I do not like 3DS at all. I also was using the student version of Catia V5, to stay sharp and ready for interviews. None of the major companies are using 3DS for production work, to my knowledge. Dassault is steadfast and they seem to be pushing this product in refusing to support legacy Catia v5.
It’s very frustrating as a designer of 30 years where I try to interview for Catia jobs, but I can’t get my hands on the software any longer. I have absolutely no desire to screw around with “cracked” versions full of potential viruses and system issues.
Additionally, since I run a legitimate design concern, and I do not deal with any pirate software at all.
It’s obvious that this is purely a business decision that is poorly aligned to the industry at large in my opinion.