Windchill 12.0 Roadmap and Features - Any News?

[habat4SE4PTC]

We are looking for being provided with Roadmap and Features related to Windchill 12.0 but it seems that we are unlucky with this requirement...

Initially, Windchill 12.0 was supposed to be released end of Q2 2019; now it has been announced to be released end of Q2 2020; in between, 11.2 has been released but there is no LTR (Long Term Release) scheduled for 11.2 as it is the case with 11.1 M020

So what is the best Upgrade strategy? considering that we would need to target 11.1 or 11.2 (from 11.0) and right away need to consider 12.0.2.0 (the LTR for WNC 12.0 to be scheduled end of Q2 2021), knowing that 11.1 will be supported until Q4 2022 and 11.2 will be suported until Q2 2022, which would give a very short amount of time to be supported with 11.2 (in case we select 11.2) according to the time needed to upgrade to 12.0 from 11.2...

[BenLoosli]

The support end dates of 11.1 and 11.2 are irrelevant if you plan on upgrading to 12.0 when it is released in late 2020. This will be well before the EOS dates.

I would also like to know about the enhancements and improvements being planned for Windchill 12.0, as thjis is my next planned install from 11.0. We are staying on Creo 4, just for the transition from 11.0 to 12.0 and will then go to Creo 7.

[habat4SE4PTC]

To be clear and as advised by PTC, we do not wish to jump directly to 12.0.0.0 or 12.0.1.0 but we need to target the Long Term Release (LTR) for 12.0 which is 12.0.2.0 (Kangaroo) estimated to be released Mid 2021, hence only 1 year to consider the upgrade until the end of support with 11.2 in Q2 2022 and 6 months more with 11.1 until Q4 2022 and we may need a large amount of time (6 months to 1 year) as per our lessons learned with previous upgrades...

Also when considering upgrading from 11.0 to 12.0 I would advise to double check the Supported Upgrade Paths as in principle, PTC usually supports a maximum of two release in the upgrade process, meaning that if you are in 11.0, you cannot consider a direct jump to 12.0 as two intermediate releases are in between with 11.1 or 11.2; so you may have to consider a two-steps upgrade process and this is why we are first identifying 11.1 or 11.2 as our intermediate release before targeting 12.0; however, not knowing what 12.0 is really all about does not encourage us to consider a second upgrade right after the first one - in blind mode...

[BenLoosli]

Good point about the upgrade path, but according to this PTC document, 11.0 to 12.0 should be a valid upgrade path.

https://www.ptc.com/support/-/media/FB7056EF89E1477E82A34F7B3F8354A6.pdf?sc_lang=en

However, where is 11.2 on that chart???

[TomU]

Are you sure you linked to the correct document?  That is the current supported upgrade path, not the future path.  It does include Windchill 11.2, but it does not include anything about 12.0.

[BjoernRueegg]

I still hope that 12 is coming next June, but there are slides around which are showing a Windchill 11.2.2 version. Perhaps Windchill 12 is already delayed? This are only sales slides and it could be a typo?!?

[AndyHermanson]

Might just be some typos or something. PTC is still planning on 12.0 in the June timeframe based on Java 12. They are looking at supporting both Oracle JDK 12.0 and Amazon OpenJDK Corretto for those that don't want to pay for Oracle support. 

[BjoernRueegg]

JDK 11 and not 12

[lhoogeveen]

Here's what I've heard for Windchill 12:

• June 2020 Release
• Support for Amazon Corretto as an alternative for Oracle Java/licensing
• Check box support for Windchill attributes.

We're looking at possibly starting to use Windchill Change Notices so we're debating about whether Windchill 11.1 is worth upgrading to for Change Management improvements or just stay at Windchill 11 until Windchill 12 is available.

I would absolutely love for PTC to add some of these ideas:

• Create and Interact with Objects from Windchill Home Page

• Allow Admins to Set View, Search, and Home Page Settings for Users

• Windchill Views - Save Wrap Text for Columns

• Allow Admins to Display Object Descriptions to Users

[BjoernRueegg]

There are minor improvements in the change management corner of WC11.1 or 11.2. It depends how deep your change management will be.

If you stay on WC11 please check that you don't use the legacy links. Otherwise the legacy links must be migrated to the new flexible links during the next upgrade.

[lhoogeveen]

@BjoernRueegg Thanks! Looks like I might be able to disable Legacy Mode in 11.0 to prevent using Legacy Links - https://support.ptc.com/help/wnc/r11.2.0.0/en/index.html#page/Windchill_Help_Center/ChgMgmtChgAssocModes.html

[bmüller]

Hi,

is there any news about the upgrade path?

we are on 11.0 M030 + Creo 4.0. From the roadmap, it would be nice to jump to 12.0 + Creo 7.0.

Stepping on 11.1... would feel somehow slow.

br Bernhard

[BenLoosli]

Bernhard,

That would be nice! I would love to do the Creo upgrade first!

I am on Windchill 11.0 m030 with Creo 4, too.

My plan is to stay on Creo 4 until after I upgrade to Windchill 12, which could be a year from now!

Once on WC12, I will go to Creo 7.

[lhoogeveen]

Looks like Creo 4 to Windchill 12 and then to Creo 7 might be a common upgrade path. We're also on Creo 4 and Windchill 11.0 M030. The image below from PTC's Windchill 11.2.1 launch presentation.

[JeffZemsky]

@lhoogeveen - you should have a plan to move to Flexible mode.  Short term Legacy might be ok, but we will be picking a target to permanently remove them .  In addition the Flexible mode gives you more capabilities - want to link a PR to CN - configuration.  Want to define what CT types can be linked to a CN type? Configuration

Don't know why this ended up down here - I had replied above 😞

[RABOU_Francois]

The upgrade from WNC 11.0 to WNC 12.0.2.0 is complex because important changes occurs in term of infrastructure (Java strategy is changed), licencing (new way to manage licences), new user's functionalities and a migration in 2 steps seems the easiest way to migrate WNC 11.0 to WNC 11.1 or WNC 11.2 (with a better user's experience functionalities)  and then WNC 12. Time is required on user side to study all these impacts. We need to know what is the PTC strategy and which support we can have during this transition phase.

[BenLoosli]

Being only 4 months away from the release of Windchill 12, can someone from PTC give us an update on the migration paths available? An estimate of complexity would also be nice comparing 11 to 12 with 11 to 11.2 to 12?

If we must go to 11.2, that would delay any plans I have for 12.

It would also change my Creo 7 plans.

[BenLoosli]

Any word from PTC on Windchill 12 upgrade paths from Windchill 11.0 m030? Can we upgrade directly or do we need to do an 11.1 or 11.2 intermediate upgrade first?

I would also like to open the idea of a CPS for Windchill 11.0 m030 that would allow us to move to Creo 7 before the Windchill 12 upgrade.

The upgrade paths have a major impact on our planning for  the second half of this year and early 2021. I have 3 production Windchill systems and 2 test systems to consider in my planning.

[habat4SE4PTC]

PTC usually support + 2 versions for an Upgrade Path and as WNC 11.2 is an intermediate release before 12.0, you can upgrade 11.0 to 11.1 and 11.0 to 11.2 (and this is confirmed in the Upgrade Supported Paths from 03-oct-2019) but not sure 11.0 shall be upgradeable to 12.0 as it would represent 3 versions after 11.0

For what is related to Creo 7, I would advise to consider either WNC 11.1 M020 CPS11 or preferably WNC 11.2.1.2 which would allow Creo 7 support (without AIM and Multi-Body); On another hand, f you wish to consider Creo AIM and Multi-Body support, you will have to target at least WNC 12.0.0.0...

For what is related to a magic CPS for supporting Creo 7 on 11.0, I do not think this is feasible as WNC 11.0 is out of regular support and 11.0 M030 CPS18 and CS21 are already fully scheduled, packed and reserved for the Extended Support, which is usually providing fixes and no longer any enhancement of any kind, especially if any Creo Integration is not initially scheduled as part of the Support Roadmap for a specific WNC Release

[BenLoosli]

The upgrade path matrix shows that WNC 11.0 m030 is a viable option for a WNC12.0 upgrade.

Are there reasons why this should not be done and an intermediate path should be taken? If I do an intermediate release  upgrade, it would be to WNC 11.2, as that would give me more time to consider the 12.0 upgrade plus allow me to use 7.0 sooner.

What additional things do I need to be aware of with a 11.2 upgrade? I know licensing is one issue for us, but are there other things that change how Windchill functions that need to be considered?

[habat4SE4PTC]

In our case, we have considered a 2-step upgrade from WNC 11.0 M030 to WNC 12.X via WNC 11.2.1.X, simply because WNC 12.0.0.0 being the first release (similar to former F000), it will not be supported by PTC as a LTR (Long Term Release); the first 12.X.Y.Z that would need to be considered would be 12.0.2.0 (similar to a former M020), 12.0.1.0 being released around End of 2020 but not a LTR, 12.0.2.0 would be scheduled for Mid 2021 and would be the LTR we are looking for; due to the long timeframe we have to consider for 12.0.2.0, we will first target the longest release for 11.2.X.Y for an upgrade by End of 2020 and as WNC 11.2 it is an intermediate release, there is no LTR (no equivalent of M020) so we will quickly have to target the last equivalent to M010 with 11.2.1.X (and 11.2.1.1 is already available, 11.2.1.2 will come soon, our target being 11.2.1.4 for SolidWorks 2020 support, even if we also need Creo 7 Support)

Starting with WNC 11.1 and for all other releases and on a client perspective, we all have to consider a smart license mapping with respect to how we manage our licenses with WNC, not only server side (new with 11.1 and 11.2+ and in our case Navigate 8.5.X as well) but also within our Windchill Capability Breakdown with our end users (inside Windchill, mainly through dedicated groups available OOTB for this purpose and mapped to the server side licensing capabilities related to our contract with PTC)

For Creo Licensing, you may have a look at the following interetsing video from Boundary Systems: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1kIekONHZI

This WNC 11.0 M030 CPSXX  > 11.2.1.X > 12.0.2.0  2-step Upgrade is a real opportunity to progressively leverage our WNC Taylored Upgrade Process w.r.t. our very large Infrastructure and multiple areas that would need to be considered ...

... with WNC 11.2.1.X, we will surely consider advanced capabilities with the PSB Custom Config Spec Filtering, Document Classification...

... with WNC 12.0.2.0 we will have to thing of other areas (i.e. Infrastructure containerization, Windchill DS Decommissioning, WBR/Cognos Decommissioning, ...) and additionally we will consider customizing and deploying Navigate for multiple core and transverse capabilities starting with External Collaboration, Extended Enterprise, BI, Reporting, Federation, ...

I hope the above elements will bring some light to you for considering your short, middle and long term Upgrade Strategy...

[cgorni · Accepted solution]

To close this community thread on Windchill 11.0 to 12.0 upgrade path

Summary of the exchanges and list of references:

• There is not a single upgrade path that can be suggested as it will depend your timeline, goals and constraints and other restrictions you may have, for example compatibility with other products like Creo.
• You can go through the different replies to review the possible factors and items to evaluate before defining your upgrade path.
• A Windchill 11.0 M030 to Windchill 12.0 upgrade path is supported as indicated in the matrix here:
  • The link is also available in article CS103572
  • In addition to a link to Release Calendar
• For Creo compatibility matrices you can refer to article CS172786
  • The one for Windchill 11.x will confirm Creo 7.0 is supported starting with Windchill 11.2.1.0
• You can refer to article CS329148 to locate the list of enhancements for Windchill 12.0