Re: Mathcad Prime 5.0 "What's New" guide

VladimirN · ‎Aug 17, 2018

In attachment can be found "What's New" PDF guide for Mathcad Prime 5.0 release.

ValeryOchkov · ‎Aug 18, 2018

I will repeat once again what I expect from the new versions of Mathcad Prime:

The ability to save files in older versions of Mathcad, including Mathcad 15 (reverse converter).
Animation. Solving many problems without animation is not a complete solution.
Prefix, postfix and infix operators.
Ctrl-Alt-j to enter "chemical" variables
Select between the ribbon interface and palettes
Work with pictures as in Mathcad 15: translating the picture into a matrix and so on.
Indexes in the comments
Add, correct, please, this list!

Werner_E · ‎Aug 18, 2018

Haven't you already noticed that PTC doesn't care and is not willing/able to create a worthwhile software?

ValeryOchkov · ‎Aug 20, 2018

Werner_E · ‎Aug 20, 2018

Charly · ‎Nov 27, 2018

PDE solver

LucMeekes · ‎Aug 21, 2018

That's odd, PTC apparently does not like even page(number)s.

Or the new Chart feature is so odd, it cannot be described on even numbered pages.

Luc

Werner_E · ‎Aug 21, 2018

@LucMeekes wrote:

That's odd, PTC apparently does not like even page(number)s.

Or the new Chart feature is so odd, it cannot be described on even numbered pages.

How else would you spread information, which normally would fit on a single page, over 19 pages to make it look like a real big feature?

And yes, the new Chart feature is indeed odd and perfectly fits the sad tradition of Prime.

RantEng · ‎Aug 27, 2018

The sad thing is that I Alpha tested prime 5.0 charting in January 2017.

Bob

Werner_E · ‎Aug 27, 2018

@RantEng wrote:

The sad thing is that I Alpha tested prime 5.0 charting in January 2017.

Bob

Yes, and ... ?

Were the various bugs and limitations already found way back then?

- No way to dynamically change stepsize and other options via Mathcad variables (as it seems only max and min of each axis can be controlled by Mathcad, nothing else.

- chart does does not respect and considerate the windows scaling - on a high resolution display with large windows scale the axis arrows and all the fonts are much too small and cannot set larger than (in this situation tiny) 20 pts

- no vertical or horizontal markers,

- no way to label specific points, plots , markers

- no flexibility wrt the legend - select which plot trace should show up in the legend, more flexibility wrt the position of the legend

- mediocre integration into Prime, big time delay when inserting the chart and when calling the options menu

...

There is free plotting software around which can do much better and commercial packages which can do extremely better. Its really a shame that this highly disappointing chart component should to be the only justification for a new major release!?

RantEng · ‎Aug 28, 2018

Werner,

Just loaded 5.0 yesterday and haven't had a chance to play with it much. As I said, it's been a long time since I saw the Alpha. The upgrade sure seemed impressive compared what we've been using since the inception of Prime. I believe there was a way to put markers in but it may not have been obvious (fake as an additional trace?).

Agreed, on the lack of support for 4k machines. PTC isn't the only company that has missed fully implementing 4k Support (Autodesk and Solidworks too).

PTC's biggest crime is in being a technology company run by bean counters. Rather in vest in the R&D to develop and maintain a world class product that attracts new customers; they work hard to maximize the revenue from existing customers.

Bob

Werner_E · ‎Aug 28, 2018

@RantEng wrote:

Werner,

Just loaded 5.0 yesterday and haven't had a chance to play with it much. As I said, it's been a long time since I saw the Alpha. The upgrade sure seemed impressive compared what we've been using since the inception of Prime.

I agree that the new plot chart has some benefits over Primes native plotting feature, but thats not really impressive as Primes plotting capabilities sure not deserve to be called a feature (not to mention the 3D plots).

The new charts aren't any useful and usable for me as of the scaling bug, but even without this they are a big disappointment for me. If a feature is included in such a way, by no means seamless and quite awkward and slow to handle, this would only can be excused if its a top notch, state of the art or beyond feature. The new charts aren't that - no even nearly. They lack too much and can't considered state of the art. Having to wait two years and then just get what we experience now is just miserable in my opinion.

I believe there was a way to put markers in but it may not have been obvious (fake as an additional trace?)

Haven't found an option to add markers. The workaround with using a second plot (which then shows up in the legend, too) was suggested my me here, too

https://community.ptc.com/t5/PTC-Mathcad-Questions/Prime-5-0-no-markers-in-chart-components/m-p/568062/highlight/true#M182045

Still no way to label those markers (at least not easy and obvious ones).

Agreed, on the lack of support for 4k machines. PTC isn't the only company that has missed fully implementing 4k Support (Autodesk and Solidworks too).

Yes, a lot of other software, too, lacks of full 4K support, but most is still usable with a 4K display and there are workarounds. Unfortunately this is not the case with the new charts.

PTC's biggest crime is in being a technology company run by bean counters. Rather in vest in the R&D to develop and maintain a world class product that attracts new customers; they work hard to maximize the revenue from existing customers.

Not sure if this applies to Mathcad, too. While the new licensing scheme might be a step in this direction, many customers already switched to other software or plan to do so in the near future.

Looks like the future of Prime is to be a better calculator add-on for Creo.

The stand alone version is maintained as long as it possible to milk the cow a little bit without having to invest much resources.

In short all of this sadly means that Mathcad, as we knew it, is a dead end.

RichardJ · ‎Aug 30, 2018

@Werner_E wrote:

In short all of this sadly means that Mathcad, as we knew it, is a dead end.

Yes. But if you can really accept that, in your heart, as I have, it is somewhat liberating in a way. I no longer care what the new features are, or whether they have been implemented well or badly. I will use Mathcad 15 as a tool when I need it for as long as I can, but now it's just another tool. I don't care what PTC does with Prime (the one exception to that might be if they sold it to someone with a better vision and some competence). After being a fixture on the forums for so many years, back to the days of the Collab, I no longer wonder what has been posted each day, I only look (more like glance) maybe once a week, and log in once a month (it's only by chance that I even read this). That has freed up a lot of time for me. Life is short and there are many things to do

ValeryOchkov · ‎Aug 31, 2018

@Werner_E wrote:

@RantEng wrote:

In short all of this sadly means that Mathcad, as we knew it, is a dead end.

For old users - yes! For new - no!

Werner_E · ‎Aug 31, 2018

@ValeryOchkov wrote:

@Werner_E wrote:

In short all of this sadly means that Mathcad, as we knew it, is a dead end.

For old users - yes! For new - no!

In my opinion it would be a very bad idea to advise a young engineer to use Prime for his work.

ValeryOchkov · ‎Sep 01, 2018

My grandmother used to say that earlier, in her time when she was young, everything was much better - both food and water, and air, and men, and... computer programs!