Fielder Hiss, SolidWorks' VP of product development, said in a press briefing on 2/16/2012 that the current version of SolidWorks will continue to be developed (not just supported) until there is no more demand, and will continue to be based on the Parasolid kernel. We are not "quitting Parasolid." Only the new V6 applications will use a different kernel. There will be a Parasolid-based SolidWorks 2014, 2015, 2016, etc. We have not set any end-of-life timelines for existing products. The existing SolidWorks tools will continue to be developed until our customers tell us they no longer want or need them.
Gian Paulo Bassi (CTO, SW Corp.):
SolidWorks plan is to have parallel products, one with the Parasolid kernel and one with the CATIA v6 kernel. Lets face it, the Parasolid kernel may have been the right choice 15 years ago. But the CATIA engine is more advanced