Semi OT: Free X-CAD If...

[Mark Jerde]

... about 38,000 more people sign up before August 1st.

'll give it a test drive for free. ;-)

-- Mark

[SonomaProducts.com]

I'm sure it will be worth every penny you pay for it too.

[CW]

Highly unlikely that they will fail to give it away even if they don't reach there number goal. This is an ad campaign. If, at the last minute, they say "sorry, we didn't meet our goal, you'll have to buy it at regular price", most of those that showed interest will just tell them to take a leap off a tall place.

[alexy]

Generally, I agree with the "no free lunch" principle. But this might be a good deal. I've signed up to see if it is.

I am still using drawingboard for 2-d drafting. Saw it mentioned here, and bought it at some ridiculously low price ($50?). As long as I remember to use 8.3 file names, this old win-16 program fully meets my modest needs. And it was light years ahead of other functional cad programs in ease of use. Not tempted to upgrade, since its successor is now more in the $500 range.

I also have PTC Desktop Express, which was offered free for home use, but the learning curve is too steep for me to use for my very occasional project. I'm hoping this one will be better in that regard. (And I wish Sketchup would offer a similar deal!)

[CW]

infrequently.

[alexy]

I've heard that, too, so have signed up for Alibre's free 30-day trial version to get a head start on learning X-CAD.

I suspect you are right, but hope springs eternal. I would have said the same thing about 2-D CAD based on my experience with Data Cad and others before I got DrawingBoard by Ashlar. I'm sure if you need the capabilities of AutoCAD, DrawingBoard is a totally inadequate toy. But it meets my need and is very easy to learn.

What I'd like to have in the 3-D world, based on web demos I have seen, is Sketchup. But the $$ in this hobby are better spent, for me, on wood and physical tools.

BTW, I like ProDesktop Express, and have found it helpful for visualizing, or helping my clients (SWMBO & children) visualize what I am planning to make. Just wish it were easier to use.

[CW]

[Dave]

I signed up, but I'm watching my spam filter closely.

"Free CAD Software--just gimme your email" sounds a lot like "Free Naughty Teens--just gimme your email"

Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services

---------------------------------------------------------- ** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **

----------------------------------------------------------

[alexy]

Well, the cat is out of the bag. And it's not what it sounded like from the promo materials. It is a demo version of Alibre's product, although structured to be truly useful -- no limits on saving files or time limits like other demos. There is a limit on parts, although it is not too severe for those who signed up in the first 100,000 (or maybe by August 1; they haven't been crystal clear on that).

The real "gotcha" that they "forgot" to mention in the promo campaign is that this is adware. You will have to be online, and get google ads at the top of the window when running the program. Annoying, but for hobbyist use the price is right. And it is upgradable to remove the ads for a small fee (initial indications are $50) if you find the product useful and the ads annoying.

[Dave Hinz]

I can't help but think that if they weren't up-front about that, then there are probably other things they haven't been all that forward with. Things like this remind me of why I prefer open-source software.

[alexy]

Yes, there were quite a few things, and an uproar in their forum when the real deal was exposed and compared to the promises. The odd thing is, it seems that it was only this ad campaign. Existing customers appear to be fiercely loyal, and my experience getting their 30-day trial of the full product was very positive. And even though it falls short of what was promised, this product still seems like a nice program (and the price is almost right!)

[CW]

So are AutoCAD users, Intellicad users, Turbocad users, ProE users, Solidworks users. The list goes on. It is par for the course in the cad world. Doesn't mean much. Alibre, to me, was a pretty strait up company and I had considered their software. After this ad campaign of theirs, they have been dropped from consideration.