AutoCAD 2015 - A slow and instable version?

[botman]

Hi All,

I've been working with (or trying to) AutoCAd 2015 since several weeks and I have to say I'm very dissapointed in the performance and stability.

Working on 3D objects creates lots of troubles because the program keeps on crashing. 

An example is removing a void (created by subtracting before) from a 3D solid. 

Apart from crashes and other disruptions everythings feels like heavy syrup, even after disabling all unneccesary "features"...

The dark interface is nice to work with I have to say, on the other hand: the new selectioneffect is like hell. 

Setting the variable SELECTIONEFFECT to 0 renders the selection usable again.

Not sure which engineer came up with this brilliant idea...  Try to select some cyan colored objects and you know what I mean... 

I'm not sure why so much effort has been put into these graphical novelties while the program technically is going backwards every version?

I ditched 2013 and 2014 before (also way to slow) and will stop working with 2015 aswell since I'm not able to finish my word due to crashes and lost work. I'll switch back to 2012 (again!!) and wonder why I'm paying subscription anyway....

Sounds familiair to other users or am I the only one being frank here?

Best regards,

Stefan

[botman]

You can leave "to an extent" out, I'm being just plain sarcastic... 

I do agree with you not to use 8-year old hardware with the current version of AutoCAD though...

Fact: Since AutoCAD 2013 (and higher) my speed of working has been degraded by the software.

The responcetime used by AutoCAD these days is unacceptable for me (working with AutoCAD 25+ years)

Oh well...what do I know...

[andy.laugisch]

it is this very slowness that will bring Autodesk into the sights of the cheaper competition. We are already comparing alternate CAD packages.

[botman]

True!

My comparison is allmost finished and I'm about to choose a proper successor.

Cutting costs by 80% is mighty interesting, getting more speed in working even more.

Future looks bright, I gotta wear shades

(ZZ-Top)

[rkmcswain]

@andy.laugisch and @info_1

So the only real limiting factor in using an older version (say AutoCAD 2002) is that unless you are going to run it totally offline, then you are at a high risk since Windows 2000, Windows ME, and Windows XP are no longer viable platforms for which there are no longer updates available. Can you get AutoCAD 2002 to run on Win7x64 or Win8/10 ? Maybe, but not without some issues. Nobody is FORCING anyone to upgrade their AutoCAD (presuming it's an existing perpetual license) so that is one alternative.

Ha. I’d love to see some major (or minor for that matter) customers threaten to drop Autodesk and move to a competitor, but the fact is -- it is not going to happen and Autodesk knows this. You might take your 5 or 10 seats and walk, but Autodesk is regaining that in new customers probably every half-hour.

@sboon said it best:

"The basic premise which you must keep in mind is that the interests of the shareholders supersede everything else."

[andy.laugisch]

There's a reason for going to the rent-a-license...they're running out of good ideas to justify buying new licenses. So you might be correct in that new customer count now, but wait a few years when nothing new is offered except the threat of a locked license. Word will get out that this is legalized extortion and customers will migrate en mass.

[eric]

Oh, my computer is quite new - w/ 2 gb graphics card 24 mb of ram, xeon processor. I don't think the computer is the issue. It's all these graphics things autocad is trying to 'pre select' for me. I wish I could turn them all off! Switching between layouts takes forever - sometimes 20-30 seconds. I don't like how they eliminated the old dialog box that was at the center of my screen either - the bar up top changes my focus. And I have changed F1 to be a command (_laymcur) and it still keeps on bring up the help on a browser (about every 4th time) what a pain! And I tried saving back to 2008, but can't alter the walls (on Architecture). Never should have upgraded!

[rkmcswain]

andy wrote:
Word will get out that this is legalized extortion and customers will migrate en mass.

Please note that I agree with your sentiment, but set yourself a calendar reminder with this URL and we'll all meet back here on 03-07-2020 and how things have progressed. My money is on Autodesk. (Keep an eye on this during that time too, relative to the overall economy of course.)

[botman]

Your money will be definitely on Autodesk but this is due to you paying subscription.... 🙂

[darawork]

We could always install R11 instances on virtual machines under W10.

Lightning fast. With a 2.86Mb install footprint on SSD?

We could be working on thousands of drawings at once, simultaneously flicking between diferent jobs for 8 hrs a day?

http://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/ACAD_R11.html

[botman]

We sure could... (still got a portable R14 at hand to surprise my fellow draftsmen).
Or buy an old drawing board for a few dollar..

Or maybe we should expect proper software for the subscription we pay?

You tell me...

[rkmcswain]

botman wrote:
Or maybe we should expect proper software for the subscription we pay?

You tell me...

Nothing wrong with expecting it, but again, nobody is making you buy/rent or otherwise pay money to use or upgrade it.

Would you pay $250,000 for a plain old Ford F150 and then complain that it was no better than a $35,000 Chevy, Ram or Toyota Truck?

No, you'd probably buy the Chevrolet, Ram, Toyota, etc.---> Unless everyone you did business with would only accept deliveries in a Ford F150, and all the truck drivers in the world only knew how to drive Fords, and the things you hauled around only fit in Fords, etc.  Can you see the analogy here?

[darawork]

I'm merely a pawn in the company I work for,

My subscription budget is covered, along with a small equipment upgrade every two years. (Under duress).

I would of course like to see an AutoCad 'Hyper Edition' 2017.

You could always drill to the core, if you had the nessesary equipment?
http://through-the-interface.typepad.com/through_the_interface/core-console/

[andy.laugisch]

Yes, the analogy works until you remember that code is not like hardware. Company "a" can write code to be compatible with company "b" code...i.e. Apple apps running on Microsoft platform.

[darawork]

What about the people who have to only draw simple floor plans, from the odd survey, with rusty a 3M measuring tape,
They dont need predictive command line input. It doesn't work with their no-longer supported tablets.

You see my analogy:

Spoiler

Clicking those sorts of links was so much easier with a tablet and puck. 

[botman]

I'd probably choose neither of these cars but thats personal... 

Talking about cars, here's another analogy:

Imagine you have a cool looking car, tight bodywork, flashy paint, luxury rims and two-tone leather interior. All tuned Gas-Monkey style or comparable.

The traffic light flashes to green and all other cars (eventhough they look like ordinary cars) are getting out of sight while you are trying to accelarate.

Being confused you pull over and opening the bonnet you'll find and old 4-cilinder motor, never being overhauled, hardly able to move your flashy car forward, let alone making a burn-out or nice donut.

The response of the dealer to your question when the new motor will be overhauled to match the looks of the car is "why don't you fill out this form?"

[rkmcswain]

darawork wrote:

What about the people who have to only draw simple floor plans, from the odd survey, with rusty a 3M measuring tape,
They dont need predictive command line input.

Sounds like you are trying to drive a nail with a cannon.

Get a hammer instead.

[royhart]

I'm curious, have many of the good people posting on this thread upgraded to 2016?  If so, how is it working for them?

I did, and still find I have issues on larger 3d models (and sometimes smaller too).  That, and at least one crash a week, always at a random time, usually not repeatable.  Hatching seems wonky compared to previous few versions too, though I have always been annoyed at Acad's whimsical behavior regarding hatching odd-shaped areas.

[botman]

Yep, upgraded, tried for 2 months and uninstalled completely. Discarded this version. Did not work for me due to performance and stability issues (as you partially described)

Reverted back to 2012 and 2014 for now

[darawork]

I do extensive 3D modelling with AutoCad, 2016 is fine for me... once I turn off all the 'helpful' features. And it's an integral part of the Building Design Suite, so I'm going to keep using it.

It's just that watching other drafters in the office here trying to use 2016 on 'fairly decent' spec laptops is painful viewing. And it's especially hard to explain to IT each year that we need to upgrade hardware again, along with subscription renewals. Even LT 2016 needs a 'really decent' laptop these days. And instead of the software getting quicker and more streamlined each year I find myself struggling to keep the installations 'recognisable' to users and from lagging too much. It's not nice to hear people reverting to 2013 after a few days using 2016, for a multitude of reasons that I am finding harder to justify to management. 

[darawork]

What if there were an AutoCad 'Module' based package, building from core componant parts; that would be expandable by optional subscription userbase libraries. GUI Theme libraries could be kept seperate from essential drafting code, VR code, etc....

Base subscription gets you essential 2D draughting core. Nothing else. Up to users to decide vertical pathway?

Actually, we have that already. Doh.

So why does it take a modern day super computer to run the core package smoothly?