Windows 7 Company-wide Deployment

[KRice00000]

Anyone out there work for a company planning to deploy Windows 7 company-wide or as a company standard for all new workstations?

We've been doing extensive Windows 7 testing to prepare to do just that, and we're getting very close to the finish line. We use a wide array of engineering and design software so the testing phase has been quite long. We're a Microsoft Enterprise customer so we've had the RTM version of Windows 7 avaialble since mid August 2009. Some engineering and design software companies are more prepared than others for this transition by releasing either minor or major version updates/upgrades to support the new OS.

Our primary focus has been on Windows 7 64-bit since we're trying to avoid the need for the 32-bit flavor of the software as much as possible. So far we haven't run into any major software compatibility issues that would take us down that road. That's not to say we haven't had our share of problems to overcome.

Please don't hesitate to chime in on this thread, even if it just to ask some questions.

[tarmbruster]

Are these seats stand alone or network?
We are looking to deploy windows 7 x64 for all new workstations, however we are still using release 2009 (Autocad Architecture, MEP and Land Desktop Companion). I am trying to see if there are any issues on using Windows 7 X64 with these products outside of Autodesk support.

[KRice00000]

All of our Autodesk products are network licensed. We currently use the following products:

AutoCAD 2009 x64
AutoCAD MEP 2009 x64
AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009
AutoCAD Civil 3D Land Desktop Companion 2009
AutoCAD Raster Design 2009 x86 & x64
Revit Structure 2009 x64 & 2010 x64
Revit MEP 2009 x64 & 2010 x64

We're currently looking into a sporadic crashing issue with AutoCAD 2009 x64 & AutoCAD MEP 2009 x64 but it's something we're not able to easily force to occur. It randomly crashes when attempting to open files and when sitting idle while using other applications. Not all of our Windows 7 users are experiencing this issue so we're currently trying to isolate the cause.

[dgorsman]

Are you running any database-linked design applications? One of ours can make use of an external database, but we don't have a database admin so we use Access. Lightweight, no muss, no fuss. BUT. I've heard problems with ODBC connectivity to Access databases in Win7 x64. I think thats our major stumbling block right now.

[KRice00000]

We do have some database driven applications but have not run into any issues so far.

[dgorsman]

We do have some database driven applications but have not run into any issues so far.

What type of database are you running? SQL Server?

[KRice00000]

MS SQL & Access

[robert.mercier]

We are using AEC 2010 with Windows7 Enterprise 32 bit.
Are you using the Aero Theme? Beware. there will be crashes.

Best Regards,

All of our Autodesk products are network licensed. We currently use the following products:

AutoCAD 2009 x64
AutoCAD MEP 2009 x64
AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009
AutoCAD Civil 3D Land Desktop Companion 2009
AutoCAD Raster Design 2009 x86 & x64
Revit Structure 2009 x64 & 2010 x64
Revit MEP 2009 x64 & 2010 x64

We're currently looking into a sporadic crashing issue with AutoCAD 2009 x64 & AutoCAD MEP 2009 x64 but it's something we're not able to easily force to occur. It randomly crashes when attempting to open files and when sitting idle while using other applications. Not all of our Windows 7 users are experiencing this issue so we're currently trying to isolate the cause.

[KRice00000]

Thanks for your feedback and suggestion! We're using the Aero Theme with Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit when experiencing the sproadic (around 0-5 times per day) crashing in AutoCAD 2009 64-bit and AutoCAD MEP 2009 64-bit. Maybe we'll try running with Aero turned off for a while to see if the crashing goes away.

[cadtag]

How are you dealing with the lack of c3d object enablers for 64bit vanilla?