Robert Koslover
Certified Consultant
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Posted:
1 decade ago
14.11.2013, 23:00 GMT-5
The differences between version 3.5 and 4.3 are dramatic and there is simply no use in pretending that if one is already expert in using version 3.5, one can migrate easily to 4.x. After suffering all the classic symptoms of grief (i.e., denial, anger, bargaining, depression,...) for many months after the roll-out of 4.0, I finally learned that the best way was not to even try to understand the differences at all, but rather to simply accept (acceptance, the final stage of grief!) that I would have to learn how to use the entire Comsol package all over again, from scratch. The Comsol name is the same, but almost every aspect of the user-interface is utterly different. So, except for the physics and some basic principles of FE and PDEs, try to set aside/ignore almost everything you ever learned using version 3.5, and start all the way back at the beginning, working your way through the most trivial and simple examples, using the help system, the user manuals, etc., for version 4.3. It's painful, I know. But eventually, if you stick with it long enough, you'll figure it out. And if you are starting with version 4.3, you won't have to suffer nearly as much as the rest of us who tried to learn using 4.0, which was (believe it or not) not nearly as "user-friendly" as 4.3 is. Good luck. The current version (version 4.3b) is actually quite good, once you figure out how to use it. So, at least your hard work will (eventually!) pay off.
The differences between version 3.5 and 4.3 are dramatic and there is simply no use in pretending that if one is already expert in using version 3.5, one can migrate easily to 4.x. After suffering all the classic symptoms of grief (i.e., denial, anger, bargaining, depression,...) for many months after the roll-out of 4.0, I finally learned that the best way was not to even try to understand the differences at all, but rather to simply accept (acceptance, the final stage of grief!) that I would have to learn how to use the entire Comsol package all over again, from scratch. The Comsol name is the same, but almost every aspect of the user-interface is utterly different. So, except for the physics and some basic principles of FE and PDEs, try to set aside/ignore almost everything you ever learned using version 3.5, and start all the way back at the beginning, working your way through the most trivial and simple examples, using the help system, the user manuals, etc., for version 4.3. It's painful, I know. But eventually, if you stick with it long enough, you'll figure it out. And if you are starting with version 4.3, you won't have to suffer nearly as much as the rest of us who tried to learn using 4.0, which was (believe it or not) not nearly as "user-friendly" as 4.3 is. Good luck. The current version (version 4.3b) is actually quite good, once you figure out how to use it. So, at least your hard work will (eventually!) pay off.
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Posted:
1 decade ago
15.11.2013, 01:59 GMT-5
Thank very much for the detail advise, I really appreciate and I will make sure that I follow the your guidance.
Thank once more
Thank very much for the detail advise, I really appreciate and I will make sure that I follow the your guidance.
Thank once more