It is very disappointing. 
Instead of focusing on fixing and improving their core product (PCB design software) they are ignoring what engineers really need and focusing on the flashy, sexy stuff for their sales guys to show off.
Their PADs importer has been broken for years. Yes, it kind of, sort of works, but it creates a such a mess with phantom nets, missing nets, mis-sized and misplaced text, mis-sized pads, etc. Generally with so many hidden issues, that one is generally safer off redoing the artwork from scratch. Yet, converting PADs and OrCAD/Allegro customers is a far more lucrative endeavor than Eagle customers or hobbyists.
Their support for routing high speed parallel traces, such as DDR3, is buggy and awkward. It is very messy to do pad to pad length matching and there is no support for taking into account package delays. Both latest version 12 and version 13.3 report erroneous trace lengths. Everyone I've talked to either does this manually, trace segment by segment, or simply uses another tool for for boards with DDR3 memory.
Their support for automating the creation of complex symbols from FPGA constraints files is unusable. For some reason, they choose to ignore how today's boards with complex FPGAs are designed and what is really needed.
Their design rules checking is outdated.
Their signal integrity is a bad joke. I wouldn't expect a 3D solver, but at least a basic 2D solver for identifying crosstalk and impedance related issues.
These are the capabilities that today's board designers need and want. But instead, they give us:
Vaults -- to store our design databases in Asia. I'll keep my design data on a secure NAS behind a firewall.
MCAD -- cute, but anyone doing real 3D machining will use a real 3D CAD package such as SolidWorks.
FPGA tools -- to replace latest vendor provided IDEs, IP, and FPGA support with decade old FPGAs, proprietary, hobby/academic methodology, and buggy IP with no verification.
Embedded Software tools -- that only work with their Nanoboard based designs.
BOM integrated to distributors -- importing erroneous distributor parts data into you design and linking to broken web links, no thanks.
Extensive vault based symbols -- that are all autogenerated and generally unverified. I was lured to their parts symbols, only to find useless material. I'll stick to doing all symbols myself.
3D Viewing of Semirigid boards -- cute, but I doubt even 1% of customers would do semirigid boards, and of those perhaps .01% would rely on Altium for that.
Muzak while routing -- (unconfirmed).
I spend far more money each year on Altium than on the computer equipment. I really do want Altium Designer to be the ideal tool for PCB design. However, rather than seizing the opportunity to overtake the competition, they have grown complacent with their core product, neglecting it with overgrown bugs, and rather are chasing over the sexy show features.
Mentor has started to admit that their products have serious issues, and have started promising to get their development team back on track. Perhaps its time for Altium to do the same.
This post has multiple inaccuracies:
1.) Since the departure of their old CEO there has been a marked improvement in addressing issues with the core product. Yes, the introduce new features, but these are features that have been requested by their users. Support for rigid-flex was one of the most requested new features.
2.) The have made improvements to their high-speed capabilities in 14, but still have some work to do.
3.) I would agree that their signal integrity tool is a joke and in my opinion should be eliminated from the package. There is no such thing as a simple signal integrity tool even if it is 2D. Leave this task to a signal integrity tool.
4.) The Vaults - these are not in China. They are hosted locally on servers that you as the user setup. All hosting function for Altium in the USA are run on servers provided by Amazon based in the USA. But again, you host your vault. The vaults have had their problems and the roll-out was botched, but they are a very promising technology and something that Altium needs to implement. Managing released documents and creating project snap-shots when these documents are released is very helpful.
5.) Rendering a PCB in 3D is incredibly useful. Try integrating a PCB into a very tight mechanical package with out this. In addition, viewing the PCB in 3D can help catch errors that you miss when viewing the PCB in 2D.
6.) FPGA tools - except for some of the functions that relate to routing a PCB, the FPGA tool-suite should be eliminated from Altium. That being said, I would not agree with some of your assessment. Altium utilizes current vendor provided tools for a lot of the back-end functionality of the FPGA tools.
7.) I have used the Supplier Links in Altium for a long time and have never once had a issue with a incorrect link. You set the links, so if they are wrong that is your fault.
8.) The vault based components are not automatically generated. There is a team at Altium that creates all the design content. The content is accurate and is very good. I have used it extensively and only once encountered an error. I notified Altium and it was fixed within hours. The error was a incorrect pin assignment.
9.) Only 1% of their customers use Rigid-flex??? Open your cell phone, Ipod, computer and tell me if you find rigid-flex PCB's.
10.) How would you use a FPGA constraint file for creating a symbol? A schematic symbol? This doesn't even make sense - please explain?
Home
Help
Search
Login
Register
