.  The plotting functionality is better that 15.0.  I am looking forward to trying it out myself.  The old plotting method is still available in Prime 4.0 for those that need it.

A release date of July 17 was given during the presentation.

[jmebara]

....Aaaaaaand July 17th just went by with still no Prime 5.0 and better plotting Features to deal with. Why doesn't PTC give a crap about Mathcad users who just want a product as good as the old Mathcad to deal with. I'm working on a sheet with many Graphs and its a pain what I have to go through with the horrible plotting Features in Prime 4.0. Have been looking forward so much to the new update (which will alledgly hv better plotting features), but the silence from PTC is punishing.

[Fred_Kohlhepp]

Are you sure they said 2018?

[jmebara]

I guess so. Everywhere I have checked says that 2018. There is a Video on Youtube that went up a few days ago showing the new plotting Features. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px6en3Rvc_M). So I would assume the June/July 2018 Dates are legit but PTC isn't even updating users at all about the newest Infos or timeline.

[DJF]

I was also on the webinar and pretty sure they said July 24th (2018), not the 17th.   So I don't think they are late (yet). Although they also said June 6th once.

[jmebara]

Sooo...today is the 24th. Let us see if anything Pops up.

Also found more Webinar Videos talking abt the new Features in Prime 5 here: https://mrcpds.com/mathcad-prime-5/

I really Need this update for the many 2D plots I have to deal with. Yet PTC is stooopidly slow in keeping the customers updated.

[Fred_Kohlhepp]

I'm afraid that you'll be disappointed:

• Either they'll miss the release, or
• The plotting package won't be quite what you need.

But, I hope I'm wrong!

[jmebara]

Sadly, you are probably right 😞

[JamesCahill]

The 2-D plot enhancements look good, and will make Prime at least usable. However, it's disappointing that there seem to be no other improvements in 5.0. It's astounding that it took so long just to incorporate third party plotting software. There's still so much to be done. What about 3-D plots? The English spell checker can't be released because all of the other languages aren't done? Why not release them as they become available? Web controls are near the top of the priority list for 6.0, but they might not make it? So maybe 6 years from now we'll see them? I guess it's too much to hope that we'll ever see real improvements over 15, such as support for multi-dimensional arrays.

[Werner_E]

Thanks for the link.

From what we see there it seems that he new 2D plots need a lot of manual work to format them to your needs. It looks like it would not even be possible to set the axis limits automatically by calculations/Mathcad variables. Thats disappointing (but not surprising, unfortunately).

Its already the 25.7. over here and still no P5 - again, no surprise

[jmebara]

There is really no Logical reason as to why PTC isn't putting the necessary effort to bring Prime to the Level of classical Mathcad, other than the fact that they do not see Mathcad as a cash bringer for them. It is a side product that makes them some Money but not enough that they should stress about...They probably put in minimal resources into Prime's rapid development because they don't believe in it being of great financial benefit for them. I might be wrong but the slowness is excruciatingly painful...they could have just left Mathcad to developers who believe in the Program and are willing to to take it farther as quick as possible for the benefit of the scientific and Engineering community that relies on it

[Werner_E]

You sure are right. Mathcad as a stand alone program clearly does not fit PTCs portfolio of other software products they are dealing with. When PTC bought Mathcad 12 years ago they did not really know what they are buying, I think, and they just wanted to quickly add a powerful calculation tool to their CAD cash cow - probably as a paid add-on tool. Seeing the number of users of the stand alone product Mathcad they decided, to continue selling and supporting that program to make a few bucks, but without increasing the initially intended low ressources devoted to the program. Mathcads base was too old which made integration impossible and so they decided to change to a more modern codebase - the birth of Prime. They clearly underestimated the necessary efforts and the complexity of the program, but still were not willing to increase the ressources.

So it looks that Mathcad/Prime nowadays is more likely seen by PTC as an annoying appendage.

[skunks]

[DJF]

I agree we've all given up trying to understand PTC.  But even if I put myself in their shoes, it makes no sense.  PTC is all about integrating the design process.  A calculation tool is the very start of that; a cog that you can't leave out.  We're just starting to use the mathcad/Creo/Simulate combo and it shows a lot of potential.  Of everything they are doing it seems Mathcad is the easiest one to fix.  It's coding should be almost completely modular so all they have to do is outsource the next improvement to a coding company.  And they already have functioning source code for most things; is it that hard to convert?  Maybe they should just create an emulator that would allow them to use the MC15 code blocks within Prime.  

[DenisJaunin]

Good morning,
I have been using MathCad 2.1 since its release under DOS.
I had all intermediate versions up to MathCad PRIME 4.0 m010.
Before, every year there was a new version with various utility programs.
Now it remains a version which does not manage to evolve.
This leaves room for other software such as Maple.
Part of Maple had been implemented in a MathCad version for symbolic computation.

Or Mittens found this update text from Prime 5.0?

Sincerely.
Denis.

[Werner_E]

---

@DenisJaunin wrote:

Now it remains a version which does not manage to evolve.
This leaves room for other software such as Maple.
Part of Maple had been implemented in a MathCad version for symbolic computation.

---

"does not manage to evolve" is very polite for what we experience

Maple (or part of it) was the symbolic engine up to version 13. Beginning with version 14 (soon before PTC bought Mathcad) the symbolic engine was changed to MuPad. Maple was much superior to Mupad and thats one of the reason many consider MC11 the best version ever.

Also MC12 was considered the worst version ever (that was before we were hit with Prime).

---

Or Mittens found this update text from Prime 5.0?

---

It looks like P5 was offered for download yesterday for a short period of time and then was withdrawn because of a bug discovered. As no software from a certain complexity can be bug free we have to assume quite a severe bug was discovered by an early adopter (what does this say about PTCs quality control?). As I read  in another thread, P5 was delayed for a week and is "scheduled" for early next week. 😉

Don't hold your breath.

https://community.ptc.com/t5/PTC-Mathcad-Questions/Mathcad-Prime-5-0-some-new-updates/m-p/562833/highlight/true#M181489

https://community.ptc.com/t5/PTC-Mathcad-Questions/Printing-issue-with-protected-areas-in-Mathcad-Prime-v4/m-p/562998/highlight/true#M181520

[jmebara]

Thanks very much for the links. Atleast, one can see how desperate, we Mathcad users have become. Loosing all confidence in PTC but still clinging to a beautiful software that PTC does not want to treat as such. 

[DJF]

So tomorrow?  (For real this time, I'm sure...)

[DenisJaunin]

Hello, DJF,
Thank you for your information.
But we no longer have access to the old update calendar.
In the new it indicates only once the update is released.
Sincerely.
Denis

[LucMeekes]

Then it's not a calender, but a version history at best.

Luc

[Werner_E]

---

@DenisJaunin wrote:

Hello, DJF,
Thank you for your information.
But we no longer have access to the old update calendar.
In the new it indicates only once the update is released.
Sincerely.
Denis

---

You mean you have no access to

https://support.ptc.com/cs/product_calendar/PTC_Product_Calendar.htm#RANGE!A384

?

[LucMeekes]

Indeed.

Mere mortals who have no money to throw into the PTC pit have no access.

Now I wonder what the 'new' is that Denis refers to.

Luc

[DJF]

So, I think I'm actually to blame for the delay in 5.0 (the last 3 weeks anyway).  I had an issue where the solve block gave me the wrong answer (instead of no solution found).  Turns out there's a bug.  MC15 had a final check of constraints, but prime did not.  So they fixed it in 5.0 (will check everything and give an error if no solution found.)  Lesson being: as your professors said, always check your work.

In this case the solve block got confused dividing by sin(90+90) (i.e. almost zero) and that somehow caused results that never got a final check against constraints.