Say I have SW08, and I get Cosmos. Does Cosmos have the same non-backward compatibility that SW has? More to the point, if I then get SW09, am I forced to pay the maintenance to keep using Cosmos, if I don't have the latest version. Or will an older version of Cosmos still work with a newer version of SW?
TIA
I don't know SolidWorks official stance on this but I have used Cosmos
2005 with SW 2007 and it works.Typically you can go back 2 versions of COSMOS, but the official stance is that only the current versions of both are supported together(via web site).
This is one of the big reasons I don't like the way CosmosWorks is integrated with SW. I bought DesignStar which works, looks and feels just like CosmosWorks but is standalone. It therefore also works with SolidEdge and a number of other CAD packages and can even work with CATIA. I also use Cosmos/M (which is not CosmosWorks) quite a bit simply because it is fast, very capable and excels at the type of models I need to make. Both these packages are standalone and pretty much CAD independent. DesignStar will link to SW to get CosmosWorks type integration of the geometry and Cosmos/M can really only pull in dxf files reliably.
TOP
TIA,
I think you're missing one of the most important points about upgrading, the improvements that made in each version. COSMOS has made some significant changes in each of the previous releases.
Take for example the bolt connectors added in 2007. That simple addition saves bunches of time preparing an analysis, or the solver speed improvements. If you're content with the time and features of an older version, yes you can stay with that version. But I would recommend you carefully review with your VAR the new release features and improvements for each upgrade.
AJN
Actually Cosmos/M has all that CosmosWorks has and is in a way the map to the future. Only thing is, I was using the "map" when it ran on MSDos. For those familiar with FEA the pace at which SRAC has been adding features to CosmosWorks is painfully slow.
For those that don't know, Cosmos/M was written originally to run on DOS and Unix and was later ported to Windows95. Around that time SRAC got the idea to go "Windoze" and came out with CW and DesignStar. It was intended to be a poor man's ANSYS and fit the bill very well as a full featured FEA package for analysts. It has one of the best command line interfaces I have ever used.
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