Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, SW Corp, in their infinite stupidity, decides to eliminate the PDMWorks Workgroup standalone client app. HUGE MISTAKE!
PDMWorks is now Integrated into SW Explorer. What a colossal ABORTION! To start with, the installation on the server side doesn't take into account your previous installation folder when you upgrade and manages to recreate the performance issues due to the MFC4.2 files. One would think that at this stage SW could actually build a setup for this that actually worked properly if they read their own technical bulletins. They integrate MS Desktop search for no logical reason at all. It is a solution in search of a problem.
This wouldn't be so bad if SW actually provided a usable interface. They actually spent time on a God awful skinned interface that looks childish. They didn't put any effort into functionality that would actually help end users. The API hasn't been updated at all as far as client functions are concerned.
One of the MAJOR screwups is that the local file view does NOT refresh when a document is checked in and deleted from the local view. You still can't check in more than one document at a time. This makes absolutely no sense.
If you select a project in the vault view and then move to the local view, PDMWorks doesn't remember the project you selected.
PDMWorks 2006 had it's problems on the client side but it worked. We now have an "enhanced" application that is a HUGE step backwards.
It's pretty clear to me that SW Corp views PDMWorks as a red-headed step child. They put very little effort into the product and it shows.