Mathcad Prime 6.0 is out!

[prop_design]

I see that Prime 6.0 has been released today. On the e-store I see either a full license or a student license. Maple offers a home use license, but it doesn't seem like Mathcad has that. Does anyone know for sure? Also, does Mathcad 15 come with Prime 6.0 purchase. The e-store doesn't say.

Based on all the forum posts, it looks like Prime 6 delivers a lot more than people expected. It seems to address a lot of the gripes. I'm curious what the new symbolic engine is. Is it home grown or licensed from someone. The Knitro solver is mentioned, but I think that's something different.

Thanks,

Anthony

[prop_design]

i tried twice to download prime 6 but never got the link. i tried emailing them and having heard anything. thanks for the tip about asking them for a retiree type license. if i ever hear anything back i will.

[LucMeekes]

It should be that if you register here:

https://www.ptc.com/en/products/mathcad-express-free-download

you get an email from PTC with a download link....

[prop_design]

yeah, that worked for me in the past. but it's not working for me now. i tried twice and finally emailed them. but crickets...

[LucMeekes]

Do you still have the email with the download link for Prime 5? That now worked for me to get 6...

(No need to re-register etc.)

Success!
Luc

[prop_design]

oh i see. no i don't have that email anymore.

[-MFra-]

How is this possible? have you tried the following address: https://www.ptc.com/en/products/mathcad/new-release

[VladimirN]

Link for Mathcad Prime 6.0:

https://www.mathcad.com/en/try-and-buy/mathcad-express-free-download/install

https://free-dl.ptc.com/install/pim_installmgr_mathcad.exe

[JeffH1]

I'm in the process of downloading and installing, but one big hitter for me is the addition of embedding hyperlinks.  This might actually make eBooks possible again in Prime.

[Werner_E]

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@JeffH1 wrote:

I'm in the process of downloading and installing, but one big hitter for me is the addition of embedding hyperlinks.  This might actually make eBooks possible again in Prime.

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Haven't tried yet, but from what I've read you can link to websites, locally stored files or (not sure) call external programs.

But to make eBooks possible again we would need a mechanism to link to a specific place in a specific Prime file.

[JeffH1]

Most eBooks ( Hicks' ME, Roark's Formulas, Hicks' EEE, and including my own) use a Table of Contents (TOC) page that contains links out to individual topics in separate documents and the requisite links back to the TOC in each of those.  While jumping within a document was useful in Mathcad 15, not many of the add-on eBooks used this feature and I haven't used it in my own.  Keeping topic files small is a far better mechanism.

Now, an eBook viewer like Mathcad 15 has would be wonderful (it "jumps" to different documents in stead of opening new document tabs and leaving them all open), but this is certainly a start and will save having to convert TOC pages to HTML, which was the only recourse in the past.  It's a start.

[tslewis]

Agree hyperlinks will not solve the Ebook managmenet. You need that to maintain paths correctly to the pages in an ebook. Having to manuallly repaste all the ansolute paths to links is not managebale, I guess maintaining a local path reference structure in the hyperlinks with all Ebook files stored in a folder pointing to teh local path might work. Not tried 6 yet,,,,,

[Werner_E]

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@JeffH1 wrote:

Most eBooks ( Hicks' ME, Roark's Formulas, Hicks' EEE, and including my own) use a Table of Contents (TOC) page that contains links out to individual topics in separate documents and the requisite links back to the TOC in each of those.  While jumping within a document was useful in Mathcad 15, not many of the add-on eBooks used this feature and I haven't used it in my own.  Keeping topic files small is a far better mechanism.

Now, an eBook viewer like Mathcad 15 has would be wonderful (it "jumps" to different documents in stead of opening new document tabs and leaving them all open), but this is certainly a start and will save having to convert TOC pages to HTML, which was the only recourse in the past.  It's a start.

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Guess I understand what you mean.

I had a more powerful hyperlink system in mind.

[JeffH1]

It seems to work, but you have to <Ctrl>Click, like you do in MS Word.  It also selects the text box when you do it.  It's not, maybe, clean enough for an eBook.

However, they did implement links to URLs using SSL, so you can now link to https:// destinations.  Since our entire network uses SSL, this is a plus.  I had requested this back in Mathcad 15.

Oh well.

[Werner_E]

I agree it was annoying in real Mathcad not to be able to link to https sites

[prop_design]

i guess the third time is the charm, like they say. finally got the link when i tried again today. two other days i tried nothing happened.

[prop_design]

i finally got the link and it installs fine. the what's new document says they did make some improvements to the plotting. i'm curious to know what people think of this release. there were a lot of complaints for many years. does prime 6 address enough of them? i don't use it enough personally to have an opinion. i like classic mathcad much better.

[Patrick9]

PTC Mathcad Prime is the industry standard for engineering calculation software, helping you solve your most complex problems and share your engineering calculations with colleagues UPSers Login. Now we’ve just made it even easier with PTC Mathcad Prime 6.0.

[Fred_Kohlhepp]

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

ROFLMAO

[LucMeekes]

Nicely copied from https://www.ptc.com/en/mathcad-software-blog/mathcad-prime-6-brings-engineering-calculations-life.

How much does PTC pay you?

Luc

[JBlackhole]

I had to laugh ..I don't know to which industry you are referring but standard must be very low then

[Raiko]

really?

[Werner_E]

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@Patrick9 wrote:

PTC Mathcad Prime is the industry standard for engineering calculation software, helping you solve your most complex problems and share your engineering calculations with colleagues. Now we’ve just made it even easier with PTC Mathcad Prime 6.0.

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Nice joke, but we don't have Aprils fools day yet. Hope you don't believe what you wrote yourself.

Unfortunately Mathcad, even in its better times (which were pre Prime of course) never was the industry standard for engineering calculations. It could have been that, but Mathsoft failed to position the software appropriately, so MatLab reaped the award.

But its true that PTC has made it easier with P6, easier for us, to say goodbye.

[tslewis]

I’d actually like a useful forum instead of the constant bitching about how a 15 year old program is better. How much are you guys getting paid to constantly slag it off? Anyway each to their own. Some Engineers are a fickle old bunch unable to move with the times, stick with a 32 bit program leagacied to an old OS. I also have every reason to prefer the newer version without being accused of being some kind of ad for pro, it’s kinda bring constantly hearing about “real version of mathcad”. Go and use another piece of software if you can’t contribute to anything that is going to add the conversation

Cheers

[LucMeekes]

I use the term "real mathcad" only as a shorthand, to refer to

"mathcad as it existed before PTC, and new customers, decided to refer to Prime as 'mathcad'."

in order to prevent confusion...

Luc

[Fred_Kohlhepp]

I’d actually like a useful forum instead of the constant bitching about how a 15 year old program is better. How much are you guys getting paid to constantly slag it off? Anyway each to their own. Some Engineers are a fickle old bunch unable to move with the times, stick with a 32 bit program leagacied to an old OS. I also have every reason to prefer the newer version without being accused of being some kind of ad for pro, it’s kinda bring constantly hearing about “real version of mathcad”. Go and use another piece of software if you can’t contribute to anything that is going to add the conversation.

This added to the conversation?

[StuartBruff]

[quote="t s lewis" ]I’d actually like a useful forum instead of the constant bitching about how a 15 year old program is better. How much are you guys getting paid to constantly slag it off? Anyway each to their own. Some Engineers are a fickle old bunch unable to move with the times, stick with a 32 bit program leagacied to an old OS. I also have every reason to prefer the newer version without being accused of being some kind of ad for pro, it’s kinda bring constantly hearing about “real version of mathcad”. Go and use another piece of software if you can’t contribute to anything that is going to add the conversation[/quote]

Might I ask how long you've been a Mathcad/Prime User?

If you read through the history of this forum and its predecessors, you might not be so quite so quick to dismiss the opinions of those who have used the software for several decades.  I can assure you it's not us who have been unable to move with the times.  You may also find that some of the contributors you seem to be complaining about have contributed a good deal to the community, irrespective of Mathcad/Prime version - certainly far more than your ill-informed disapprobation does.

[Raiko]

"Some Engineers are a fickle old bunch unable to move with the times, stick with a 32 bit program leagacied to an old OS"

You know, it doesn't matter whether a program is 32 bit "leagacied" to an old OS as long as it delivers. Mathcad 15 does patently so whereas mathcad prime is lacking.

Raiko

[Werner_E]

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@tslewis wrote:
I’d actually like a useful forum instead of the constant bitching about how a 15 year old program is better. How much are you guys getting paid to constantly slag it off? Anyway each to their own. Some Engineers are a fickle old bunch unable to move with the times, stick with a 32 bit program leagacied to an old OS. I also have every reason to prefer the newer version without being accused of being some kind of ad for pro, it’s kinda bring constantly hearing about “real version of mathcad”. Go and use another piece of software if you can’t contribute to anything that is going to add the conversation

Cheers

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Please correct me if I am wrong but as far as I remember you never ever had contributed anything helpful or valuable to any thread here in the forum - this in contrary to many other contributors here.

It looks like you are not getting the point and as I can't believe that you are not able to get it I must conclude that you are not willing to do. Therefore, the counter question has to be: how much do they pay you, so you play the one and only  unwavering and unconstrained fan of Prime with no ifs and buts.

But as you had put it - to each his own. If you like using a "modern" software which is so easily beaten by an 15 year old piece of software in so many respects, just do it. But if you claim that software being better just because its newer, then users who know better must hold against it and can not keep silent.

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I also have every reason to prefer the newer version without being accused of being some kind of ad for pro, it’s kinda bring constantly hearing about “real version of mathcad”.

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You may have your reasons to prefer Prime and I sure can respect that fact. But as it seems you are not able or willing to accept any different well-founded opinion by others, but rather call 'em a "a fickle old bunch unable to move with the times". Really think that adds to the discussion? 'nough said!

[DJF]

I'd like to negotiate a truce. Perhaps we can just agree that all versions have significant flaws and shortcomings.  It's a useful system burdened with questionable execution, insufficient development and atrocious marketing.  And it's amazing a competitor hasn't swooped in to provide a better product at a more reasonable cost.  

[StuartBruff]

"It's a useful system burdened with questionable execution, insufficient development and atrocious marketing."

And inadequate capability specifications.

But apart from that,  ... 😎

"And it's amazing a competitor hasn't swooped in to provide a better product at a more reasonable cost."

There are several competitors who meet that criteria; my 'hobbyist' Mathematica licence is substantially less, and for a far more capable engineering / mathematical tool.   

In addition, there seemed to be some cultural changes appearing in the PTC that didn't necessarily reflect an understanding of the wider use of Mathcad/Prime.  For example, the move in Prime to a more page-oriented environment and a 'programmer' outlook, rather than a mathematical viewpoint, were unwelcome changes.

An example of the latter is the implementation of piecewise functions.   When I want to write one down, I use the standard (ISO 80000, I think) curly brace notation

https://www.openmath.org/cd/piece1.html#otherwise

but, it would still appear, the Prime solution to inputting and displaying this is a series of nested if functions or a short program. if(x < 0, -x, if(x, x, 0)) or similar.    Even in such a simple case, the standard layout looks easier to interpret, and in more complex cases,  there is almost no competition between the two.   

I have difficulty in seeing what the implementation difficulties are: insert piecewise operator with 1 or 2 blank place holders, user types constraints and uses some simply keyboard/mouse combination to move to and/or create a new place holder.   Prime interprets it all under the hood and redraws accordingly.  It should be straight forward, given that most of the capability seems to be built-in.   It's also been on the new feature list for about a decade.  

A few of the longer-standing members of this Community may recall that the words "multi" "dimensional" and "array" were likely to set off the foaming-at-the-mouth rottweiler in me. 😈 

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However, I always found my self turning to Mathcad when I wanted to put down, explore and clarify my ideas - I'm so used to the 2D "Engineering Whiteboard" that it makes such things far easier.   I'm hoping it still will, but it gets frustrating at times.

I'm all in favour of a Cease Fire but negotiations for a permanent peace may get a little noisy at times as odd border incidents break out accompanied by shouts of Fire For Effect.