19 January 2016

Alibre Upgrade No Longer Available after 30 April 2016

On 19 July, 2011 3D Systems first announced its acquisition of Alibre Inc. and its flagship 3D mechanical design software. The product was subsequently rebranded under the "Geomagic" portfolio as "Geomagic Design". This year will mark the fifth anniversary since this acquisition and new features which have subsequently been introduced. 3D Systems has thus far supported all versions of Alibre, including Alibre Design Standard, Professional and Expert with either ongoing maintenance subscriptions or upgrade opportunities. For several months a well-published opportunity for flat fee "update and upgrade" was made available in Australia through CADDIT.net. Many users took good advantage of this window of advantage to update Geomagic Design and Alibre versions that were three, four or even six years old and we wish to extend thanks to all who are participating. The flat fee promotion has now ended, as was announced, on 31 December 2015.

3D Systems business channel has made it known to CADDIT of the intention to drop all upgrade support for Alibre Design PE, Alibre Design Standard, Alibre Design Professional and all similar levels of Geomagic Design Standard and Professional. Going forward, there will only be one product level available to all Geomagic Design users, as demonstrated on the CADDIT webstore. Users of lower-version products will need to buy a completely new license if they wish to update their software. The date for this change is 30 April 2016, and only affects users of the old PE, Standard and Professional product levels -  Expert and Geomagic Design (full) are not affected, can continue to update their subscriptions per usual at this link. Also, any users under current active Geomagic Design maintenance are likely not affected as they will mostly likely already be migrated to the full product version.

Users in Australia at any level can still order maintenance at any product level and receive a free level upgrade to the full version of Geomagic Design at this link. All indications are that this is the final opportunity lower-level users in Australia will ever have to have their package updated. Without current support, CADDIT is unable to answer user requests for licensing help, account lookups etc. After 30 April all such requests will be referred directly to 3D Systems without assurance of a response due to the outdated support.

I renewed my Geomagic Design Subscription just last year. Am I affected?
No. You should continue your maintenance subscription per usual.

I have Alibre Design PE 2012 version. What happens if I don't upgrade?
You will have no support, and likely will not even be able to run the software on newer versions of Windows. You are encouraged to maintain your investment by renewing the maintenance subscription  HERE.

I have two licenses. One is Alibre Design Pro 2011 and the other is Alibre Design Expert 2010. Should I upgrade both and what does it cost?
A subscription will need to be purchased for each license that you wish to keep updated, using this link which shows the current AUD pricing including applicable lapse fees. It is strongly recommended not to mix versions of Alibre / Geomagic Design as this will lead to serious file compatibility problems between them. 

I have other questions.
CADDIT Australia can be contacted the usually way via these details:
https://www.caddit.net/store/index.php?main_page=contact_us

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