I use SolidWorks for our office and had a chance to speak with our VAR yesterday about the 3D Experience SolidWorks. He actually walked me thru him creating a part and saving locally. I'll have to say, the speed seemed as fast as my desktop SolidWorks. He explained that while some of the features were in the cloud, the SolidWorks desktop is installed locally with the "Premium" version found in the "3D Maker" offering. You have the option of saving to the cloud or locally during your "File Save as". You can use it on any pc as your login is stored in the cloud. He also said there are features in the Desktop SolidWorks that are not in the 3D Experience due to cost, one of them being "CAM". He said 3D Experience isn't able to handle "Add-In's" which is another reason CAM isn't available.

The major drawback for me is the ability to go between my office SolidWorks and the 3D Experience. He said I could create a part in my office software and open it in 3D Experience but once the file was saved in 3D Experience, you would not be able to open it in a commercially licensed SolidWorks so that rules out me being able to do parts for work and home on the same software. He said importing a file from 3D Experience to another cad package shouldn't be a problem. DS is just looking out for their financial stability and didn't want people buying the cheaper version and mixing seats with the full blown version. The VAR said he's been using it for roughly 2 years and he can see vast improvements.

I personally will wait a bit to renew my membership and buy the 3D Experience software. I think it has a long way to go if it ever gets there to be as user friendly as the desktop SolidWorks. The sad thing is, this will hurt EAA with new and membership renewals.