With the start of the new year, it is time to repost an updated version of my milk carton blog article. We do have a few technology previews finishing soon, so act now if you want to be able to throw your two cents in.

Most technology previews are like milk cartons. They have expiration dates on them. When a technology preview expires, the technology preview no longer operates. A preview has a time-bomb in it that makes it stop working on a particular date. We do this so there is a sense of urgency to try a technology preview and get back to us. Our customers are busy people, and without this, they would just say "I'll get to that later." When a technology preview expires, any data that has been created by it continues to be valid. It's just that the data cannot be edited using the technology preview since the preview does not run anymore. Certainly, new data can't be created either. This time-based approach allows us to get timely feedback, early in the technology life cycle, on the general idea, user interface, performance characteristics, and correctness of the results.

Here is a list of active technology previews and their associated expiration dates. The list is sorted by expiration date — so act fast if you want to provide feedback on these technology previews before they retire or graduate.

Expiration Date	Technology Preview
January 31, 2017	Export LMC for AutoCAD Drive your METABEAM laser cutter directly from AutoCAD.
January 31, 2016	NextGen Learning Help us evolve the learning resources we supply.
January 31, 2017	Project Monolith Try voxel-based modeling engine for multimaterial 3D printing.
January 31, 2017	Project PRAXIS Try workflow authoring/publishing via the cloud. (Part of NextGen Learning)
February 15, 2017	Project Kameleon Try new infrastructure model content authoring tools.
March 6, 2017	Project Calrissian for CFD Apply flow design to wrap surfaces to prepare for simulation.
March 18, 2017	React Structures Connect your BIM process to intuitive structural analysis.
March 31, 2017	Dynamo Plug-in for Robot Structural Analysis / React Structures Connect Dynamo to Robot Structural Analysis / React Structures.
March 31, 2017	Project Play Make amazingly rich interactive 3D presentations on the web.
May 1, 2017	2D to 3D Tool for Inventor Create 3D models in Autodesk Inventor from 2D data.
August 1, 2017	Project Scandium for Moldflow Insight Extend your simulation capabilities.
September 1, 2017	DWG Sync for Revit Manage DWG files imported into Revit families.

Technology previews have a specific end date so no one confuses them with alpha, betas, or subscription offerings. A development team is focused on a technology preview for a project interval. While they are, they want the feedback and the ability to make a decision so they can continue development of the technology or quickly move on to something else. We appreciate it when we debut technology previews, people try them right away, and they provide us with an up or down vote. Your experience shapes the future of our technology indeed. As I always say, "Trying a technology preview, liking it, but not telling us, is the same as not trying it."

Checking the expiration dates to see what can still be tested is alive in the lab.