CAD Geek Poll – What are your 2010 upgrade plans?

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AutoCAD 2010 (and most other 2010 products) were launched this week, and the question begins to shift from “what’s new” to “will I upgrade”. Judging from the last poll I ran here on The CAD Geek, it seems the vast majority of you (45%) are running the latest release (2009), but what does the future look like for you? Will you be upgrading, or sitting out this release? Has the economy changed your upgrade plans, or is it still full steam ahead on your 2010 upgrade?
Vote for the option that best describes your 2010 upgrade plans.
[polldaddy poll=1486456]
Have more to say? Comment on this post, and share your thoughts on upgrading to AutoCAD 2010.

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Donnie Gladfelter
Donnie Gladfelter

Donnie is author of the book and Autodesk Official Press, AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT: No Experience Required, a columnist for AUGIWorld Magazine, Autodesk University speaker, and former member of the AUGI Board of Directors.

10 Comments

  1. We plan to release it as soon as time and workload permits. It’s my responsibility to get everything ready and tested (we have lots of in-house customization) so I already have it installed but I have roughly 160-170 CAD users (we’re hiring like gangbusters for some reason) and the workload of all the divisions and groups sometimes delays our releases. We skipped 2009 for that very reason; we were just too overloaded to deal with all the hassles that come with a new release.

    I’m kind of glad we did that, actually, because now we have to train everyone on the ribbon (I know, we can revert to ACAD classic workspace, but I’m really going to push the new interface), and it seems that the 2010 version has made really good improvements to it over 2009.

    All in all I’m looking forward to it, but there’s a lot of legwork still to be done on my part before my users actually get their hands on it. The growing pains will be interesting to watch… my toolbar people may very well have a fit, but I think if they’ll give it an honest chance they’ll like it.

    Here’s to avoiding full-on mutiny. LOL

    Great blog, Donnie. Been reading for quite a while, first comment. *two thumbs up*

    • @Jim – Sounds like you and I have a number of similarities in the environments we support. Especially when dealing with 100’s of users, popping the CD/DVD into each machine, and wishing the user the best of luck simply isn’t an option. Weeks of due diligence goes into prepping for an upgrade cycle.

      As you’ve gathered, Autodesk is really emphasizing the Ribbon. On the Civil 3D front, the old menus are still there, but Autodesk didn’t add any new menus. One of the flagship new features inside Civil 3D 2010 is an intersection tool. You won’t find an intersection menu anywhere in the CUI, but you will find an intersection ribbon. I haven’t studied the core AutoCAD side of things to see if there’s similar disconnects there or not.

      Nonetheless, thanks for visiting! I hope you’ll continue finding beneficial things here, and of course tell your friends.

  2. We plan to release it as soon as time and workload permits. It’s my responsibility to get everything ready and tested (we have lots of in-house customization) so I already have it installed but I have roughly 160-170 CAD users (we’re hiring like gangbusters for some reason) and the workload of all the divisions and groups sometimes delays our releases. We skipped 2009 for that very reason; we were just too overloaded to deal with all the hassles that come with a new release.

    I’m kind of glad we did that, actually, because now we have to train everyone on the ribbon (I know, we can revert to ACAD classic workspace, but I’m really going to push the new interface), and it seems that the 2010 version has made really good improvements to it over 2009.

    All in all I’m looking forward to it, but there’s a lot of legwork still to be done on my part before my users actually get their hands on it. The growing pains will be interesting to watch… my toolbar people may very well have a fit, but I think if they’ll give it an honest chance they’ll like it.

    Here’s to avoiding full-on mutiny. LOL

    Great blog, Donnie. Been reading for quite a while, first comment. *two thumbs up*

    • @Jim – Sounds like you and I have a number of similarities in the environments we support. Especially when dealing with 100’s of users, popping the CD/DVD into each machine, and wishing the user the best of luck simply isn’t an option. Weeks of due diligence goes into prepping for an upgrade cycle.

      As you’ve gathered, Autodesk is really emphasizing the Ribbon. On the Civil 3D front, the old menus are still there, but Autodesk didn’t add any new menus. One of the flagship new features inside Civil 3D 2010 is an intersection tool. You won’t find an intersection menu anywhere in the CUI, but you will find an intersection ribbon. I haven’t studied the core AutoCAD side of things to see if there’s similar disconnects there or not.

      Nonetheless, thanks for visiting! I hope you’ll continue finding beneficial things here, and of course tell your friends.

  3. I’m having a rather interesting new-version season. The new Civil 3D is hitting the streets just at the time that our (recently acquired) downtown office finally admits that they really ought to make the move from Land Desktop.

    Since before the acquisition, I’ve talked about trying to change the way they think about upgrades – both software and intra-cranial. Suddenly, here’s my chance.

    I’m going to be doing training sessions with them, dragging them kicking & screaming out of the 90’s.

    Time to learn something new, gang! And once I get you started, I am NOT going to let you stop!

    • Earl – Isn’t it great when things just fall into place. You probably already know this, but I truly cannot emphasize the importance of training as it relates to Civil 3D. It’s almost a given that former LDT users WILL try to use Civil 3D like LDT, and as you know, the LDT workflow doesn’t work in C3D.

  4. I’m having a rather interesting new-version season. The new Civil 3D is hitting the streets just at the time that our (recently acquired) downtown office finally admits that they really ought to make the move from Land Desktop.

    Since before the acquisition, I’ve talked about trying to change the way they think about upgrades – both software and intra-cranial. Suddenly, here’s my chance.

    I’m going to be doing training sessions with them, dragging them kicking & screaming out of the 90’s.

    Time to learn something new, gang! And once I get you started, I am NOT going to let you stop!

    • Earl – Isn’t it great when things just fall into place. You probably already know this, but I truly cannot emphasize the importance of training as it relates to Civil 3D. It’s almost a given that former LDT users WILL try to use Civil 3D like LDT, and as you know, the LDT workflow doesn’t work in C3D.

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