Mathcad

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Mathcad
DevelopersMathsoft, PTC
Initial release1986 (1986)
Stable release
Prime 11 (11.0.0.0) / April 21, 2025; 11 months ago (2025-04-21)
Repository
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Engine
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    Operating systemMicrosoft Windows
    Available in10 languages[1]
    TypeComputer algebra system
    LicenseProprietary
    Websitewww.mathcad.com

    Mathcad is computer software for the verification, validation, documentation and re-use of mathematical calculations in engineering and science, notably mechanical, chemical, electrical, and civil engineering.[2] Released in 1986 for MS-DOS, it introduced live editing (WYSIWYG) of typeset mathematical notation in an interactive notebook, combined with automatic computations. It was originally developed by Mathsoft, and since 2006 has been a product of Parametric Technology Corporation.

    History

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    Mathcad was conceived and developed by Allen Razdow and Josh Bernoff at Mathsoft founded by David Blohm and Razdow. It was released in 1986. It was the first system to support WYSIWYG editing and recalculation of mathematical calculations mixed with text.[3] It was also the first to check the consistency of engineering units through the full calculation. Other equation solving systems existed at the time, but did not provide a notebook interface: Software Arts' TK Solver was released in 1982, and Borland's Eureka: The Solver was released in 1987.[4]

    Mathcad was acquired by Parametric Technology in April 2006.[5]

    Mathcad was named "Best of '87" and "Best of '88" by PC Magazine's editors.[6]

    Overview

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    Mathcad's central interface is an interactive notebook in which equations and expressions are created and manipulated in the same graphical format in which they are presented (WYSIWYG). This approach was adopted by systems such as Mathematica, Maple, Macsyma, MATLAB, and Jupyter.

    Mathcad today includes some of the capabilities of a computer algebra system, but remains oriented towards ease of use and documentation of numerical engineering applications.

    Mathcad is part of a broader product development system developed by PTC, addressing analytical steps in systems engineering. It integrates with PTC's Creo Elements/Pro, Windchill, and Creo Elements/View. Its live feature-level integration with Creo Elements/Pro enables Mathcad analytical models to be directly used in driving CAD geometry, and its structural awareness within Windchill allows live calculations to be re-used and re-applied toward multiple design models.

    Summary of capabilities

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    The Mathcad interface allows users to combine a variety of different elements (mathematics, descriptive text, and supporting imagery) into a worksheet, in which dependent calculations are dynamically recalculated as inputs change. This allows for simple manipulation of input variables, assumptions, and expressions. Mathcad's functionality includes:

    Although Mathcad is mostly oriented to non-programmers, it is also used in more complex projects to visualize results of mathematical modeling by using distributed computing and coupling with programs written using more traditional languages such as C++.

    Current releases

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    As of 2025, the latest release from PTC is Mathcad Prime 11.0.0.0. This release is a freemium variant: if the software is not activated after a Mathcad Prime 30-day trial, it is possible to continue using PTC Mathcad Express for an unlimited time as "PTC Mathcad Express Free-for-Life Engineering Calculations Software". This freemium pilot is a new marketing approach for PTC. Review and markup of engineering notes can now be done directly by team members without them all requiring a full Mathcad Prime license.[8]

    The last release of the traditional (pre "Prime") product line, Mathcad 15.0, came out in June 2010 and shares the same worksheet file structure as Mathcad 14.0. The last service release, Mathcad 15.0 M050, which added support for Windows 10, was released in 2017. Mathcad 15.0 is no longer actively developed but in "sustained support".

    Computer operating system platforms

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    Mathcad only runs on Microsoft Windows. Mathcad Prime 6.0 requires a 64-bit version of Windows 7, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10. Until 1998, Mathcad also supported Mac OS.[9]

    Support

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    Starting in 2011 (Mathcad 15.0) the first year of maintenance and support has been included in the purchase or upgrade price.

    Release history

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    Name Version Release date Notes
    Mathcad 0.3 0.3 Beta on 5.25-inch floppy diskette
    Mathcad 2.5.2 2.5.2 1989 Last MS-DOS version
    Mathcad 3.1 3.1 1992 Windows version with notebook interface
    Mathcad 4.0 4.0 Windows version
    Mathcad 5.0 5.0 Added Maple based CAS features
    Mathcad 5.5 5.5 Windows version
    Mathcad 6.0[10] 6.0 1995 Last Windows 3.1 version
    Mathcad 7[11] 7.0 1997
    Mathcad 8[12]
    Mathcad 2000[13]
    Mathcad 2001i[14]
    Mathcad 11[15]
    Mathcad 12[16]
    Mathcad 13.0[17] 13.0 September 15, 2005[18]
    Mathcad 13.1[17] 13.1
    Mathcad 14.0[17] 14.0 February 12, 2007[18]
    Mathcad 15.0[19] 15.0 F000 June 25, 2010[18]
    Mathcad 15.0 M010[19] 15.0 M010 June 29, 2011[18]
    Mathcad 15.0 M040[18] 15.0 M040 August 2015
    Mathcad 15.0 M045[20] November 2015[20]
    Mathcad 15.0 M050[21] 15.0 M050 December 2017
    Mathcad Prime 1.0[22] January 10, 2011[18]
    Mathcad Prime 2.0 February 29, 2012[18]
    Mathcad Prime 3.0 October 2, 2013[18]
    Mathcad Prime 3.1 March 2, 2015[18]
    Mathcad Prime 4.0 March 6, 2017[18]
    Mathcad Prime 5.0 5.0.0.0 August 14, 2018[23]
    Mathcad Prime 6.0 6.0.0.0 October 1, 2019[24]
    Mathcad Prime 7 7.0.0.0 February 27, 2021[25]
    Mathcad Prime 8 8.0.0.0 March 15, 2022[26]
    Mathcad Prime 9 9.0.0.0 March 14, 2023[27]
    Mathcad Prime 10 10.0.0 April 23, 2024[28]
    Mathcad Prime 11 11.0.0 April 2, 2025[29]

    Screen captures of previous Mathcad versions

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    See also

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    References

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    2. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
    3. ^ "Now you can calculate on your PC with the same freedom you have on paper" (ad), PC Magazine, September 15, 1987, p. 42
    4. ^ Ronald Shone, "Software for Solving Equations: Eureka: The Solver, TK Solver Plus and Mathcad", Journal of Economic Surveys 3:1:83–95 Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). (March 1989)
    5. ^ PTC buys Mathsoft for $63m : April 2006 Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
    6. ^ "In college, you would have killed for MathCAD. So why aren't you calculating with it now?" (ad), Science (unknown date)
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