3D CAD preference

As someone who has used all of the leading CAD software to some degree, it is quite interesting about to listen to Product Designers about how defensive they get about "their" system. "my one does this..... yours doesnt....     watch this shape...... etc.etc"

(I will be letting you know my favourite, as a neutral review doesnt really help much.)

I am currently using Pro Engineer, and being honest, it is not the most up to date version. However, looking on the internet it doesnt seem much different than it did 5-6 years ago. Normally an eon for CAD updates. Some features are frustratingly not apparent. Boolean operations are not permitted and using FEA doesnt allow for trim surfaces. So great for modelling metal washers then? It has meant that a more stepped process is needed and overall a clumsier creation. The graphic interface is not attractive, and it is like using Windows3.1 rather than XP. It does the same job, and experts can achieve clever workarounds, but for the newbie, not a very user friendly package.

Unigraphics NX is light years in terms of allowing boolean, and for designers with good housekeeping and modelling discipline, makes for a nicer introduction tool.

My favourite is Solidworks.
Why?

Because every time I have been plunged into the deep end with a new CAD system, without the luxury of a 1 week off-site training course, it was Solidworks that was the most intuitive. It was the least intimidating, by what you first see. It could undertake all of the design requirement, from 3D modelling with surfaces, to advanced surfaces, to 2D modelling, and beyond. Translating the 3D model to a 2D representation was an extremely painless exercise. Nothing is more frustrating than having to spend more time converting your inspirational design to the 2D view on CAD, than it would be to draw it by hand.

The good thing for all CAD users, is that there is a convergence of formats, and a major focus on user-friendliness, so that "specialising" in one system is not so much a niche qualification anymore, or a hinderance if jumping systems is necessary.