VBA 7.0 integration (similar to Office 2010) allows powerful customization. Engineers familiar with Excel macros can adapt quickly. Weaknesses & Pain Points 1. Dated interface The development environment looks and feels like early 2000s Windows. Screen creation is tedious—no modern graphics library, weak animation tools, and the symbol editor is clunky. Newer SCADA systems (Ignition, FactoryTalk View SE) are far more intuitive.
As of today (2026), GE no longer supports 8.3. No security patches, no Windows 10/11 compatibility, and no driver updates. Running it exposes your plant to network vulnerabilities and hardware obsolescence. cimplicity 8.3
Target audience: Industrial automation engineers, system integrators, plant floor managers Overview CIMPLICITY 8.3 (released around 2014–2015) is a stable, client-server SCADA platform designed for medium to large-scale industrial monitoring and control. It is often found in automotive, packaging, discrete manufacturing, and utility environments. While long superseded (current version is 11.x as of 2025), 8.3 is still running in many legacy plants due to its reliability and the cost of upgrading. Strengths 1. Rock-solid stability For continuous 24/7 operations, CIMPLICITY 8.3 is highly reliable. Once configured correctly, it can run for months without a restart. Crash frequency is low compared to some contemporaries (e.g., early Wonderware versions). Dated interface The development environment looks and feels
While you can stretch windows across displays, CIMPLICITY 8.3 does not have native multi-monitor workspace management. Docking and restoring screens often misalign. As of today (2026), GE no longer supports 8
The iFIX-style screen development is replaced here with a more traditional point-and-configure model. You can scale from a single station to redundant servers + dozens of Viewers with minimal rework.