New generation of powerful Windows 10-based laptops typically bring thinner and thinner design, touch screen/pen design capability, but typically no DVD drives. These thinner package sizes typically result in most machines being unable to include an internal DVD drive, which now places the emphasis on downloading your next version of SOLIDWORKS from your company network or from the SOLIDWORKS Customer Portal. New laptop machines are getting thinner and sometimes larger in screen size to better support design tasks.

New hardware technology is more and more frequently in laptop packages, especially for designers and engineers on the go. Upgrading to SOLIDWORKS 2018 will help take advantage of this new graphics technology. Learn more about how to gear up for 4K resolutions for SOLIDWORKS here. Setting the resolution to a lower level will enable older versions of SOLIDWORKS to appear as normal, but this action will defeat the purpose of the new higher resolution graphics. Older versions of SOLIDWORKS will display UI and menus as very small on this new hardware. SOLIDWORKS 2018 is one of those applications that can take advantage of “4K” technology. Today many (if not most) computers are shipped with very high resolution displays that offer “4K” resolution (some even offer ‘5K’ resolution) that bring better graphics presentation than ever before for applications that can take advantage of these new features. Many of the techniques that we use every day to browse, zoom, and navigate our digital pictures on mobile devices can now be used during the design process with SOLIDWORKS.ģD visualization is one of the most powerful capabilities provided by SOLIDWORKS. These features open up new ways to navigate and design using one or more fingers, the pen (stylus) or a combination of both approaches. Touch and pen features are available on more and more Windows 10-based tablets and computers but not all machines yet.

All new Windows-based machines are now provided with Windows 10, which brings new technology to the design space, including the use of touch-based and pen-based interaction techniques. SOLIDWORKS 2018 offers new capabilities to best leverage new features in Windows 10.

Smaller, lighter machines, typically equipped without DVD drives.

New very high resolution “4K” graphics cards and displays.

New design interface techniques enabled by Windows® 10.

As we start the New Year, let’s take a look at some technology updates for those looking at new ways to improve their design productivity with SOLIDWORKS 2018.

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