So is there anything really new in 2015

[zzz144]

Other than lasso selection... Kind of cool.... I should check with IT how much i pay for this every year... 

[Rob.O]

I have already done the math.  At $4,195.00 per new seat, you get 8.47 years of subscription ($495.00 per year). 🙂

[justshutup]

Yes, you get the new Automagic Product Name Iterative Sequencer.  Upon installing the new version, it changes the name to AutoCAD 2015.

[pendean]

Lots of blogs on the topic, search through your favorite search engine.

I am told Subscription is going up $50 starting April 1 (not an April Fool's joke): if you are not on subscription, you can hop on that train for free (for one year) if you do it before April 25 I believe.

[Rob.O]

I just talked to our reseller about 5 minutes ago.  The price went from $495.00 to $545.00 yesterday (March 27th).  I knew it was coming, just forgot the date.  So revise the years of subscription to 7.70 years. 🙂

It should be VERY interesting reading the forums this time next year!

[zzz144]

I just shake my head with disapointment.... 

well i can tell you one thing - lynn allen will be out of work soon 🙂 

[Patchy]

Not really, the topics will change from what's new with 2015 to how to make 2015 work like 2014.

[pendean]

2013 thorough 2015 have been about cleaning up the interface and basically make drafting more "intuitive" by adding niceties and expanding their point cloud and mapping features.
The last time they did it all in one version instead if three all users fainted LOL
As with all other annual software releases from Autodesk (not just AutoCAD) and other software vendors (I assume you all use other software and see this too), it's likely to be true for ever.

[braudpat]

Hello from France

For me : why you have to buy 2015 ?

- Support of Windows 8.1

- Printing/Plotting of BingMaps aerial photos

- A few minor enhancements

If you don't need at all this improvments, you can stay with 2014 + SP 1 versions even with 2013 + SP 2 versions ...

[alan.skipper]

Another 800 quid subscription just for a new paint job????????

[zzz144]

Pendean - do not take this personally - but noone ever faineted from an AC upgrade. Nothing was really upgraded in the last 10 years. 

Apologies - i think good AC users really fainted when Ribbon was introduced. Now you have to move and click two times to invoke 1 command. 

UNREAL. 

[pendean]

Agreed, but you assume we all are mouse clickers. I'm not but when I do 90% of what I need I have on my first tab in the Ribbon. Customization is free for all, you have to chose to be efficient instead of waiting for someone else to do it for you (not the personal you, the AutoCAD general user you of course).

I'm thinking of R2006 and the Ribbon, too traumatic for many users.
Then R2000 from R14.
Then R12Windows from R12 DOS
And MAC users back in the day complaining the interface looked like AutoCAD, inattentive MAC users today complaining it's MAC LIKE AND different.

But like I wrote earlier, with annual releases we are still likely to only see minor changes and never what some around here call "can't live without" changes. Those days, and that upgrade pricing model, are dead. The "good old days" have passed.

[braudpat]

Hello from France

+0.9 with Pendean !

I'm thinking of R2006 and the Ribbon, too traumatic for many users.
Then R2000 from R14 ... Then R12Windows from R12 DOS
And MAC users back in the day complaining the interface looked like AutoCAD, inattentive MAC users today complaining it's MAC LIKE AND different.

A long time ago I have used "almost simultaneously" ACAD R2.5/R2.6/R9/R10/R11/R12/R13 on DOS (from R1.4), on DOS 386 (R10-R13), on Windows (from R12), on Mac (R10-R12) and on differents Workstations (R2.5-R13) with Sun-OS, SUN-Solaris, HP-Aegis, HP-UX, etc

... It was very funny to switch from one computer/interface to the other especially when supporting End-users from multi-platform ...

So today I think it's acceptable/normal that Autodesk tries to improve the user interface at each Release !

Sometimes it's difficult to move : Classic Interface to Ribbon Interface ---> The Ribbon was OK for me with ONLY about ACAD 2011/2012 !

I am old (born in 1957) so maybe young people will switch faster !?

But I think that some new features has to be switchable : On/Off with a New System variable for example !

No classic Interface with 2015 , but you can easily "drag & drop" it from 2014 CUIX ...

In France more than 50% of the ACAD 201X users are always using the Classic Interface because they are "old" users ...

I am curious to know how (in %) the Ribbon Interface is used (with ACAD 201X or ACAD LT 201X) today in North America ?

So we have to move with software editors ... It's the life ...

[zzz144]

I dont know what you mean no classic look in 2015?? I can have both toolbars and ribbon... See attached.

Maybe you are talking the pre2000 interface? thats dinasour stuff... No offence 🙂 

But do you see how autocad copied microsoft with the ribbon - its crazy. finding your icons now takes thinking - i dont want to think which drawer my tool is in. I want all my tools available at all times. 

I do not want drawers inside drawers. Its stupid. Windows OS is a big chestdrawer unit. Why sort the commands like that. 

[dgorsman]

They didn't copy.  Theres a toolkit which allows them to construct a Ribbon UI environment, which is far easier and cheaper than trying to develop and maintain their own proprietary one.  The relevance of the Ribbon isn't immediately apparent in OOTB vanilla AutoCAD but once you start getting into specialized verticals like Civil3D or third-party applications with proprietary content then its a little more obvious.  With mobile technology and associated touchscreen technology, the larger tools and flip up/out panels also make more sense.

Finding stuff is quite easy.  Frequently used items get promoted to a front-line panel (I really don't expect them to put my own preferences in the OOTB tabs/panels).  Anything else that I can't remember (ie. not used frequently) can be found through the Command Search utility under the Application icon.  Thats been around for quite a few releases.