Backwards Compatibility

[mnisbett]

With other applications there is a lowest common denominator, ADT>AutoCAD, Building Systems>AutoCAD, Triforma>Microstation...what is the lowest common denominator for Revit? What does a feature in 8.1 become in 8.0? If you make a sloped wall on the face of a mass in 8.1 and saveAS 8.0...does it get deleted? There isn't a lowest common denominator for Revit to go back to...unless you count dwg?

Okay I understand what you are saying but..., What about object enablers. AutoCAD can read an ADT file , with the enabler, It can't draw the walls but it can read them. I would think that if I had 7.0 and you had 8.1 I still could read your file, with a object enabler-ish plug in, I might not be able to do sloped walls but at least I could see them.

[Steve_Stafford]

...Okay I understand what you are saying but...

OE's were pretty much universally despised eh I'm not saying it is impossible for them to do.

As I understand it, the subscription sales model used for Revit from the beginning was partly to eliminate the "reasons" for not using the latest version. Since we are paying for the latest version there is no reason to not use it and therefore we can all stay on the same version. Obviously things have changed a bit and some loopholes have been created. I for one don't want them spending time figuring out how to save my data back to previous versions.

[mlgatzke]

mnisbett,

What do you use as a text? If you get your textbooks from Delmar/Thompson/Autodesk Press and are "higher education", you can have a one-year licensed cd of the Revit software bundled with the book for only $5 more. This will avoid the problem entirely.

As far as your situation now, either tell them to work at home OR at your lab, but they cannot work in both. People in the commercial sector have no need for backward compatibility as the latest versions are always available online to licensed users. Educational users are assisted via the bundle I mentioned above. This can occur with any Revit book by Delmar/Thompson/Autodesk Press. Might I suggest the Fox/Balding book, "Implementing Revit Building"?

[kgclark]

mnisbett,

What do you use as a text? If you get your textbooks from Delmar/Thompson/Autodesk Press and are "higher education", you can have a one-year licensed cd of the Revit software bundled with the book for only $5 more. This will avoid the problem entirely.

As far as your situation now, either tell them to work at home OR at your lab, but they cannot work in both. People in the commercial sector have no need for backward compatibility as the latest versions are always available online to licensed users. Educational users are assisted via the bundle I mentioned above. This can occur with any Revit book by Delmar/Thompson/Autodesk Press. Might I suggest the Fox/Balding book, "Implementing Revit Building"?

How do you get the 1 year higher ed license for $5? I'm a grad student and have been buying the 1yr license from places like JourneyEd (http://www.journeyed.com/itemDetail.asp?T1=52271123N+F) for $160/year.

I can say that the educational licenses are a royal PITA by not being backward compatible. I bought a 1 year license for v7.0 about 6-7 months ago....but my school's labs use v8.0. So....I cannot use the lab computers on any of my files, even to simply print on the lab plotter. I could waste 5-6 months of my $160 license and buy a new license....but the current version is 8.1, which STILL wouldn't allow me to work with my school's lab computers.

It seems to me that if the educational licenses are 1 year, they should allow you unlimited version upgrades during that timeframe. As it is now, they don't even allow for an incremental upgrade (ie v 8.0 to 8.1), which just seems plain dumb.

[iru69]

It seems to me that if the educational licenses are 1 year, they should allow you unlimited version upgrades during that timeframe. As it is now, they don't even allow for an incremental upgrade (ie v 8.0 to 8.1), which just seems plain dumb.

Agree. It makes a lot more sense for Autodesk to change their licensing policy than the software.

I hear this kind of stuff, and I just can't figure out what Autodesk could be thinking - what better way to turn off the future clients for their software. This is just one more reason people end up hating Autodesk and refuse to buy their software.. And Autodesk never seems to get it! They do all these little things over and over again... okay, I'm getting too worked up about this... it just drives me nuts to see good products managed by a bunch of...

[BillyGrey]

mnisbett, kgclark, irusun, I couldn't agree more.

Autodesk needs to pull it's head out of the black box on this issue and make student licensing wide open.

Dang adesk, do it fo the shorties.

[rod.74246]

I agree, AutoDesk really has to get Revit into the universities. Hell when i went through Graphisoft was letting the Architectural department run student licenses on their computers FOR FREE!!.

I can tell you it churned out a while bunch of ArchiCAD stalwarts. The only difference i could see in the student version in those days was that everytime you printed something it had a "student version" watermark you couldn;t get rid of. I don't see why AutoDesk couldn't do the same.

I mean really is there anyone who runs a business using pirate versions or student versions of any software? Our firm is 100% compliant with all our software and we take it very seriously....and that is where Autodesks market is, business users. It seems to make complete sense to get new users to CAD at uni and tafe level stuck on their software so they will use it and have loyalty when they get in the real world. I just dont get the point of all the restrictions on students. Let em use it for free. As a marketing tool it would be better for them in the long run. Particularly seeing as how anyone can pick up a working copy of any software from a market in south east asia for 2 dollars. Let em learn it for nothing and get em hooked.