Re: CAD/CAM questions

> I did some testing on this a couple of months ago and was less than
> impressed with some of the features. There were some serious bugs
> in the DXF import and the support was less than helpful. Two days
> sometimes just to get an email reply.
> What capped it for me was the off hand way they advised me to
> reformat my hard drive and reinstall their buggy program.
> It's a very basic 2 1/2D package that looks good but a lot of the
> features like the power used curve are not that important. The

price

> doesn't reflect it's limitations. There are better programs out

there

> for the money.
> If you are someone who also needs a lathe and mill package then
> remember this is only a mill package the lathe module is another
> seperate program at X 2 the cost.
>
> John S.

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This refers to message numbers 51565 and 52421 from John Stevenson.
John is offering his advice as if he has been using CAPSmill
extensively and has thorough knowledge of its innards. I work for
Tech. Support in Cadem, and I'd like to set the record straight.

John enrolled as a Beta tester and did one job using CAPSmill, then
dropped out of the program citing lack of time. His advice on
CAPSmill comes out the miniscule knowledge of CAPSmill that he
acquired doing that one single job.

Here is what John has been saying, and our comments. See full text of
emails between Cadem and John at http://www.cadem.com/john.htm

**John says : "I recently took a look at their latest product quite
deeply and found some serious bugs in the program in dxf imports and
other areas. It wasn't even able to do simple files."

He pointed out 1 bug in reading a DXF file, and a couple of typos in
the user's manual. This he describes as 'serious bugs'. BTW, as a
Beta tester his job WAS to find bugs. 'Beta version'means that there
are going to be bugs.

**John says : "There were some serious bugs in the DXF import."

See the emails for details of the ONE bug detected by John.

**John says : "Support was less than helpful. Two days sometimes just
to get an email reply."

See the dates of the emails in the link mentioned above. Two days
were only over a weekend, or when something needed to be looked into
before replying. And remember, John was a Beta tester and not a
customer using a release version.

**John says : "They admitted all the bugs I pointed out but offered
no work around."

Maybe John does not know that Beta testing is done to dig out bugs
and fix them. Work arounds are meant for released products.

**John says : "When I pressed them for help believe it or not , I
still have all the emails, they offered the advise that the best
thing to do was to reformat my hard drive and reinstall windows."

The Beta version was designed to die after 30 days with no
possibility of reactivating. John knew this, but slept for a month
when he was supposed to be testing. He wanted to reactivate the
program after 30 days, and we told him this was the only way he do
it. The release version of course does not work this way. Here are my
exact words : "If you want to complete your quota of 20 files and get
your free CAPSmill, here's a suggestion. Install it on another PC (or
reformat this one's HDD and reinstall Windows etc.) and you get 30
days more time. I'll get you the go-ahead from my boss."

John broke a couple of cardinal rules of Beta testing. A Beta tester
works as a partner with the software developer. There is a certain
openness and honesty involved in such a relationship. We took John's
enrolment at face value instead of doubting his motives, but now it
looks as though he had a hidden agenda in enrolling for the Beta
testing.

1. John did not complete his obligations as a registered Beta tester.

2. He found a bug in the Beta version, which is no big deal. However,
he is making it sound like the bug is in the release version.

3. As a Beta tester he is bound to keep his findings confidential and
share it with the developers and not discuss them in public.

John poses as normal CAM user and a hobbyist but his postings in this
group clearly show him to be closely associated with a particular CAM
program. He pretends to be an impartial CAM guru while his hidden
agenda is to promote this product. If you read his earlier posts you
will notice the nexus.

Naren Sharma

Sr.Engineer - CAD/CAM Support
Cadem Technologies Pvt. Ltd.