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What has happened to Multisim Blue?

I have been telling my customers they can view files from my MS/UB 14.1 if they get a premium version of MS Blue.  It appears MS Blue is gone from Mouser.  What is the deal now?

 

I don't believe there is even a viewer that works anymore for MS/UB except a demo that expires in 7 days.

 

This is a serious disadvantage for customers who need to look at files but aren't designers willing to pay $1000's  for a design app.

 

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Hi dbur,

 

It looks like you're correct, Multisim Blue is not currently available. Depending on what kind of functionality you're looking for your customers to have access to, there may be a few different options available.

 

If you'd like to simply show them the schematic or layout, you could try exporting the data as a PDF, or even making a circuit snippet, much like the VI snippets available in LabVIEW. 

 

If they need more in-depth access for a short period of time, you could always have them download a trial version of the full software from ni.com/multisim

 

As this is feedback that is valuable for our Multisim team, could you give us more insight into how you were using Multisim Blue? What role did it play in your development cycle?

 

Kathryn K.
Technical Support Engineer
National Instruments
http://ni.com/support
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Having MS Blue was a good selling point because that meant customers could view and review everything in a native format as well as update doc numbers and other stuff that has to happen from time to time.  pdfs and screen shots just don't do it.  At least a full featured viewer is required, like all your competitors provide for their tools.  In the past (Ver9?) the demo functioned well for this, but I think demos don't work for anything anymore after the trial period.

 

I'm kind of disillusioned with MS/UB support for the past few years.  Virtually no bug or feature has been updated since V14 originally came out.  Many bugs I've reported that were claimed to be fixed in the next update have never been fixed, and it has been years for some of those.  NI support contract is not cheap and I feel NI has misplaced it's resources working on portable sims and web stuff that means nothing to actual serious users of the app.

 

The end of usable demos for viewing and MS Blue is just another nail in the coffin.  I have so many customers all wanting Altium instead it's getting hard not to bail on NI.  Too bad because I hate the Altium UI experience.  Everything takes about 10 times more mouse clicks to do than NI.

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Hi dbur,

 

I’m the product marketing engineer in charge of Multisim. It’s important to us that Multisim (and all of our products) are serving our customers’ needs. First, thank you for your insightful feedback. Hearing from customers like you is one of the best ways for us to know what works and what doesn’t work, and thereby what is needed in future releases.

 

For your immediate need, I recommend that you instruct your customers to extend the 7-day Multisim evaluation to 45 days.  They can do so with a few clicks from within the software, which will link your customers to ni.com to confirm the extension of the evaluation license. Here is a link to a page on ni.com that you can send to your customers: http://zone.ni.com/reference/en-XX/help/371136H-01/nilm/html/eval/  I also added instructions at the end of this post.

 

Multisim Blue is a Mouser product that NI partnered with them on. You are correct that Mouser has chosen to stop offering this product.  I understand that this has caused you some inconvenience, and I hope that the solution above will help.  If you have any specific questions about Multisim Blue, I recommend that you reach out directly to Mouser.

 

Our most recent release for Multisim desktop is 14.1, and we still actively support the product.  You are correct that it’s been longer than normal since our last release.  This is because we have been investing in our web-based circuit simulation environment, Multisim Live.  As an active Multisim user, you are entitled to premium access to this tool using your Multisim serial number. 

 

Regarding the bugs you reported, I understand your frustration.  For every release, we need to prioritize which features we develop and which bugs we fix, and sometimes that means that we can’t do everything.  If you have a CAR (Corrective Action Request) number for any particular bug you’re concerned about, I’d be happy to look that up for you.

 

 

Extending the Evaluation Period of Multisim

Extending an Evaluation Period Automatically

Complete the following steps to extend the evaluation period of a product automatically:

  1. Launch the product you are evaluating.
  2. Either click Extend Evaluation or click Yes if prompted to extend the evaluation period.
  3. Log in to your National Instruments User Profile. If you do not have a User Profile, you will be given a chance to create one.
  4. Follow the prompts in the NI Evaluation Wizard.

Extending an Evaluation Period Manually

If you already have an evaluation code, you can manually extend your evaluation using the NI Evaluation Wizard.

  1. Launch the product you are evaluating.
  2. Click Extend Evaluation or click Yes if prompted to extend the evaluation period.
  3. To acquire an evaluation code, click the com/extendevaluationlink and log in to your NI User Profile. If you do not have a User Profile, you will be given a chance to create one.
 

Note:  Do not exit the NI Evaluation Wizard while you acquire an evaluation code. Otherwise, you will need to restart the wizard by relaunching the product.

  1. While on the website, enter the computer ID when prompted. You can find the computer ID in the NI Evaluation Wizard.
  2. Return to the NI Evaluation Wizard and click Next.
  3. Select the Apply a previously acquired evaluation code radio button.
Message 4 of 12
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Hi!!

 

I am from ADLABT Technologies Pvt Ltd India, one of your NI partner in academics. Previously we were merging MS blue with MS license to customer which gave them edge ovr proteus or cadance now its really disadvantage from the selling point of view

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Hi aru1987cemk,

 

I'm sorry that this change is creating a challenge. Please work directly with your NI account manager on a new solution. I think your customers will find that our current offering is even better than their current setup. 

 

 

Have a great day,

Jeff

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What is the current offering that would be better than MS Blue?  All I know about is they can install regular multisim for a 30 day eval, but that doesn't really work for a customer who only needs to tweak a file once or twice a year.

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Hi dbur,

 

As we discussed above, for your specific application, the eval extension is the best approach. Unfortunately, there isn't a better offering for occasional annual viewing of Multisim files. But depending on the complexity of the circuit, Multisim Live might work for you. It now includes both analog and digital components at multisim.com. 

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My understanding is MS Live cannot open a large file, and cannot open files created in regular multisim.  Is that right?

 

Even though Mouser has dropped MS Blue is there any reason NI could not sell MS Blue directly?

 

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Hi dbur,

 

That's correct. A Multisim Live free account is limited to 25 components per circuit. While we are continually publishing new features, currently you can export from Multisim Live to Multisim (desktop) but not the other way around. Sounds like I was mistaken, and that solution won't work for you in Multisim Live's current state. 

I wasn't involved in Multisim Blue or the Mouser partnership on the product at the time, so I can't speak to the reasons why it is no longer an offering. I can assure you that I've passed along your feedback and your application need. Obviously, we want you and your customers to be successful. I hope we are able to find a better solution for you soon. 

Jeff

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