16/03/23
You may have already seen the notification in your PicoScope 7 Automotive (stable) software, indicating that we have recently released an updated application version (7.0.116). The new, stable, features it brings with it include Masks and Actions, DeepMeasure and an X-Y instrument (for viewing how two waveforms change relative to each other). Their arrival signifies the first stable release of PicoScope 7 Automotive that has reached virtually full functional parity with our last release of PicoScope 6 Automotive.
In addition, the update includes a brand-new CAN-XL decoder to accompany its CAN and CAN-FD decoder siblings. CAN-XL has been a quickly and widely adopted specification within the automotive industry and the decoder’s inclusion is another means by which PicoScope helps you diagnose faults within the cutting-edge systems and technologies encountered in today’s motor vehicles.
The new release also addresses issues within the software and includes many bug fixes and refinements. It also adds new device drivers that support all our 4823 devices, as well as support for new BNC+ accessories, some of which now can be used as a tachyograph speed reference input in our NVH software.
Most significantly, this version of PicoScope 7 Automotive has received a substantial investment in improvements to software stability. The chances of the application crashing during device connection or after prolonged or heavy use is now substantially lower (by at least an order of magnitude). This will make PicoScope 7.0.116 a much more satisfying and trustworthy tool for use in your workshops, allowing you to get on with your diagnoses without interruptions or the potential loss of critical data. However, we are not completely done with this investment and it will remain a particular focus for some time yet.
With PicoScope 6 Automotive parity and these substantial stability improvements, we are confident that PicoScope 7 Automotive should now be the oscilloscope diagnostics tool of choice for automotive professionals. With that in mind, we are taking this opportunity to announce that, as of the PicoScope 7 Automotive (7.0.116) software release date, we will be dropping support for PicoScope 6 Automotive; this will allow us to double our focus on PicoScope 7 Automotive but, as we do this, we cannot also help you with the use of PicoScope 6 Automotive or any issues arising with it. You are, of course, welcome to seek any assistance from the wider PicoScope user community on our forum.
For the benefit of users with old PCs and legacy operating systems or devices, the last release of PicoScope 6 Automotive will remain available on our downloads page for the foreseeable future. However, it will be unsupported - we want to focus our support on those of you who are making an investment in PicoScope 7 Automotive - and we reserve the right to withdraw it from the site without further notice.
Following the many years of development it took us to get PicoScope 7 Automotive out to the public, and the 18 months since we first released a workshop-ready version, we can safely say it has been quite a journey to get to this point. We can only thank you for all your support and feedback during this time, especially the negative feedback, which really spurred us on to do better. Watch this space for products, features and content that we think, in turn, are very soon going to provide you with unparalleled support in your oscilloscope diagnostic work.