I wonder if the bar graph indicates how good the software is or how many users there are?

I've worked with the following MCAD packages and placed in order of preferance:-

Seimens/UG NX 4 and 6 (planing on purchasing 7.5 mach 3 package soon)
Solid Edge ST2
Pro/E Wildfire 2 & 4 (5 looks really quite good, but not tried it)
Pro/E from 2000, the one with the cascading menus
Inventor 8 - 2011(had the most time on this, probably 10,000 hrs +)
Mechanical desktop
Solidworks
Catia V5
VX
IronCAD

For surfacing ICEM, Alias and Rhino in that order. Personally I find the NX surfacing tools or Pro/E ISDX package easier and more intuative to use

 

Better the Devil you know

Over the years i've used ProDesktop, ProE, ProE Wildfire, Inventor 04 and 10, plus SolidWorks 2008,9 and 10. Generally speaking the newest version of any of the software has been better than anything i've used before. But for some reason, I've always found SolidWorks to be infuriatingly unstable. (I'm writing this now while waiting for SW10 to unfreeze) - i've used it on several machines of varying ages, but always seem to have the same result. When it works it's very very good. When it's bad its awful!

 

I vote for Autodesk Inventor...
Working this for a year already.

 

Everyone will say that the best software that uses.But,who has not used CATIA, does not know what the ultimate satisfaction.Simple comparison:is it better to drive a BMW or Opel? Answer is very clear. Just as it is with CATIA. Try it.

 

I put in one for Solidworks. Once you learn it, workflow can get very efficient. Though my disclaimer is "not good for large assemblies!"

 

I voted for SolidWorks, which I've found is more versatile than Inventor, although that being said, I first learned SolidWorks from a book that was written to teach Inventor.

 

Of the three I've used Inventor, SolidWorks and SolidEdge I lean toward the last. The UI is very helpful during the early steep learning curve. With the Synchronous Technology it is so easy to use and to reuse a previous part to develop a new one.

By the way another modeller put together by rogue developers from the SolidWorks clan is SpaceClaim. It is very easy to use and half the cost but they have a long way to go to compete with the modeling and analysis packages they are competing with.

 

I have to agree that SpaceClaim is another package worth considering.
My group has been utilizing it with great success...the speed of modeling is phenomenal!
But yes it lacks any analytical modules/function. We use it mostly for model prep and iterations in conjunction with other FEA SW, towards final part/assembly design.

 

Agree with others that the best tool (software) depends on what you're trying to accomplish. I purchased Inventor over Solidworks only because it had built in gear design, modeling, and analysis features. I'm very pleased with my choice and for the work I do - small- to medium-scale mechanical design - Inventor leaves little to be desired.

 

Hy Guys
I am with the Catia V5. I am working on R20 now a days. Its lovely and fun to work on it.
But the main issue is that there is not a single package you can say is perfect. I am just considering "how many tools a software has to handle the jobs".
In Catia I find max number of tools that I cant find in any other software. For design (engineering or industrial), for dies and molds, for machining, for structure... a lot more.