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| January 2008 iesweb.com Newsletter Volume 14.1 | |||||||
QuickRWall 2.0 ReleaseQuickRWall sports a new look, but retains its value!After a long wait, we have a worthy upgrade for QuickRWall 1.5 customers who have been wondering where the IBC 2006 support was. Version 2.0 is now selling like hotcakes, thanks to excellent "word of mouth" reports from one IES customer to the next.
QuickRWall now offers explicit support for gravity, restrained and cantilever retaining walls in concrete, masonry, or mixed construction. Improvements have been made in all areas of the product:
Upgrade DetailsExisting QuickRWall customers may upgrade to version 2.0 for just $175. Customers who would like to add this tool to their collection can get it for $395. Please use our secure online order form to make your purchase--with two major upgrades in progress we are very busy! In most cases your order will be processed within hours, but please allow a day or so... VisualAnalysis 6.0 Success StoriesCustomer first Impressions with the major upgrade...We breathe a sigh of relief once the software "goes out the door", and yet that is often when the real hard jobs begin at IES. After months of coding new features, improving things that are difficult and countless hours of testing, debugging, and retesting we brace for the true assault on structural software: the engineer's office! This happened on September 1 last year and we now have many customers using VisualAnalysis 6.0 every day. You too can upgrade from any previous version...and here's why you might want to: We conducted a short survey to find out whether this upgrade has been successful or not, and why. Here is a summary of those results: What is your first impression of VisualAnalysis 6.0?78% of customers reported first impressions as either "Good" or "Excellent"! What are the best new features?Every customer had something different to praise, so we categorized them into various areas.
Some of the specific comments included these: "Easy and quick to use - improves productivity", "Area loads are nice", 'Cut views are great", "Auto design group feature", "Quickness of design", "Preconfigured trusses", "Pan/tilt camera with mouse wheel", "Better speed", "Enhanced graphics", "Zoom & pan works better", "I like the updated project manager", "Better DXF", "Graphics enhancements are awesome", "I like the load case manager", "Find tool is helpful", "Faster code checking". Not all Roses, yet Improving Fast!The survey also asked about problems, or issues that have been experienced and IES has addressed many of these with the latest updates. Our engineers continue to work on the software, in partnership with Microsoft's WER Quality Control system and customer reports to insure that your experience is the best we can offer. VisualAnalysis code is improved almost daily, and regular updates are made available so that if you have a problem, it can most likely be corrected by simply downloading the latest release. Preventive Medicine: Make Your Upgrade Enjoyable!Graphics: Perhaps the biggest single support-issue with the new version is that the intensive graphics expose problems in customer video-cards and driver software. Before you upgrade to VisualAnalysis 6.0 we highly recommend that you update your video card (if it uses less than 64MB of RAM) and make sure you have the latest video card drivers installed--see our FAQ Answers for information on how to do this! Changes: The software provides so many new features and moves some things around and this can be unsettling for long-time customers. Be sure you spend a little time up front reading about the changes and experimenting with the new features before jumping into a "deadline project"! The software ships with a help file and tutorials to get you jump-started. If you have projects in-progress with version 5.x, we recommend that you keep them in that version. Starting new projects in the new version will be a much nicer experience. As one customer wrote: "Yesterday, I had to work with an old (done in VA 5.5) project. "What's up with that?"IES Tidbits and explanations...Does IES interact with Revit Structure 2008?Yes! Customers licensing VisualAnalysis 6.0 Advanced can "beta test" the new VARevitLink to import/export models in BIM fashion! Check out the Beta Test page for details. When will ShapeBuilder be upgraded to work with VA 6.0?Soon. We are working on upgrades to our ShapeBuilder and Shape Database Editor tools so that they work seamlessly with VisualAnalysis 6.0 and the updated databases. You can continue to use the older versions of these products for shape customizations--just be sure to read how in the FAQ Answers and/or VisualAnalysis Help file. Do you have training for VisualAnalysis?Yes. We did training in Houston, TX in November and are planning to offer additional free or low-cost training in Salt Lake City, UT and Las Vegas, NV near the end of March. Further cities and dates will be forthcoming...watch your inbox for details. If you would like to request IES training in your city (perhaps in conjunction with a SEI group meeting or engineer's conference) please let us know. If you have 20 people attending, the cost can be as low as $200 per person for a 1/2 day VisualAnalysis seminar. When will Network Licensing be Available for VisualAnalysis 6.0?It is available NOW (see article at right)!
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IES 2008 ResolutionsCan IES improve your life?Tradition says that we formulate resolutions for each new year, which typically entails making corrective changes to the bad habits we fell into since last year's resolutions! At IES our 2008 resolution is to figure out some way to make all this exasperating technology just go away, so that everything works as it should! It does not seem to matter if 500 operations succeed if one does not: that single failure can bring down the whole process! (This includes more than software failures as we saw with the Minneapolis bridge collapse in 2007.) As we maintain our seven existing products (some in multiple versions) and support them, it is becoming increasingly clear how fragile our technology systems are. No matter what we do, it seems that there are always 2% of customers who experience difficulties with IES product installation, stability or correctness. We can usually help customers get past issues, but often after hours of frustrated guessing & testing to determine the source of the problem (all remotely). Much of this comes from increased complexity and requirements on the Windows platform (Vista). Some comes from the variety of hardware & software configurations possible. In any case, at IES we are proactively moving into 2008 with these resolutions:
Finally, we are all looking forward to the adventure that 2008 will bring. On behalf of everyone at IES: Happy New Year! Mr. Terry Kubat New LicensingEasy, but differentIt was inevitable. After 10 years or so of using a very simple-minded licensing system, we have made a few changes. Customers will notice that as new products are purchased, there is also a slightly different procedure for installing your software licenses. Individual License KeysThe license key is no longer something you would like to type, so a copy & paste procedure is recommended. To keep our product installs light, and our licensing more secure, you now enter your license key in a separate "Easy License" program. The system works great--as long as you follow the 3-step instructions provided in your purchase CD or Email. Network License KeysCustomers with many engineers (typically 7 or more) can benefit by sharing licenses across the network and IES is now offering a Network License Server to manage the licenses for you. Network licenses are available for 3 to 25 "concurrent" users. Client-Server TechnologyThe system works by installing your licenses on a single "server" machine and then installing your products on any workstation where it needs to be used. Each workstation then contacts the server through a TCP/IP port to request a license. If a license is available, the software runs normally. If all the licenses are in use, you are notified of that fact and you can try again later. PurchasingBecause network licenses are more expensive, and less-frequently purchased, there is little information on the web site about them. To purchase a network license, determine how many "concurrent" users you would like to have for IES products, which products you need, and then use the secure online order form to make the purchase. To convert from single-user licenses to network licenses, please contact us for a quote. |
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