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plcgirl

Moving on from Proworx NXT

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So we've been hanging on to NXT for ages as the maintenance personnel have refused to look at ProWorx 32 since the "buggy" days. We have lots of momentums kicking around that don't really need to have their hardware updated just yet. We're really running into a wall though with Windows 7 64 bit OS since NXT really doesn't work on it anymore (as opposed to how it has not been officially supported but still works on a 32 bit OS). With Windows 7 already nearing the end of its life cycle, our IT guys are insisting from a security point of view that we have to move to 64 bit OS. So realistically, what is our best option? It seems like updating to Proworx32 is the easiest option, but is it really still buggy and as awful as it was to start with? What about Concept? Does it support 984LL or would we have to reprogram everything? We use Unity for all our new quantums, and I was looking at the 984LL add-in to Unity, but I think for that to work we would need to update all the momentums to Unity capable processor adaptors correct? We are looking at another 10 years before we are totally done with the momentums through our evergreening program.

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For now why cant you just run windows xp on virtual machine and have Proworx on there?

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ProWorx 32 isn't as terrible as it was originally. It's still NOT NXT though! Since it sounds like you will be utilizing it mostly for maintenance purposes now and for the foreseeable future, it shouldn't be too bad to convert. It is as if you will be utilizing a completely different PLC language. There is no similarity between NXT and 32. It just takes some getting used to. The configuration set up screens and traffic copping are a little cumbersome, but again it sounds as though you're not going to be doing program development on these units. The ladder logic screens are not too terribly bad. The comments etc will convert over with some degree of frustration but do work. Schneider really has no other option for it's steadily declining market share....... Good luck! Bob

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I just heard today that Schneider is now discontinuing all support for anything that is non-Unity. So Proworx32 will not even be available for purchase anymore...

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It's not the automation systems lagging behind, it's your continued use of obsolete platforms. Nothing that programmed in NXT is still a viable product. That software is from the early 1990s. The best solution is VirtualBox. I have several VirtualBox VM machines set up running older OS and older PLC software for many vendors I have to support. Don't want it all on my work PC at once, conflicting with each other all the time. Never have to upgrade an OS on a virtual machine, it can run fine on a variety of host operating systems.

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