3D printing and Microsoft

At least this time Microsoft has gotten ahead of other platforms in recognizing this disruptive technology.

3d Printing is the talk of Wall street and 3d Printing stocks are doing great and even Hewlett Packard is getting into this booming market. There are 3D printers that are readily available in the market.

I was intrigued to see a MakerBot printer doing a 3D demo job at the nearby Microsoft store in Ala Moana downtown Honolulu. I believe it is more than just a demo as Windows 8.1 natively supports 3D printing through the Windows 3D Builder app that you can download for free from here:

http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/en-us/app/3d-builder/75f3f766-13b3-45e9-a62f-29590d5781f2

Windows 8.1 operating system supports;

• Plug and play support for supported printers

• Connects APPS with hardware

• Can work with 3d formats

It has the folloiwng features:

•  View and prepare objects for 3D printing on Windows 8.1-ready devices

•     Load STL, OBJ, or 3MF files from disk

•     Library of 3D objects to explore and print

The Builder app helps in crating and printing 3d objects. Just like ClipArt library for graphics there is a library of objects that you can use to print, like jewelry,toys etc. You can also add multiple objects and print them together. Also you can download a 3D object from the Internet and print using the app. You can even buy MakerBot at a Microsoft store.

These 3D Printer vendors are partners:
3D Systems, Autodesk, Dassault Systems, MakerBot, netfabb, Materialise, Stratasys, Tiertime (PP3DP), Of these MakerBot (recently acquired by Stratasys and TierTime will have support for Windows 8.1. The Belgian company Materialize is going for an IPO soon.



Review the following link:
http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/windowsexperience/archive/2013/11/15/microsoft-s-3d-builder-comes-to-windows-8-1.aspx