AutoCAD 2010 Vs AutoCAD 2011

[RockDog]

We are currently using AutoCAD 2010 in the office. Most of the CAD work we do is done in 2D. We are now in a position to install AutoCAD 2011 and i have been asked to find out what the main differences are between the two programmes.

Has anyone else done this transition between the two programmes or had any problems with 2011? We have our own drawing templates, dimension styles, CTB's, toolbars etc so would these be simple to exort into 2011?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

[Clarence Worley]

Personally I have problems with the upgrade.

Not only does the help system not work, the automatic migration didn't work either so I had to update the CUI myself. Then after the reinstall I lost all my 2010 stuff (all other versions of AutoCAD remained 2007, 08, 09) so it was a bit of a mission. I cant tell what the main differences are becasue my help/new features doesn't work (I can get around the new features and get it to work now). But it seems there is not much difference in the 2D way of things.

However I do think that I have been dreadfully unlucky and this isn't a common thing. It might be that becasue we have Revit Strucure Suite which includes the AutoCAD 2011 upgrade and that now comes with a new AutoCad structural Detailing package which seems to the root of the problem. Although that is just a guess. So far the Support cant work out what the difficulties are.
But becasue of this I haven't rolled out the ugrade company wide yet. Perhaps just try it on one machine.

[jaberwok]

It seems that Clarence has been unlucky; no one else here seems to have had issues with the help system and new features workshop. I wouldn't use automatic migration though, it's always been a little "iffy".
For 2d work there is little if any difference though, according to some others, the ribbon now works better/faster.

[cadtag]

John - according to the posts on the Autodesk discussion forums -- many people are having problems with the help system. to Autodesk's credit, they seem to be recognizing that the web help is a 'less than stellar' approach, and are revamping the chm help system.

I certainly agree though that the migration has never been better than 'iffy'. User's are always better off re-evaluating their customization and interactions with the software to take advantage of new things that could benefit them.

[ccowgill]

I think Clarence's issues are an exception, not the norm.

Granted, the search and index features of the new html help suck, and AutoDesk realized they screwed up so they have offered the chm files. I have F1 defined to open the chm help, but it would take quite a bit of work to get it so that anytime I was in a command, I could open help directly to the page needed.

I have also experienced "Stickiness" that 2010 didnt have (and so have a few of my users)

Our Kip drivers needed to be updated to be able to plot with 2011, but they have now released the driver and all is well.

Beyond those snafus, I havent seen any issues that are new to 2011 that were not there in 2010.

IMO Polyline editing is a ton simpler than in 2010

[darthyoga]

I have also experienced "Stickiness" that 2010 didnt have (and so have a few of my users)

Our Kip drivers needed to be updated to be able to plot with 2011, but they have now released the driver and all is well.

Can you expand on this fix? Some of my users have experienced this as well and fixing it would be great.
Thanks!

[Richard.Kent]

I move to the latest release each year and did the same this year from 2010 to 2011. I don't use the Ribbon, only toolpalettes and lisp files so the transition was pretty smooth. I always redo the ctb, stb and pc3 files just to make sure everything is working when I need it. I only have 2 ctb and 2 stb and 5 pc3 so it is pretty easy.

The pline editing, selection cycling, and transparency alone makes it worth the upgrade. If you use the Ribbon and do lots of hatching that is a nice feature as well.

[ccowgill]

Can you expand on this fix? Some of my users have experienced this as well and fixing it would be great.
Thanks!

In regards to the stickiness I dont have a clue, other than it comes and goes, and possibly shutting off the properties palette fixes it, but I cant live without my properties palette, so I am forced to live with the stickiness.
Kip drivers was just a new download.

A partial fix for the help can be found here. Redefining your f1 key can be found here. You will need to download the chm help files from Autodesk and place them in a location on each individual user's harddrives (I believe Windows uses some form of security that doenst allow chm access across networks.)

[Richard.Kent]

Can you expand on this fix? Some of my users have experienced this as well and fixing it would be great.
Thanks!

Make sure the SC toggle at the bottom of the screen is off. The selection cycling in 2011 works well but you don't want it on all the time as you will experience that sticking. Hope that is it.

[ccowgill]

Make sure the SC toggle at the bottom of the screen is off. The selection cycling in 2011 works well but you don't want it on all the time as you will experience that sticking. Hope that is it.

I wish that was the case, SC is off on my machine and I still get sticky all over.