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Should we Upgrade from 2008 to 2014 or not ?


Big Dave

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We're still running Architect 2008.

We get quite a few problems with the software, such as referenced detail randomly moving in viewports and "cannot open file" (which is related to referencing, it seems)

For simple jobs it's OK. but complex ones exhibit increasingly errant behaviour.

We've already bought 40 licences of Architect 2014, but we are using them all 2008 legacy mode, so cost is not an issue.

We could install the 2014 version on 64bit Windows 7 machines.

So, I'd be extremely grateful if people who have used 2014 could give their opinions as to whether it behaves appreciably better than 2008 and is more stable.

We don't do all that 3D Bim stuff - it's all 2D - just lines and text.

I've read the thread titled "2014 Crashmonster" which suggests that SP 1 to 4 should be avoided ?!

Any advice would be welcome.

Thank-you

Dave

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

I highly recommend 2015 over 2014, even if you don't have 64bit OSes.

Also, you will see "Crash Monster" threads regardless of how good the version is. People are motivated to start a thread based on how well their work is going maybe 1/10 times compared to users that are having issues.

But, no need to make a decision AFTER you spend money, give the free trial a shot first:

http://www.vectorworks.net/trial/form

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Sorry misread your post, didnt see you already had a bunch of 2014 seats.

You should absolutely install SP5 for 2014.You dont need to "skip" 1 through 4, because they're included in 5. You don't have to install them all one at a time in order like with older versions.

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Peter: I'm not taking your comment the wrong way! I know 2008 is old. We have a (fairly) good reason for sticking with 2008 for so long; we run it via Citrix, (in a virtual machine) and later versions don't work so well that way.

Both:

We've paid for 2014 licences, so there will be minimal cost to use that - to go to 2015 will cost money which we want to avoid.

I realise there's a 2015 30 day trial, but the errors take longer than that to materialise, sometimes viewport detail will move after three months of use. Plus it's the 2014 trial version I could do with.

Jim - you're saying that for every negative post in this forum there are 10 users who are happy ? I realise that may be the case.

So the question I'm asking is: if we move from 2008 to 2014 will we experience a pleasant and worthwile increase in stability and reliability ?

Thanks for your input.

Dave Hawes

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From my perspective: the forward transition is something you will need to undertake at some time and if you're considering it now then you are probably choosing between:

1) now to 2014

2) now to 2015

3) 12 months to 2016

with a slight preference of 1 over 3

The advance from 2008 - 2014 is significant and while I would advocate for making the leap to 2015 rather than 2014 (2015 is much more stable imo) waiting 12 months for 2016 may be a valid alternative.

It's advisable also, if possible to create a mirror of your system and have a couple of power users implement the changeover before rolling it out across the organization.

Edited by bcd
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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee
Jim - our posts crossed in mid-atlantic !

So you're saying 2014 SP5 restored order and stability to the release ? (As far as can be expected)

And I guess you do work for Nemetschek ? So you're keen to persuade me of the software's virtues ?!

Dave

2014 SP5 resolved the serious issues users were having that were actually related to the service packs. Often times users will experience issues near the release of an SP that were unrelated to the SP itself, but they will associate the two irrevocably.

Yep I do indeed work here, however I don't get paid any more or less if you upgrade or not ;) I only give advice that I genuinely believe to be beneficial to the user, pretty words just to make a sale are not my style.

Previous posts are correct, going from the Classic workspace 12/2008 directly to 2014 would be a big change, but if you were using the "Standard" workspace as I believe it was called back then, the interface is very similar on a fundamental level.

It's advisable also, if possible to create a mirror of your system and have a couple of power users implement the changeover before rolling it out across the organization.

This is excellent advice and if possible, I highly recommend it.

You can have Vectorworks 2008 and 2014 both installed on the same machine at the same time, they won't interfere with each other unless you try to actively run them both at the same time, so you can go back and forth and have your more experienced users judge and make the call.

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Its interesting that you're using Vectorworks 2008. In my experience, that was one of the worst versions for crashing and other problems. I only used it for a month or so before I reverted to another version. So, ultimately, most of the forum feedback is based on individual experience and does not necessarily reflect the group.

I have had good experiences with both Vectorworks 2014 and now Vectorworks 2015.

Kevin

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Thanks for all your posts - the information is useful.

Jim said:

"You can have Vectorworks 2008 and 2014 both installed on the same machine at the same time"

That might be useful - is it possible to have a licence file that allows us to run 2008 or 2014 (on the same machine) and the licence is taken from our pool of 40 whichever version is fired up ?

(AutoCAD can do this if you're on subscription - you can run the current version and any of the last 3 versions and they all dip into the same licence pool).

Can VW 2014 open VW 2008 files ?

With 2008, if a file is really old, it won't open it.

bcd said: "the forward transition is something you will need to undertake at some time"

Not necessarily, if Vectorworks continues to give us grief we might use something else.

Dave

Edited by Big Dave
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bcd said: "the forward transition is something you will need to undertake at some time"

Not necessarily, if Vectorworks continues to give us grief we might use something else.

Dave

Said in the spirit of your question - whether or not to upgrade to VW2014. Your grief will be greatly alleviated by upgrading to a more current version.

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee
Jim said:

"You can have Vectorworks 2008 and 2014 both installed on the same machine at the same time" is it possible to have a licence file that allows us to run 2008 or 2014 (on the same machine) and the licence is taken from our pool of 40 whichever version is fired up ?

With 2014, yes there are network licenses (C series and G series, ask your sales rep about whats best for you, but G is most likely what you want) that let you effectively install it on an unlimited number of machines on a network, but be able to use a set amount on any of those machines at a given time.

I do not think its possible to convert older 2008 licenses to this kind of licensing though, the tech is relatively new.

Can VW 2014 open VW 2008 files ?

With 2008, if a file is really old, it won't open it.

Yes. Vectorworks 2014 can open back to MiniCAD 7, actually further back than older versions could. 2015 through 2012 (Im pretty sure 2012) can open back that far, actually further than some older versions could.

However, you will often not be able to EXPORT back to the older versions from the newer ones, many object have received so many changes that they have no equivalent in the older versions. You CAN technically export newer objects like surface arrays back to older formats, but I have no idea what kinds of objects you'll end up with.

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