AutoCADder

Pretty short after the Service Pack 1 ("Update 1") for AutoCAD 2009, Autodesk has released a new SP - Service Pack 2.

SP2 ("Update 2" as Autodesk now calls it) contains all fixes from SP1 and adds new in the areas of speed (fixes slow open of some DWGs), render (out-of-memory), dynamic blocks and others.

What's confusing is the naming scheme - not only there is a mix of "Service Pack" and "Update" names in the patch and its documentation. When you display the patch level in the ABOUT command, AutoCAD reports "AutoCAD 2009 - Version 3" (for the SP2 applied). Clear like mud.

SP2 also seems to break the Subscription Bonus Pack functionality added after SP1. There will be probably a new version of the Bonus Pack for AutoCAD 2009.

Labels: AutoCAD 2009, SP2, Update 2

Back from holidays, I have found fragments of information collecting on the new features of the upcoming new version of AutoCAD.

Autodesk organizes user meetings in the US where it seeks feedback from existing AutoCAD users. Concluding from this and similar information we can estimate the new functions and features of the "AutoCAD X", the new version which will be probably called "AutoCAD 2010".

• Command Line will be still there
• AutoLISP will be still there
• I bet AutoCAD will add another programming tool - VSTA
  
• The drawing format will change - Autodesk says it updates the DWG format every 3rd release, and AutoCAD 2010 is the third release after 2007; there may be even a substantial change in the drawing format (a XML-based DWG like in MS Office?) - this would allow a much better extensibility and longevity of the file format.
• Dynamic blocks will be enhanced. As there were plans for a parametric AutoCAD extension, I wouldn't be surprised when we see parametrics for entities in AutoCAD 2010.
• 3D modeling. There are still too many limits in using AutoCAD as a conceptual modeling tool. Autodesk will probably address these limits.

The drums are still distant and the outlines of the new features are in a haze - but the expected release date (March 20092010) is not that far in the future and it seems that AutoCAD 2010 will be one of the major releases of AutoCAD.

Labels: AutoCAD 2010, DWG