AutoCAD 2019 Archives

AutoCAD 2019, Autodesk, CAD Management, Customer Service, Maintenance, Nostalgia, Rental, Subscription

Explaining the four tiers of AutoCAD license

By Steve Johnson 31 August 2018, 3:47 pm 31 August 2018 itemprop="discussionURL"5

Yesterday’s tiers Once upon a time, long long ago, you could buy AutoCAD with or without sets of features called Advanced Drafting Extensions (ADE) containing optional extras such as dimensioning. At one stage you could buy four tiers of AutoCAD license at different prices: AutoCAD AutoCAD + ADE1 AutoCAD + ADE2 (incorporating ADE1) AutoCAD + ADE3 (incorporating ADE1 and ADE2) (Interestingly, the above situation is similar to the current arrangement with BricsCAD, where BricsCAD Classic, Pro and Platinum are available with incrementing prices and feature sets, with BricsCAD BIM and Sheet Metal available on top of Platinum). As almost everybody bought …

AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2019, Customer Service, Interoperability, Maintenance, Subscription

What’s new in AutoCAD 2019 for maintenance customers?

By Steve Johnson 9 August 2018, 11:30 pm 9 August 2018 itemprop="discussionURL"11

So you’re a long-term customer who has used AutoCAD since it ran on an abacus. You paid for upgrades when you could and switched to maintenance (then called Subscription) when that became the only cost-effective option for keeping current. You’re not about to fall for the subscription (rental) trick; they can prise your perpetual license from your cold, dead fingers. It’s no secret that the value for your maintenance dollar has been poor for years. Autodesk is jacking up maintenance prices in leaps and bounds; is the maintenance being performed at a rate that matches the amount being charged? In …

A & B Tips, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2015, AutoCAD 2017, AutoCAD 2018, AutoCAD 2019, BricsCAD, BricsCAD V17, BricsCAD V18, Performance, Tip

A & B Tip 3 – benchmarking – /nologo or no?

By Steve Johnson 3 August 2018, 5:54 pm 4 August 2018 itemprop="discussionURL"6

In this series of posts, I’ll be providing tips that show how to do something in both AutoCAD and BricsCAD, hence A & B. The Series The idea behind this series is to provide useful information for several sorts of reader: AutoCAD users. BricsCAD users. People in the process of transitioning from AutoCAD to BricsCAD and who need to know what to do differently (if anything). People considering transitioning from AutoCAD to BricsCAD and who want to know about the differences and similarities. What’s This Post About? In my first post in this series about starting your CAD application in …

AutoCAD 2018, AutoCAD 2019, Autodesk, Bug, CAD Management, Customer Service, Fail, Rental, Subscription

Autodesk remotely killswitches AutoCAD licenses – again

By Steve Johnson 21 April 2018, 1:16 pm 21 April 2018 itemprop="discussionURL"6

Following the AutoCAD 2019 rollout disaster, where subscription users found their AutoCAD 2018s were broken by an Autodesk licensing system meltdown, Autodesk CEO Andrew Anagnost issued an apology. He also assured customers on Twitter that it wouldn’t happen again: While I welcomed that, I did have this to say at the time: I don’t think such a guarantee is realistic, given that the nature of subscription software is to only work when it knows you’ve paid up. At least it demonstrates that the desire is there right at the top to try to prevent such debacles from occurring in future. …

AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2019, CAD Management, Tip, Web Stuff

Still can’t download AutoCAD 2019? Read this

By Steve Johnson 3 April 2018, 12:53 pm 3 April 2018 itemprop="discussionURL"2

Timeline of AutoCAD 2019 events to date 20 March 2018 – Somebody (a reseller?) posts a video on YouTube with a collection of Autodesk video materials describing AutoCAD 2019; this is quickly removed 22 March 2018 – AutoCAD 2019 Released 22 March 2018 – Reports surface of AutoCAD 2019 activation acting as a killswitch for AutoCAD 2018 23 March 2018 – Attempts by myself and others to download AutocAD 2019 are thwarted by the non-availability of links and other issues 24 March 2018 – AVA, Autodesk Account and Autodesk desktop app all know nothing about AutoCAD 2019 24 March 2018 – …

AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2019, Interoperability, Rental, Subscription, Thoughts

Why One AutoCAD is smart strategy

By Steve Johnson 2 April 2018, 1:20 pm 2 April 2018 itemprop="discussionURL"4

OK, so Autodesk may have blown the AutoCAD 2019 rollout, triggering an apology from CEO Andrew Anagnost. OK, AutoCAD 2019 may have the smallest set of significant advances in the history of AutoCAD releases. If you’re wondering, I give it 1/10. The “there can be only one” hype could easily refer to meaningful improvements to the product per year. This year’s improvement is… drawing compare! Still, AutoCAD 2019 is a significant release for reasons beyond the content of the core product. An examination of the One AutoCAD strategy reveals a collective corporate mind that’s smarter than it’s being given credit …

AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2019, Autodesk, Customer Service

Andrew Anagnost apology for AutoCAD 2019 rollout disaster

By Steve Johnson 29 March 2018, 9:12 am 2 April 2018 itemprop="discussionURL"5

Autodesk CEO Andrew Anagnost has sent an email to customers affected by the AutoCAD 2019 rollout disaster that acted as a remote kill-switch for users of earlier releases of subscription software. The email’s subject is We Missed the Mark: Readers of this blog will be aware that Andrew and I have fundamental disagreements on where he has taken the company, but credit where credit is due. An apology was appropriate in this case, and Andrew stepped up and made one. He has also stated on Twitter that it won’t happen again. I don’t think such a guarantee is realistic, given …

AutoCAD 2019, Autodesk, Bug, CAD Management, Customer Service, Fail, LISP, Other Autodesk Products, Rental, Subscription

AutoCAD 2019 rollout disaster

By Steve Johnson 24 March 2018, 11:13 am 24 March 2018 itemprop="discussionURL"10

If you’re an AutoCAD user, you may have been intrigued by the news about the new way Autodesk is bundling up AutoCAD 2019 with various verticals (perpetual license owners need not apply). This is Autodesk’s latest attempt to promote its subscription model and raise prices again. 7% this time, but much more to come. But never mind that, the main point is that you’re getting a whole lot of stuff, and who could say that’s not a good thing? So it’s most unfortunate for Autodesk that the AutoCAD 2019 rollout has been an unmitigated disaster. My own experiences in trying …