Everybody Loves an AutoCAD Customer

With Autodesk documenting an installed base of 6,880,300 for AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT (plus winking at 10x more in illegal copies), both Autodesk and competitors have salivated at getting them to switch to other software.

Some attempts are pitiful, such as, "Hey, buy our 3D CAD software for 50% off! [plus applicable annual subscription fees.]" Seriously, who would take such an offer seriously? Other companies, such as Bentley Systems, and SolidWorks, UGS, make a serious effort by providing utilities that make the switch easier.

UGS this morning re-iterates their Solid Edge 4-Step 2D-to-3D Program, with added bonuses:

- Place AutoCAD DWG blocks into Solid Edge diagrams without translation.
- Intelligent connector lines snap to specific points on blocks, remaining attached when the block is moved (sounds like Visio and Actrix).
- multi-representation blocks, where one symbol displays different states.

Not that Autodesk is standing by to watch their two cash cows dry up their teats. They've long had a campaign to remind their customers that only Autodesk-generated DWG files are trustworthy. (Never mind that their major 3D software packages doesn't use the DWG format.) AutoCAD 2007 rewards users with loading Autodesk-generated drawing files:

Autodesk DWG. This file is a Trusted DWG last saved by an Autodesk application or Autodesk licensed application.

And creates a sense of unease when DWG files from non-Autodesk software are loaded:

Non Autodesk DWG. This DWG file was saved by a software application not developed or licensed by Autodesk. Use of this file with AutoCAD software may result in stability issues.

Comments

[Obaid-u-Rahman]

I am obaid afshan from Afghanistan i ues to work with Autocad For 5 years and i wish all our friends the best i want thanks that world CAD Access For all what they do for ours

[Evan Yares]

AutoCAD versions 2004 and up embed an encrypted digital signature inside of DWG files they create. When AutoCAD 2007 detects this signature, it announces that the DWG file is "Trusted."

The fact that a DWG file may or may not be "Trusted" has no bearing on its validity or accuracy. While it's true that DWG files occasionally get damaged, and the checksum inside the digital signature will detect this, most corrupt DWG files are created that way. AutoCAD has always been, and will likely to continue to be, able to create corrupt drawings, either directly, or through poor consistency checking in ARX.

While "Trusted DWG" may only mean "trusted by AutoCAD," I believe that that the typical consumer will read it to mean "trustworthy." To the extent that is true, this program would seem to be anticompetitive.

[Jason]

The whole thing is a marketing gimmick. Autodesk's other non Autocad programs must translate their data to DWG when it's saved in DWG format, just like their competition.

While an Autodesk program is likely to have some advantage since they have more access to the format, they have not always taken the time to insure the best translation. Until recently, it's been said that Solidworks reads and write DWG better than Inventor. That may or may not be the case any longer, but it took a major competitor to make Autodesk follow through and provide a better DWG translator for Inventor.

[Anonymous]

Load a "non-Autodesk" drawing, execute the QSAVE command, and all of a sudden you have a "Trusted" drawing.

Does QSAVE has some added ability to find a remove/fix problems that may result in stability issues?