An enthusiastic crowd of more than 600 MicroStation users recently took advantage of the opportunity to be the first to see MicroStation V8 in action at a sneak preview. Based on their reaction, they were not disappointed. The presentation by Senior Product Manager Phil Chouinard was often interrupted with applause and positive, interactive discussion.

"I was impressed but not surprised that this after-hours event was filled beyond capacity," said Chouinard. "Based on the remarkable response from attendees, it reinforces that we are doing what our users want."

Bentley co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Keith Bentley had whetted the appetite of Bentley software users in his earlier keynote address when he said the company was committed to making MicroStation V8 "the best application platform anywhere." A key element in the upgrade will be the first-ever significant change to the DGN file format used to store data in MicroStation.

MicroStation V8 users will use this 'wide DGN' format for new work, but will be able to read in DGN files from any previous version of MicroStation as necessary. For sharing data with users of previous versions of MicroStation, V8 will offer 'Save as' functionality to other DGN formats. The new file format, along with other structural changes, will allow MicroStation V8 to read/write DWG files as a supported internal file format.

There was a big round of applause when it was announced that the public testing period for MicroStation V8 - known as the product development beta cycle - will last for six months. "This will be the largest beta in MicroStation's history," Chouinard said.

Any MicroStation user who is also a Bentley Select subscriber is eligible to participate in the testing process. Test software will be distributed online from the Bentley SELECT website and available for delivery on CD-ROM.

Discussing the potential impacts of the new version on users, Chouinard said that product re-licensing will not be required for MicroStation V8, that workspace and directory structures remain the same and that all existing font and linestyle resources will be compatible with V8. MDL applications will need to be re-compiled for use in V8, as will programs written in MicroStation BASIC and JMDL. User commands will need to be converted into MicroStation BASIC or MDL applications. Comprehensive details of the new features are available at the Bentley Select website.

User reaction to Version 8

Here is a sampling of what people are saying about MicroStation V8:

"I am quite anxious for MicroStation V8 to come out," said Tom Schneider, CAD Drafting Supervisor with BASF Corporation, in Beaumont, Texas. "There are several issues that V8 will address that will benefit the site we manage. I see there are a lot of significant advancements Bentley made to the software - chief of which is to better work with AutoCAD files. While we are a solely MicroStation shop, our vendors often give us AutoCAD files, which bring some problematic issues with the AutoCAD format into play."

"MicroStation V8 will open up more levels of design file structures to allow us to segregate our activities a lot better," said Jon Fischer, Kansas Department of Transportation, USA. "We have had internal turf wars for years and had to combine design levels, which is usually the case when people do not adhere to graphic standards. So I am looking forward to V8 because it will resolve a lot of problems for us."

"Going to the floating decimal point system is a great improvement in the MicroStation V8 software," noted Reggie Hendricks, a Systems Manager with Stanley D. Lindsay and Associates, Ltd, structural engineers, in Georgia, USA.

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