I got an email from one of my co-workers the other day about the SolidWorks View Selector.  The View Selector is a new tool in SolidWorks 2013, and it can help you visualize the different default model views that are available to you.  It is invoked by pressing Ctrl-Spacebar or by pressing the View Selector button on the Orientation dialog (activated by pressing the spacebar).  Doing the latter will make the View Selector (hereafter referred to as “cube”) persistent and will cause it to appear along with the Orientation dialog …

SolidWorks Previous Version Interoperability introduced with SolidWorks 2013 probably isn’t what most users were wanting (or at least, were expecting), but I believe it’s what most users need.
When users hear, “previous version capability”, most think of being able to save their files back to an earlier version.  I believe this is what most users were asking for.  But I think that trying to carry back new features introduced in each new version would be fraught with major issues.  And I also think that most people asking for this type of …

In my line of work involving R&D and prototype work, I don’t make much use of the manufacturability tools available from SolidWorks.  They are geared more towards shops who do production runs of their own designs and those of customers.  These tools can help give engineers and designers a better idea up front on both the costs of their products and their environmental impact.  They can also help with quoting products from outside customers.
There have been several improvements in the Costing and Sustainability tools in SolidWorks. SolidWorks’ Costing tool (included …