Leading Vendors Show Windows NT-Based Design Solutions;Windows 95 Wins Editor’s Choice Award From Cadence Magazine
ANAHEIM, Calif. June 18, 1996 This week, the world’s leading developers of architecture, design and engineering software are demonstrating a new generation of solutions built to take advantage of the Microsoft® Windows NT® Workstation and Windows®
95 operating systems. The range of solutions announced here at the A/E/C Systems ’96 and M/CAD Expo conferences demonstrates accelerating momentum for Microsoft Corp.’s 32-bit operating systems in the architecture and engineering design industries.
Further evidence of accelerating momentum for Windows in these industries is the Editor’s Choice Award for Windows 95 from Cadence Magazine. Windows 95 will receive the award at this year’s show, being held June 17-20 in Anaheim, based on its ability to significantly change the way designers, both architects and engineers, do their work. Using Windows 95 with Windows NT Workstation, technical users gain both ease of use and enhanced productivity with the Windows family of operating systems.
“Design and engineering customers want the power and robustness of UNIX® environments along with the scalability, easy administration and use, and openness that are available with Windows NT Workstation and Windows 95,”
said Pieter Knook, general manager of business customer marketing in the organization customer unit at Microsoft.
“The 32-bit Windows platforms offer this combination of capabilities and the industry has responded with tremendous enthusiasm.”
Leading application vendors are demonstrating their products for design solutions in Microsoft’s booth 1871 at A/E/C. These vendors include 3D/Eye Inc., Adra Systems, Autodesk Inc., ESRI, Intergraph Corp., MapInfo Corp., Softdesk Inc., SolidWorks, Spatial Technology Inc. and Wiechers & Partner.
“Autodesk has worked closely with Microsoft to ensure that AutoCAD® R13 takes full advantage of the 32-bit environment of Windows 95 and Windows NT,”
said Robert Carr, vice president of engineering at Autodesk.
“Windows NT Workstation makes no compromise on performance. It supports the most advanced applications with the performance and functionality expected of a world-class operating system. We’re especially impressed with its reliability and protection for data and applications.”
32-Bit Windows Operating Systems Offer Key Advantages for A/E/C Market
According to industry analysts, all of the leading vendors of mechanical CAD/CAM, CAE and other advanced engineering design and analysis applications now offer solutions for Windows NT Workstation and Windows 95. Moreover, 32-bit Windows operating systems are becoming the platform of choice for application development in this industry. Windows NT Workstation is the first operating system many of these developers have supported other than UNIX.
In the past six months, a number of new engineering applications have offered 32-bit enhancements that can help make engineers more productive. For example, the use of technologies such as OLE has made it easier for designers to integrate their design data into their office-productivity environment. Moreover, ActiveX
™
Controls such as Activecom CGM, recently introduced by Intergraph, are making it easier for leading design applications to integrate with Internet technology.
Broad Range of Solutions Announced, Demonstrated at A/E/C
Windows NT Workstation-based solutions being demonstrated or announced at the A/E/C Systems ’96 show include:
3D/EYE
™TriSpectives Professional, an ACIS-based 3-D design program that provides 3-D solid modeling, illustration and animation, with specific application to product-design professionals. TriSpectives Professional is available on Windows NT Workstation and Windows 95.Autodesk®
WorkCenter
™, which now supports design document management and workflow on Windows and Windows NT workstations.Intergraph®
Solid Edge, the first Microsoft Office-compatible software for high-performance mechanical design and drafting.
Solid Edge provides advanced parametric, feature-based solid-modeling solutions for Windows NT and Windows 95 workstations. Solid Edge offers unique assembly design tools to accelerate the product-development process.MapInfo desktop mapping software for data visualization and geographic analysis.
MapInfo integrates data and maps with CAD applications, providing a geographic view of business that offers fresh insights and promotes new strategic thinking.Softdesk AEC Authority
™
, which offers more than 50 applications covering all levels and all disciplines of AEC.
SolidWorks 96, the second release of this 3-D solid-modeling software system, featuring enhanced assembly, part-modeling and drafting capabilities. SolidWorks 96 runs on Windows NT and Windows 95 workstations, bringing powerful production solid modeling to the desktop.
Spatial Technology ACIS developers tool kit for 3-D modeling. Hundreds of thousands of engineering professionals work with products based on ACIS, offering the benefit of automatic interoperability with a huge community of users and their products. Spatial Technology is announcing the shipment of yet another ACIS-based product – Corel Systems Corp.’s CorelCAD
™
.
ACIS is the foundation for applications in architectural engineering, architectural design, CAD/CAM/CAE, animation, virtual reality, entertainment, multimedia, education, industrial design and geophysical modeling.Structural Research and Analysis COSMOS/M DESIGNER II and COSMOS/Works, engineering design and analysis programs that employ COSMOS/FFE technology to solve complex design problems up to 100 times faster than conventional codes, while reducing disk-storage space requirements by as much as 95 percent. In addition to these offerings, the A/E/C Systems ’96 conference features M/CAD Expo for Windows, a showcase of solutions, add-ons and developers for Windows NT Workstation and Windows 95.
Additional information on Microsoft solutions for architecture, engineering and construction can be found on Microsoft’s Web site at http://microsoft.com/industry/. Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers.
The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.Microsoft, Windows NT, Windows and ActiveX are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company Ltd.Autodesk and AutoCAD are registered trademarks and WorkCenter is a trademark of Autodesk Inc. 3D/Eye is a trademark of 3D/Eye Inc.Intergraph is a registered trademark of Intergraph Corp.AEC Authority is a trademark of Softdesk Inc.CorelCAD is a trademark of Corel Systems Corp.
Information on Microsoft solutions for manufacturing can be found at http://microsoft.com/industry/man/.
