The Biggest (and Most Secret)New Feature in AutoCAD 2008

What's the biggest single new feature in AutoCAD 2008? From the marketing push, you would think it's annotation, annotation, annotation. The official press release from Autodesk mentions the following as new features:

Key enhancements include:

· Simple, intuitive creation, editing and management of annotation scale, tables, text and leaders, to virtually eliminate duplication of work, minimize errors and time spent on workarounds, and support corporate standards for design.

· Customer-driven improvements in functions ranging from drafting to presentation, including more than 35 enhancements in response to customer visits, Autodesk User Group International (AUGI) top-10 feature wish lists, and feedback forms.

But if you were to judge new features on the basis of related commands and system variables, then Autodesk and its external marketing firm, Edelman, have been silent about it: lighting for renderings.

Lighting has 6 new commands and 10 new system variables. In contrast:

Annotation text: 3 cmds -- 8 sysvars.
Multiple leaders: 5 cmds -- 1 sysvar.