Is MultiSim a fraudulent product?

Question

I'm thinking it is.  I'm thinking that way back when there was Electronics Workbench (EWB), a simple simulator that worked, but too simple for it to catch on any where but in schools, as students could afford it, but engineers couldn't use it.  Then, losing money, as graduating students can't use EWB for real engineering, so minimal return customers, the management of EWB decided to revamp things, via MultiSim, grab the schools' guaranteed cash flow on the coattails of EWB, but the original designers were no longer available to do it again as MultiSim.  But, going in the hole on the MultiSim planning, the product was released anyway, knowing it didn't work and was wall to wall bugs.  Now, years and years later, National Instruments has bought into the money pit that is the MultiSim design, once again seeing dollar signs through schools and the potential for persons such as myself to take MultiSim into engineering.  The problem is it still doesn't work enough to do that.  True, it's easier to use, but it doesn't work, so it can't be used.  The real testing and troubleshooting to fix it has not happened, even as of today.  The turnover rate over the years with EWB-MultiSim is high.  Few remain.  Anyone I've worked with is no longer there; I've gone through many names as I've been turning up these MultiSim bugs for all these years.  I look at it all and the "f" word looks more and more appropriate when it comes to MultiSim (and you pick the version, any version.)  They've jacked up the price fourfold on a product that has never worked enough to take it out of a school classroom.  Likewise, this is also why, as I've cruised around this forum, I've found loads of unanswered questions, students asking for help and getting little.  MultiSim works enough for unknowing students to buy what the teacher is selling, but in reality it's just smoke and mirrors full of industry-supplied parts fudged into somewhat working within the MultiSim kluge.  The bugs will keep coming up until MultiSim is actually troubleshot by knowledgeable people and fixed, but they won't remain with the company long enough.  Why?  Because MultiSim Inc can't pay enough for knowledgeable people to remain AND deal with the, no doubt, tons of bureaucracy that must develop from selling a bad product for this long.
But I started this thread to more hear your thoughts.  I'm so disgusted with MultiSim that I thought I'd just actually say what I've been thinking about the product, partially as a catalyst to hear people who know this product defend it.  However, that's not to say that if you tend to agree with my take above that you can't say something also.  As I see it, the worst that could happen is NI (the latest MultiSim owners) will kick me/us out and delete the thread.  But that won't hurt me a bit.  This forum has done me zero good, and, from the looks of it, NI doesn't even know what's said here.  (They may after my last correspondence with them though, but I doubt it.)   So, though it may be forum suicide, I don't fear such a death.  However, I do see some potential good coming in doing this.  Maybe, just maybe, I am right, that there is still a slight bit of hope for MultiSim.    

Answer 1

Hello Euler’s Identity: 
I’d like to address some of the frustrations you present in your above post (in addition to the email responses you’ve received from our AEs and myself).  I’m very sorry to hear that you’ve had a negative experience with the software.  As always, our Applications Engineers would be very happy to assist you with any specific technical issues you might be having (I didn’t see any in the original post, and I believe the issue with the LM311 was addressed earlier today.):  
I’d like to provide some of the recent history of the Electronics Workbench line of software (Multisim, Ultiboard, Multisim MCU Module).  Electronics Workbench was acquired by National Instruments (NI) in February of 2005 for two primary reasons:
1.)     Provide a World-Class Software and Hardware Solution for Teaching Electronics Education
With NI graphical system design tools such as NI Multisim (industry-standard SPICE simulation) and NI LabVIEW and prototyping environments such as NI Educational Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Suite (NI ELVIS), it is now possible to design, prototype, and compare the characteristics of simulated circuits with real-world measurements in a single electronics education platform.  This complete integration across the design cycle gives students a deeper understanding of the circuit theory they are studying, and ultimately prepares them for more productive careers as design professionals
2.)     Enhance Professional Electronics Design with Tight Integration of Measurement and Analysis Technology
The Multisim SPICE simulation environment integrates tightly with NI measurement technology such as LabVIEW to provide a seamless transfer of simulation and real-world test data.  Professional engineers can now more easily validate designs using simulation data as a benchmark and even create more accurate simulations using real-world data as stimuli.  
Additionally, as part of the acquisition, NI committed to develop Multisim and Ultiboard with the same strict focus on quality as the balance of the NI platform – it is one of the key focus areas for new releases.  Version 10, released in January 2007, was the first edition of the software released fully under NI standard software development practices (post-acquisition) and has received very positive feedback from existing users.  Of course, there is always room for improvement and innovation, and you can expect to see continued quality enhancements with each new release of Multisim and Ultiboard.
The NI Electronics Workbench Group team is passionate about making world-class capture, simulation, and layout products both for education and for professional design.  As always, we welcome your constructive feedback to continue to improve these products over time, and we will do everything we can to ensure that you have a good experience with the product.
Best regards,
Nicole McGarry
Director of Sales & Marketing
NI Electronics Workbench Group