on my HOME PC i have two versions of solidworks installed: 2011 and 2014. they were both installed and activated using a key that was given to me by a company i used to work for. they were purchased outright and the seats were given to me. essentially, i am in possession of my own personal license of solidworks 2014. (i kept 2011 around for an old old job i used to work but i really don't need it anymore).

NOW i recently started a new job. this job is providing me with a SUBSCRIPTION version of solidworks 2017. this license is owned by the company, and it's understood that if i leave this company the SW license stays with them. which is fine.

but now i'm hearing from coworkers that they can't install 2017 AND their previous versions on the same computer at the same time. i haven't attempted it yet because 2014 runs on my PC and i'm hesitant to start monkeying with something that works fine. (i'm also worried about my 10 year old PC running 2017 smoothly)

i don't want to uninstall 2014, a product i OWN and will never expire, and replace it with 2017, a subscription-based product that could potentially expire due to a number of reasons.

am i just out of luck?

(keep in mind i'm only talking about my HOME PC. we will have a workstation at the shop with a fresh 2017 subscription install)

p.s. super huge thanks to solidworks for switching to a subscription based service. really cool, guys. i love this idea where if you miss a payment they take access of their software away from you. terrible business model... if you are a consumer (if you are a reseller it's a great business model)