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AutoCAD 2002 Due June 15

By Ralph Grabowski, editor, upFront.eZine

(reprinted by permission)

ABBOTSFORD, British Columbia, May 14, 2001  - Senior product manager Andy Ramm and director of marketing J.B. Kuppe  came by the upFront.eZine office last week to show off AutoCAD 2002, due to ship 15 June. Rumor had it that the original ship date was going to be in May, but with Office XP shipping on May 31, it seemed prudent for Autodesk to wait a couple of weeks for the Microsoft-generated hoopla to settle down. The availability date for AutoCAD 2002 is the Friday before A/E/C Systems starts, so this'll help generate excitement for the Autodesk booth as users flock to check the features.

Mr Ramm was on his way to Germany for last week's grand launch of AutoCAD 2002 in Munich. He and Mr Kuppe said the emphasis in this release was on "digital design data: making data work for everyone in the enterprise." Golly, I thought to myself, they've managed to leave out the C-word. But my relief was short-lived. Their PowerPoint presentation listed the four areas of improvement in 2002, including "collaboration":

• Team collaboration.
• Simple standards management and data exchange.
• Ease of integration and license management.
• Powerful CAD platform.
  

The Feature List

As indicated earlier this year by ceo Carol Bartz, AutoCAD 2002 consists of all extensions previously released for 2000i, as well as some new features. You'll probably be inundated soon with the details, but a summary of features includes:

• True associative dimensions that attach to objects, instead of defpoints.
• Enhanced management, editing, and extraction of attributes (tags)
• Layer name translator, and LayerP (previous) command.
• Change text justification, and set relative text size between model and paper space.
• Spell checker now checks all text, including attributes.
• CAD standards manager, with interactive and batch auditing.
• Export drawings in XML format (but no XML import).
• Improved version of DWF.
• PublishToWeb can be customized.
• GlobeTrotter FLEXlm network license.
• No more hardware lock anywhere in the world.
• DWG files, macros, scripts, and applications are compatible with AutoCAD 2000i.

Rent, Buy, or Lease

Autodesk will unveil several business models to give customers a choice in acquiring licenses:

• Rent - acquire additional licenses for peak loads, for 30, 60, or 90 days.
• Subscribe - own the software and stay current for an annual fee; new subscription plan to start this summer. The minimum 5-seat requirement has been dropped.
• Extend - purchase extensions as they become available; sort of like learning a single new command at a time.
• Host - access AutoCAD anywhere via the Web; also, self-hosted on intranets for large corporations looking at streaming code.

The Web price for new licenses has not changed (US$3,295), but the upgrade pricing (not yet finalized) is structured to encourage switching to the VIP subscription program.

The 65% Gap

One statistic Mr Ramm presented was that 65% of AutoCAD users could use one of Autodesk's vertical applications. Autodesk sees a lot of growth potential there (read: more $$$ per sale), and so will be shipping updates to many of their vertical apps the same day as 2002: ADT v3.3, Map 5, LDT 5, LT 2002, MDT 6, Mechanical 6, and others.
But that 65% figure could be read as bad news for Autodesk. It means that there are many AutoCAD users who either: (1) don't like Autodesk's vertical apps; or (2) don't want to pay more than they already do.

Future Releases

I asked Mr Ramm if 2002 represents the future of AutoCAD. It does, he agreed: A "roll-up" release that encapsulates all previous extensions, along with a smattering of new stuff. They would not, however, commit to an annual schedule of future AutoCAD "big-R" releases -- even though 2000, 2000i, and 2002 were roughly a year apart.

Mechanical Products

In an overview given to editors a couple of weeks ago, Autodesk presented its "manufacturing" strategy (note the change from "mechanical") as:

• Creation - via Inventor, Mechanical Desktop (3D) and Mechanical (2D) software.
• Collaboration - via Streamline and Point A.
• Commerce - via RedSpark

Some have been predicting the demise of Mechanical Desktop (MDT) due to the popularity of Inventor, but Autodesk is keeping the DWG-compatible add-on around for at least one more release. Some new features in MDT v6 include: threads; 3D spring design and analysis; enhanced scenes; improved hole feature, hole charts and notes; enhanced mass properties; and built-in STEP and IGES translators.

New features in the 2D-only Mechanical v6 include cam design and analysis; spring design and analysis; hole charts and notes; built-in IGES translator; and improved BOM. Both products are due to be available at dealers on 15 June.

Architectural Products
In addition to Architectural Desktop v3.1 shipping at the same time as AutocAD 2002, Architectural Studio (aka Studio Desk nee Project Nora) will be shipping this fall. Some speculative info at http://www.architosh.com/news/2001-05/2001-0511-studiodesk.phtml

GIS Products

For an overview of Autodesk's new GIS products, read this week's 'GIS Monitor' e-newsletter by Adena Schutzberg <aschutzberg@tenlinks.com>. Of significance is the new connection to Oracle 8i Spatial, rather than SQL from Microsoft.