No SP3 for Protel DXP --> Protel 2004

[Jayson]

Here is the official word from Altium, the work that was going into SP3 will be integrated into Protel 2004 which will be a new product.

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Hi everyone,



We would like to notify you about a recent Altium announcement and take
some time to explain the impact of this on the current DXP product
range, in particular Protel and nVisage.



This week, Altium announced the release of a new Altium product, called
Nexar (see **broken link removed**). Nexar will
deliver a new approach to digital design, allowing you to implement a
processor-based digital system in an FPGA using board design
methodologies. It will include a mixed schematic/HDL design capture
environment, IP cores, embedded development tools, and a reconfigurable
hardware development platform called a NanoBoard. These features combine
to create a highly interactive design and debug environment, allowing
the engineer to interact directly with a design implemented in the FPGA.
For more information on Nexar, please go to
https://www.altium.com/nexar/.



More importantly, for you, Nexar will pioneer a new approach to
electronics development - something that we are calling LiveDesign.
LiveDesign capabilities, which are incorporated into the DXP platform,
support real-time communication between the engineer and the design.
This will have broad implications for all Altium products - how they
work, and more importantly, how they work together to provide a
complete, integrated electronics design system. Significantly, the
entire Altium product line will move to the LiveDesign-enabled DXP
platform, providing access to the benefits of this new methodology for
all Altium customers.



And it is because of our belief that every engineer should have access
to the opportunities that this new technology offers, all current DXP
version users will receive the 2004 software update automatically, free
of charge when it is released Q1, 2004.



Updates and enhancements that were under development as part of Service
Pack 3 for nVisage and Protel will not be released for the DXP versions,
but have now been integrated into the nVisage 2004 and Protel 2004
releases. Furthermore, nVisage 2004 will deliver a strengthened
environment for dedicated FPGA design. Protel 2004 will be enhanced with
FPGA pin optimisation capabilities, and include full forward and back
annotation of design changes between FPGA and PCB projects. It will also
include the previously announced Situs autorouter improvements.



So to clarify..



Everyone who holds a valid user license of Protel DXP and/or nVisage DXP
will receive their respective 2004 software update automatically,
free-of-charge. A NanoBoard can be purchased for an additional fee,
pricing will be announced nearer to release.



All customers who hold Protel DXP and/or nVisage DXP licenses AND have a
valid pre-paid upgrade subscription will receive the 2004 software
updates as well as the NanoBoard.



Anyone who purchases a license of Protel DXP and/or nVisage DXP between
November 1, 2003 and December 31st 2003 will also receive the software
update and the NanoBoard.



More information on Altium's 2004 product line-up will be available soon
on the Altium website (www.altium.com <http://www.altium.com/> ). You
will also soon be receiving a copy of EDANEWS which will provide further
details on these matters.



Best regards,

Phil Loughhead

Product Manager, nVisage/Protel

Altium Limited
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[Frosty]

They did it with V3, they did it with P98, they really screwed up with P99 so had to give P99SE for free, they screwed up release of DXP before ready, now they will give 2004 away to users as well including all new bugs that will come with it for sure.

Why should they change habit of a lifetime! If the users will accept bad product and not complain too much. 8O

Their link in the press release does not say about PCB, are they going to stop work on PCB tools and stay workin hard on FPGA? Who knows

I have never seen such good ideas like these guys have, then have them taken to only 80% finished, distorted and trashed before they are completed, than with these guys.

Hopefully for the users the FPGA tools will not have the same amount of real nasty bugs their PCB tools have, a FPGA mistake could be very costly in terms of bugs if it ends up a compiler error!

:R