concurrent multisims?

[Euler's_Identity]

I presently have the v10.1.343 (that number seems right) update in Multisim v10 Educational which shows as v10.0.1.  However, I would like to be able to do a back-to-back comparison between my Multisim and the one I downloaded for 30 day trial, which should be the Professional.  This will require concurrently running Multisims -- I plan to run them at the same time with the same circuit parameters.

Is this possible, or will I confuse my Multisim installation?

My apologies if this has been asked before, but I searched briefly and it did not come up.  Although, I honestly can't imagine I'm the only one who'd want to run multiple versions simultaneously.

A compromise would be to have two versions loaded/minimized but only being able to run one at a time.  However, both versions must be up simultaneously.

[GarretF]

Hi Euler's Identify:

You can run Multisim concurrently (including different tiers, such as Professional and Educational), however, you will not be able to have multiple installs. That is to say, you can install both Educational and Professional version, but there will only be one install of the core product (primarily the exe's and dll's). You can't install to different folders. This shouldn't make any difference because the core of the product is the exact same files for all tiers (of course with the same version, such as 10.0.343).

Normally, when you install multiple tiers, Multisim is 'greedy.' It becomes the superset of the installation. So, if you install Professional and Educational tiers, you get all the features in Professional and all the features in Educational. When you start the product (and in the About box), you should see both versions listed.

What you are asking for is make Multisim 'not greedy.' There is a command line option, /license=X, that allows you to do this. X is the name of one of the licenses. From your description, you options will be /license=ProPower and /license=Edu.

For other users, this is only the case for version 10 of Circuit Design Suite. The behaviour of older versions is different.

[lacy]

Hi Garret,

I am curious now that this subject has been opened for disucssion. I understand about what you say about one Multisim core with separate versions and having all the features of both at the same time. My question is if you download a trial version and install it "over" a licensed version then when the evaluation period ends would it cause any problems with the licensed version?  Also (since I have never downloaded any trial versions) what actually happens when the trial period ends for each tier? Does it become useless until it is purchased or just certain features become no longer available?

Thanks for any information.

[GarretF]

When you download a trial version and install it 'over' a licensed version, the seconds installation adds some additional files that are specific the Educational or Professionial version. As I said, the core files do not change. I think the behaviour is best described by an example.

Say you purchase and install the Educational version. When you run, you see the features in the Educational version.
Now you download as install the trial for the Professional version . When you run, you now see the superset of the Educational and (Power) Professional version.
After 30 days, your trial of Professional expires. When you run, you see the features in the Educational version.

So, the product doesn't become useless (unless you haven't purchased and your demo has expired).

I will point out one behaviour you will observe when mixing tiers. You can only have one help file, so the help file you see depends on which version you install first.

[lacy]

Thanks for your reply. I just wanted to be sure about what happens when the trial version expired and how it would effect the main install and you have cleared that up for me. Thank so much.