Altium support of CircuitStudio

The element14 Community doesn't have a partnership with Altium (it never did).

element14 Community's parent 'group', Farnell, Newark and element14 Asia/Pacific region (eg. https://au.element14.com) sell Altium CircuitStudio.

That's where any association/agreement ends currently as far as I am aware.

The element14 Community doesn't have a partnership with Altium (it never did).

element14 Community's parent 'group', Farnell, Newark and element14 Asia/Pacific region (eg. https://au.element14.com) sell Altium CircuitStudio.

That's where any association/agreement ends currently as far as I am aware.

I am not sure if you are saying the same thing as

https://www.element14.com/news/element14-now-offering-altiums-circuitstudio-following-master-distribution-agreement/

I can't tell.

So the link shows that 7 years ago, managers from Altium and Element14/Farnell wet their pants because of the agreement for exclusive distribution by Farnell of CS.

Doesn't mean a darned thing to the users.  I won't be paying for maintenance this year for CS.  I see no visible progress in producing an upgraded product which was "sort of promised" to us.

I think we're getting jerked around while they play with their best marketing model that carries them into the future.

CS has ZERO support from what I've seen on this forum in the past few years.  When a product or key feature no longer functions as intended and there is nothing but crickets, it is an orphan product, zero support.

I like CS and really want a product at its price point that can do much of what AD does.

I also do not expect AD at a CS price but Altium needs to tell us what is going on.  Give a target date for release of the beta 3 or beyond CM Pro or tell us that you're not going to and CS is dead.

jonhpeterson said:

I am not sure if you are saying the same thing as

As said, that link is from 2015. 

At that time, there was a dedicated software support team, and they operated on the element14 Community.

That dedicated software support team from element14 apac/farnell/newark no longer exists. They communicated this poorly (read: not at all).

The element14 Community doesn't have a partnership with Altium (the 'parent group' did).

At one point, Farnell/Newark/element14 apac, were all going to be called 'element14' and we would be 'element14's community'. That rebranding never happened, and so the people that wrote that article, were a bit confused on branding.

I have tried to reach out to Altium, and those who're now in charge of software sales for our parent company for some kind of answer.

So far I haven't received anything sensible.

I have asked and Altium is very much working on a new CS release as they have mentioned previously. Unfortunately, with all the updates planned there are many delays and issues to resolve. 

Thanks for stepping in with a reply, it's appreciated.

For those to whom it may not be clear, elau works for Newark.

Another thanks for your reply.  If you can convey feedback, please share that Altium and Newark / Farnell really need a connection at least to this forum.  I deal with test equipment that has products up to several hundred thousand $$.  Yet still, companies like Keysight, Tektronix and others have some presence on several hobby forums because they know those active buy new stuff by day.

Perhaps some small fee, like double the maintenance fee, with email support, is possible.  Use younger Altium recruits to keep cost down and help them learn.

I hate to add this and you may not have a connection but please tell Altium that if the list costs $xxxx to implement and release for a product that brings in $xx, then please trim the list and get it out !  Thanks again for being here and any help you can offer.

Thanks for checking.  Any information at this point is appreciated.  CMP2 has been in beta testing for well more than a year now.  Perhaps they can release an official statement on their plans for a target release.  If it is already an improvement on the existing CS version 1.5.2 then it would be great to be able to use it even if there are known issues.

elau this really is GOOD news. MANY of us cannot afford AD (darn it). And I personally like the function, GUI, Ts&Cs.and organization of CS. I don't want to KiCAD nor AutoDesk-Eagle (their design limitations and bloat that comes with Fusion 360). And I also don't want to pay $500 to $700 USD for CS if it is not going to be updated and repaired. We need a robust eCAD, ie CS, that is loved by it's creator. We all understand the delays and issues involved with releasing complicated tools like CS. Version 1.5.2 was released March of 2019 -- but we are patient and waiting because we know it will be worth it.

My apologies for the lack of information from Altium. They are working very hard on CS 2.0 and resources are limited.
The new version will likely have updates more often. As I write this comment, I can assure everyone, Altium is indeed working on CS 2.0, it is no longer called CMP and I think it is coming very soon but they could not provide a date. I do ask every week because we are pretty anxious about this new version as well. :-)

johnpeterson, I am glad you are happy with where CS fits among EDA software. I think CS is a good option for many and offers something that the others don't. $500 is not much for such a capable tool even with the bugs. If you can use it, I would suggest purchase now as it is a perpetual license compared to Eagle with Fusion. Eval licenses are available to try out the tool for your particular project or function to ensure it works for what you need.
Altium will provide new version access to existing users as well. Please share your thoughts here. It is good feedback to Altium.