Autcad Upgrade Warning

[gcl]

CAD managers beware

Those AutoCAD users considering upgrading to Inventor should be made aware that once an AutoCAD license has been used to upgrade there's no turning back!! Should you subsequently decide to maintain just AutoCAD only and not the more costly Inventor, Autodesk does not allow you to use the license to upgrade to future releases of AutoCAD without Inventor.

[robert.1.hall72202]

We are basically being pushed into this anyways right???
It is going to be more cost effective to buy the entire software package with subscriptions allowing an upgrade to latest and greatest each year.

[mjfarrell]

I'm sorry, but in my world any form of 'forced' upgrade or
forced puchase of a 'subscription' is NOT cost effective.
This subscription program is a bad idea for the customer
period.

[robert.1.hall72202]

I'm sorry, but in my world any form of 'forced' upgrade or
forced puchase of a 'subscription' is NOT cost effective.
This subscription program is a bad idea for the customer
period.


Its not a forced upgrade, you dont have to purchase anything you do not want.
You can use dinosaur cad forever if you wish.

I love subscriptions...best way to ensure the IT department here receieves the
new versions of CAD as they come out. Id also rather not pay twice as much for
a full seat each time I want an upgrade. A Cad upgrade vs an employees salary is
peanuts anyways....all depends on where you work.

[mjfarrell]

I don't know if the vendors or the users I've been talking to
have been mis-rersenting the facts. However more than a few
individuals have related that their vendor will not sell them the
current version WITHOUT forcing them to also purchase the
subscription service.
Also, if you can be honest about it, there has YET to be any release
of any Autodesk product that was so revolutionary that one HAD to
have it the DAY that it was released.

[michael.12445]

I know this dates me, but I can remember way back when we opened the package containing AutoCAD 9 or 10, along with the pile of floppy disks (!) was a note saying something to the effect of, "Thank you for purchasing AutoCAD. Your purchase entitles you to future upgrades..."

Somewhere along the way Autodesk decided to limit that benefit to the customer by adopting a policy of "retiring" releases more than a couple of years old. One could interpret that as a breach of promise to customers who got the foregoing note with their copy(ies) of AutoCAD.

IMHO, there is just no way around the fact that this idea of revoking the customer's ability to upgrade after a time limit arbitrarily chosen by Autodesk, and not made clear to the customer at the time of purchase, is simply customer-hostile behavior on the part of Autodesk. I can only speculate they do this to strong-arm customers into upgrading who might otherwise make an honest analysis of the product and decide that the cost outweighs the benefit.

In other words, Autodesk is attempting to skew the free-market axiom of "Build a better mousetrap". It's an indication to me that they themselves regard their upgrades as lacking in sufficient innovation to justify the price, and therefore require these kinds of tactics to get people to buy them. Doesn't it seem ironic that the same outfit that screams bloody murder about how software piracy is an outrage against free-market intellectual property rights is so willing to turn around and try to subvert free-market principles when it suits their own interest?

Michael Evans
Togawa & Smith, Inc.

[thomas.stright]

It would be nice if Autodesk had the same line of thought as Bentley does....

I just upgraded to Microstation V8 for $650.00 from a Intergraph version 3.1 (1993) floppy. All I had was the floppy with the serial number on it and I was able to upgrade to the lastest version. Saved about $3800.00.

[robert.1.hall72202]

ISomewhere along the way Autodesk decided to limit that benefit to the customer by adopting a policy of "retiring" releases more than a couple of years old. One could interpret that as a breach of promise to customers who got the foregoing note with their copy(ies) of AutoCAD.



Didn't microsoft retire windows 98???? If you have a windows98 machine you
will no longer receives patches to stop security threats. That could make you
have to buy a brand new computer. Lets be realistic here........we are never
going to win and everyone is in the business to make money.

[michael.12445]

Didn't microsoft retire windows 98???? If you have a windows98 machine you
will no longer receives patches to stop security threats. That could make you
have to buy a brand new computer. Lets be realistic here........we are never
going to win and everyone is in the business to make money.


Well, yes and no. While Microsoft no longer supports Windows 98, if I'm not mistaken you still qualify for upgrade pricing on one of their newer OS's if you have Windows 98. I believe the same is true of their Office products. And there are other companies that will still allow you to upgrade from products that are ancient by PC standards - Novell's NetWare 3.12 comes to mind.

If you have a Windows 98 machine, however, it would probably be wiser (and cheaper) to backup the data you want to keep, format the hard drive, and install Linux. It's less processor- and memory-intensive than Windows 2000 or Windows XP, costs less to acquire, and is less prone to security problems. No, you can't run AutoCAD (yet), but my guess is that you'd probably want a newer, more powerful machine for CAD anyway.

Maybe you're right that "we're never going to win" in getting big software companies to adopt more customer-friendly policies, but on the other hand, I think our range of choices is only going to get bigger.

Michael Evans
Togawa & Smith, Inc.

[Glenn Pope]

Well, yes and no. While Microsoft no longer supports Windows 98, if I'm not mistaken you still qualify for upgrade pricing on one of their newer OS's if you have Windows 98.
You can also upgrade if you have Win95.

[jim.vipond]

You can still do a legacy upgrade. Not sure what version you can go back to, maybe all.
The cost seems to be the further you are from the new version the greater the cost - but still cheaper than a full copy.

Jim.

[thomas.stright]

You can still do a legacy upgrade. Not sure what version you can go back to, maybe all.
The cost seems to be the further you are from the new version the greater the cost - but still cheaper than a full copy.

Jim.
Full XP Pro CD with COA is only $109 (Just bought one this weekend). So IMHO Cost is not an issue with an OS.

[BrenBren]

My vendor has NOT forced me to purchase anything. He suggested we go to inventor, however, since we still work in a 2D world, we bought Mechanical. He recommended the subscription program. I discussed it with people here, and we decided this was the best way to budget for upgrades and to ensure that we would always have the latest version, but not once, did my reseller force me to purchase anything I did not want. '




I don't know if the vendors or the users I've been talking to
have been mis-rersenting the facts. However more than a few
individuals have related that their vendor will not sell them the
current version WITHOUT forcing them to also purchase the
subscription service.
Also, if you can be honest about it, there has YET to be any release
of any Autodesk product that was so revolutionary that one HAD to
have it the DAY that it was released.

[bbapties]

I saw this over at the revit lounge...talks about same issue somewhat...

http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=13055

[stilesj]

I think those people need to look for a new reseller!
When I purchased our most recent upgrade of VIZ, I requested a quote that showed the price with subscription, without subscription, and with or without the network license. My reseller provide me with each item that I requested and I selected from among them, finally deciding on stand-alones with subscription. I never felt pressure from him as to which option I should purchase.