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Take Caution, on upgrading to the new Windows Vista operating system or purchasing a new workstation with Vista Installed.
Supported Operating Systems
SolidWorks, as of this writing, does not support Windows Vista as an operating system. See the requirements link below.
SolidWorks 2006 and 2007 are only supported on Windows XP Pro
http://www.solidworks.com/pages/services/SystemRequirements.html
I believe SolidWorks will release a full Vista version in the near future but it will only be 2007. SolidWorks 2006 will not be available on Windows Vista.
You may install the beta version for Vista from the link in the “SolidWorks 2007 Vista Beta 2” section below.
Hardware Cautions
If you buy a new workstation, including mobile, I recommend it have Windows XP Pro installed on it, down the road if you want to upgrade to Vista that should be possible.
Check with the manufacturer to find out if they support both operating systems on the workstation you want to buy. Some new computers are coming with only Vista supported.
Tests confirm, at this time Windows Vista is slower than Windows XP for running SolidWorks.
If you Install Windows Vista, it uses more RAM than Windows XP.
I recommend having 2GB of RAM or more installed on any Vista system that you want to run SolidWorks.
If you decide to upgrade your current or future system to Windows Vista, this is Very important, check with you computer manufacturer and make sure they support upgrading this system to Vista and they have system drivers available for it.
Also if you have already purchased a system with windows Vista and windows XP is not supported for that system, you will have to wait for the Full release of SolidWorks Vista 2007.
SolidWorks 2007 Vista Beta 2
You may signup for the SolidWorks 2007 Vista Beta 2 program and then download, install and run it on Vista but remember it is a beta version and will likely have some issues. Also installing it may require some special instructions from the beta website.
See the Beta link below for signup.
http://www.solidworks.com/pages/programs/beta/vista/index.html
Certified Video Drivers
You will also need to make sure you have a Vista compatible video card and driver for your system from the manufacturers website or SolidWorks will run very slowly (OpenGL mode only).
SolidWorks does not currently, have any certified or tested drivers available for Vista based Video cards, because Vista is not yet supported.
When they do become available, you will find them at this link.
http://www.solidworks.com/pages/services/VideoCardTesting.html
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