Hold your gasps for a few minutes… ok, just a bit more, hold it… and release. I know, it’s almost shocking. And your friends? They probably won’t believe you for a few minutes, but yes, it’s true. SolidWorks is dropping support for Windows XP and phasing out PhotoWorks after 2010.
Thanks to Matt Lombard for scraping off the boon of speculation by posting excerpts on the future of product support from a recent SolidWorks Partner Program email. Head over to read the news. Here are some of the highlights.
- “SolidWorks 2010 will be the last release to support both 32 and 64 bit Windows XP”
- “SolidWorks will support Microsoft Windows 7 as part of its SolidWorks 2010 release”
- “[SolidWorks] SP1 (tentative release expected in November this year)”
- “SolidWorks 2010 will be the last release to include PhotoWorks.”
What else could this mean?
Ditching old operating systems is pretty standard these days, and with Windows 7 coming in with better results than Vista, making that jump looks to be a tad less precarious. Now with Photoview 360, it all get a bit more interesting. The transition would have to be just as seamless as moving to a new OS. So, to start some new speculation, I’m guessing you’ll see native support of PV360 in SolidWorks and any legacy PhotoWorks appearance brought over seemlessly, as it’s practically going already. Are ya ready?
