We designed the PLAXIS applications such that the new PLAXIS and any PLAXIS CONNECT Edition or legacy version can be installed on the same machine without causing any conflict.
PLAXIS newer versions will by default be installed in:
PLAXIS CONNECT Edition versions will by default be installed in:
PLAXIS Legacy installations were by default installed in:
When running the PLAXIS application for the first time, it will import settings from the installed PLAXIS legacy version. After this initial setup, the two programs will be operating completely independently.
Note, it is not possible to have e.g. a PLAXIS 2D 2019 version running at the same time as PLAXIS 2D version is running on your machine: they cannot run on the same machine at the same time.
All dongle/hardware lock (HWL) based versions of PLAXIS 2D/3D are treated as "V8i SELECTseries 10" according to Bentley's Support Policy. This means that Bentley will discontinue support for hardware lock based versions of PLAXIS after December 31, 2021. This includes PLAXIS 2D 2019 and older, and PLAXIS 3D 2018 and older.
To see the benefits of the latest versions and how to get the latest version, please see PLAXIS CONNECT Edition: upgrade from Hardware lock to Flexible licensing