Autodesk updates product line

Autodesk, a maker of drafting and design software, has released new versions of all its applications, the company said Tuesday.

The San Rafael, Calif.-based company said the updates, including new iterations of more than 25 applications, was undertaken in the name of allowing customers to increase the speed with which they move ideas from the drawing board into production.

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Among the updated offerings are products that use three-dimensional modeling, computer-aided design (CAD), animation, visualization, data management and design collaboration. The company's products typically are used by design professionals such as architects and engineers.

One of the newly updated products is Autodesk Inventor 10, the company's flagship 3D design software. Autodesk said it has added new features to the package that will help prevent over-engineering and help save time and money.

The company said it has made similar improvements to several other products, including its Autodesk Civil 3D 2006, Autodesk Map 3D 2006, Autodesk Revit Building 8 and AutoCAD 2006.

Also having undergone a major face lift are the company's collaboration tools, which are used by design professionals to communicate and share works in progress. The company said its Autodesk Buzzsaw service, which enables people to monitor progress on joint design efforts, was improved to let people more easily share ideas with a group and keep better track of project life cycle and budgetary issues.

The software maker also said it has updated its Autodesk DWF Composer and DWF Viewer products, which are used by designers to share and revise digital documents.

Last December, Autodesk entered an intellectual-property-sharing agreement with Microsoft, under which the two companies agreed to swap patents in order to spur innovation. The companies said at the time that they planned to share patents in a variety of areas, including data management, collaboration, digital effects, project management, computer-aided design and so-called location-based services.

[Filip Remplakowski]

Dear Autodesk

While you're busy making small adjustments to your products
then charging large amounts for your software products, could
you find it in your hearts to port a Mac verson of some of your
best loved architecture software.

Love
Disgruntled Architecture Student

ps I'm writing this on a super cool 15" Powerbook

Find out more go to:

http://www.apple.com
http://www.apple.com/powerbook/
http://www.apple.com/macosx/

[Llib Setag]

Break the Wintel/Dell/ACAD monopoly...

You can use these CAD programs on a MAC (better than AutoCAD) & save as DWG/DXF file OR IMPORT DWG/DXF files created in AutoCAD.

Also, make your voice heard directly to Autodesk via CAD & MAC survey to Autodesk from Architosh web site. Also, AIA has a CAD committee / MAC committee that is research more AIA documents for MAC, etc....

ArchiCAD 9 (Win & Mac)
http://www.graphisoft.com/

Vectorworks (Win & Mac)
http://www.nemetschek.net/

Architects On Mac web site:
www.architosh.com

AutoCAD Survey for Mac Users to Autodesk
http://www.architosh.com/news/2004-01/2004c-0125-apple-autodesk.phtml

http://www.architosh.com/news/2002-06/2002c-0615-acadx-pet1.phtml

AutoCAD used to be available for MS-DOS / Mac / Unix many years ago, BUT when AutoCAD asked for R&D help in creating a new version for the new Windows OS from Citizen Gates, lo & behold ALL the "other versions" disappeared...? coinsidence?
Hmmmm....

Mac/Win/Unix user in Seattle (Architect & tech/media consulting)

[Filip Remplakowski]

I have...

vectorworks though I was taught Microstation (which is just as
guilty as Autocad at mac support, though they had a version for
classic) and I have had difficulty learning it after getting used to
microstation. The best thing about vectorworks is scaling which i
just don't get in Microstation. I heard that vectorworks isn't as
good at creating complex designes as the other cad packages.
How is Archicad like? I have a student version of version 8 but it
prints out a lovely border, which vecterworks doesn't so that's
why i bought that (now i'm broke) As for Microstation i have also
emailed them to see if they would make a version that runs on
osx which would make me happy till the next major mac os
transition, but no they are happy in their windows world. I tried
that world and i got a virus and all my data was lost. The lesson:
"never try." As a future customer I'd like these people to take
me seriously but they don't. I'll be at the RIBA HQ in London they
are doing an interesting presentation with Apple and other CAD
companies promoting their hardware and the software available,
which seems quite interesting considering there are some
people out there who have never programed before creating
there own 3D modeler programs, for example Cheetah 3D.

[nzamparello]

Poor, poor autodesk....

I wouldn't share anything with microsoft... Not unless bill agreed to let me midget toss him first.. Anytime microsoft shares anything with anyone... Look it up if you don't believe me it's for one of these three things..
1. They are gonna aquire you...
2. They want a legal way to steal your ideas and "innovate" them into some of their own programs..
3. You have dirt on them and they don't want you to sue... Plus you have something they want...
Microsoft... "Freedome to Innovate"