File translation is a cumbersome, expensive and not always reliable burden on all of our work, whether it is word processing or CAD data. Implementation of all of this is obviously going to need care. There are as yet unanswered questions about dealing with element types that are not common to both editing applications. There will be established workflows to incorporate and modify. As well as V8 there is a lot of work being done in the background on the integration between ProjectBank, ProjectWise and Viecon.
Exciting things are on the way.
Changes at the top in Bentley's board are more positive from the users point of view than may appear at first sight. He is there in a cubicle at the code face working closely with Barry Bentley and the rest of the teams driving forward product development with new vigour. Everyone that I have spoken to is very upbeat about the whole situation. I think that we can expect a great deal from V8 on release, even more so as it matures and evolves into the component based modelling environment that we have been anticipating for so long. The current programme for MicroStation V8 includes release of beta 1 in December 2000, hopefully any day now, and the subsequent release of beta 2 in mid Q1 2001.