Which one is better MathCad Prime or MathCad?

[JR_10311621]

At my uni, MathCAD was recommended to our class by a professor and I saw online that there are 2 programs available, one is MathCad Prime and other is MathCad. Which one should I choose if I want to use it for math, physics and mechanics? Some collegues used in the past MathCad 15 and told me this one is good, others says that MathCad Prime 4,5 or 7 is good. Is one from these 2 better than the other? Are there updated versions for the ones mentioned above?

[VladimirN · Accepted solution]

 Hi,

Version of Mathcad 15 is no longer supported: https://community.ptc.com/t5/Mathcad-Tips/Official-PTC-Mathcad-15-and-Prime-1-6-End-of-Sale-Announcement/td-p/715416 If you install on your PC separately, then only - Mathcad Prime.

You can try the latest release - Mathcad Prime 8.0:

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

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

"Mathcad Prime Help Center" with various application examples: https://support.ptc.com/help/mathcad/r8.0/en/

Mathcad Prime YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/MathcadTV

Also you can find in attachment - "Mathcad 15 and Mathcad Prime 7 Comparison Chart".

[VladimirN · Accepted solution]

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

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

"Mathcad Prime Help Center" with various application examples: https://support.ptc.com/help/mathcad/r8.0/en/

Mathcad Prime YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/MathcadTV

Also you can find in attachment - "Mathcad 15 and Mathcad Prime 7 Comparison Chart".

[Werner_E]

As VlidimirN alread wrote, Mathcad 15 is not available anymore for sale. The last years it never was saled as a separate item but you could download the program from PTC and the license you generated for Prime 5 or Prime 6 also was valid for Mathcad 15. This changed beginning with January 2022. I am not sure but I guess that license files for the current Prime 8 will not work for Mathcad 15 anymore even if you can download MC15 somewhere else.

But its possible that your university bought a bulk license for Prime and Mathcad 15 which may still run for several years until it expires. So you may be able to download Mathcad 15 from your university software download page and use  a license you get from your university to activate it.

If you have a choice between Prime and real Mathcad that way, I would suggest that you use whatever your professor uses in his lectures. That way you can use the worksheets he may provide without having to convert them. If he uses Prime and you are using MC15,  there even would be no way to convert the sheets and if its the other way round, you may be able to convert MC15 sheets in Prime format, but because Mathcad 15 is still much more powerful compared to Prime, chances are, that the converted file will not work in Prime or need additional rework to make 'em functional.

So ... use, what the others, especially the lecturers, are using 😉

[TerryRickard]

Mathcad 15 is vastly superior to Prime.  It runs much faster, allows you to do plots with secondary axes, has a trace function, allows for area labels, etc.  

[Werner_E]

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@TerryRickard wrote:

Mathcad 15 is vastly superior to Prime.  It runs much faster, allows you to do plots with secondary axes, has a trace function, allows for area labels, etc.  

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I fully agree and I could certainly continue the list with the advantages of MC15.
Admittedly, Prime also has a few advantages over MC15, but IMHO they don't outweigh the disadvantages by far. And the chart component they added (it will support labels, grids and I think even a secondary y-yaxis) sure is not an improvement as its implemented quite bumpy, is slow and clumsy to use and - an absolute no-go for a Mathcad add-in - it doesn't support units!
And the development speed of Prime is shamefully slow - we're stopping at version 8 and a nearly 20 year old predecessor is still superior -- truly not something  PTC could be proud of. Does anyone remember PTC promising that Prime 3 would include all Mathcad 15 features and more ...

However, I stand by my advice that @JR_10311621  should use whichever version his lecturers are using.

Otherwise, if someone is new to Mathcad now, one cannot in good conscience recommend the use of the no longer supported old Mathcad 15, even if still superior to Prime in my opinion - it is unfortunately a dead end.  It's history and you can't buy MC15 anymore anyway.

[xiaohongshu]

I agree with the argument posted, however, I must respectfully disagree with this statement:

Otherwise, if someone is new to Mathcad now, one cannot in good conscience recommend the use of the no longer supported old Mathcad 15, even if still superior to Prime in my opinion - it is unfortunately a dead end.  It's history and you can't buy MC15 anymore anyway.

MathCAD 15 still has a thriving Facebook group for those still interested in MC 15.

True, PTC may have abandoned a gem of a software app, but, thru the miracles of the internet and a plathora of discussion forums, I AM sure MC 15 continue to find uutlity for for far too many engineers and scientists far to jaded by overhyped products, published by various software development companies, too busy to find time to support quality software----no matter the age.

Regardless of anyone's personal opinions.of various discussion forum websites, the internet WILL be the ultimate arbiter of the legacy of quality software applications