Sadly, it is an end of an era, no more SOLIDWORKS access free with eaa membership. There is a replacement View: https://www.reddit.com/r/SolidWorks/comments/p6vjtv/an_update_on_eaa_solidworks_licensing/ But it sure reads as a significant reduction in the capability that I use. I plan to try it out shortly and see if it or fusion will be my new path forwards.... Will be hard with 25 years of SOLIDWORKS files if I end up truly switching. One thing for certain, a batch export of parasolid files is going to happen soon on my machine prior to the test drive.
I transitioned from Solidworks 2013 to Fusion a few years ago and the differences are noticeable but the learning curve is not steep. Really just different wording in menus and a different layout. I would try to export everything as a STEP or be stuck with SLDPRT and SLDASM files you can’t easily import into Fusion. I use the free (for now… Autodesk keeps trimming back functionality ) Fusion and while the hard limits on number of editable files is a royal pain, and some of the paywalled features would be nice to have (heres looking at you mesh to solid parametric…) I cannot justify the $60/mth subscription.
Just a follow up on this. As all my files are native solidworks, I bit the bullet and moved over to 3dexperience solidworks. All I can say is ... just don't.... the 3dexperience platform has the least intuitive user interface and installation process for locally installed software ( solidworks) of any software package I have ever used. Add to it the online vs offline file silliness already had to recover files from a backup as it screwed them up when I clicked save, not realizing that they had repurposed save to be "move to cloud". It also does not keep a history of local files anymore.... you know, standard windows functionality. It should be used as a case study of an organization being run by a cabal of its enemies. If you are not stuck with solidworks due to legacy files.... do anything else at this time to avoid the maker edition of solidworks 3dexperience.
I have the paid version of Fusion 360 that I get from my work (~$500/yr). I can open native SolidWorks part files no problem. I haven't tried assemblies yet.
Yup... Try the free version also, it might work...? To do this you need to first upload them into your project folder. Once there, you can open and edit them. You probably lose the parametric history, but you should have a somewhat lossless version of the design
It definitely doesnt work in the hobby version anymore. It only sort of imported them before the update last year that limited imports to STEP and F3D files as a static part that couldnt be edited. My entire Iowa class rib layout was done in Solidworks years ago.
