AutoCADder

With Internet Explorer pushed by Microsoft to unsuspecting users in next few days, we must be prepared with all our daily tools. DWF tools by Autodesk weren't prepared yet. Now they are.

Autodesk has released hotfixes adding MSIE7 compatibility to DWF Viewer 7 and Design Review 2007. Both hotfixes can be downloaded from www.autodesk.com/dwfviewer-support

The 3D capabilities of AutoCAD have grown up substantially in the version 2007. While AutoCAD still lacks some more advanced solid modelling functions (which can be found e.g. in Inventor or Mechanical Desktop), the 3D function range and - first of all - the ease of use of these 3D functions makes AutoCAD a true 3D modelling tool.
What for are 3D functions in a 2D or 2.5D CAD application like AutoCAD? Well, in a general CAD software like AutoCAD, there are not (and can be not) many functions for further processing of 3D models - like 2D drawing views with dimensioning, parametric 3D models or things like that, but there are still many areas where conceptual modelling, sections, renderings and an API to control these functions can help a lot. And - what is more important - the kernel 3D functionality can be used in all vertical CAD applications based on AutoCAD - like Architectural Desktop and Civil 3D.
So we can expect that the SketchUp-like mouse-driven extrusions or complicated profile-lofts introduced in AutoCAD 2007 will be a benefit especially for other Autodesk applications. And it is of course also a wide path for further development of AutoCAD.

Wow, I have never noticed this - there are commands with the same names as variables in AutoCAD. They may behave differently. It may be confusing for users - be careful.
See - CAD Forum - DRAGMODE does not accept the value "2"

The hackers group called "Open Design Alliance" has recently announced that their DWGdirect library reads/writes DWG files "that are transparently accepted by AutoCAD as 'trusted'". A dazzling achievement...

"Trusted DWGs" are genuine drawing files which were created in an original Autodesk application. AutoCAD tests the signature of such DWG files on opening.

I would expect such proclamation from an underground group of teenagers happy to hack a big name web site, not from an interest group associating also reputable companies. Can you imagine a similar announcement in a different industry?

Our OpenShirt manufacture group has produced an Adidas-fake T-shirt which cannot be easily distinguished from the original!

The OpenCPU company has hacked the Pentium processor so that our fake processors are now recognized by Windows as genuine Intel CPUs!

Would you go with something like that to press? Would you make business with the OpenShirt and OpenCPU companies?

(furthermore: the library still works only with a subset of AutoCAD objects and a subset of possible DWG files)