AutoCAD 2015 Classic workspace what does the future hold?

[RudolfCAD]

What is the  official response about this issue from Autodesk ? My biggest concern is that we have tried the Ribbons  workspace and  found it too slow, time consuming , it uses  too much  workspace. No one that I know has not reverted to Classic workspace ! What does the future hold? The move to Ribbons creates the image  that Microsoft sneezed , and Autodesk got a cold..... For myself and others : we have  come a very long way with the Classic set up. It is super fast and efficient. On the  Ribbons set up you firstly have  to remember  were  to find  every item  and on which ribbon you find it Why would I even want to jump between "Home" and "Annote" only to go there and activate another pull down , when all I have  to do in Classic is to hit the right icon first time... Please  just tell all the classic users that you will reinstate the classic workspace in all its formal glory,and that we do not have to be concerned about its  future.

[braudpat · Accepted solution]

Hello from France

Welcome to the Autodesk/AutoCAD Forums !

If you want to implement the "good old" Classic Interface on your ACAD 2015 or ACAD LT 2015, please look at this nice video from Nestly :

http://www.screencast.com/t/YWFPgBPgt8

Autodesk has decided "to force" people to use the Ribbon ! ... It's the life ...

[dgorsman]

You do realize that with toolbars you are still memorizing where things are, right?  Just go to somebody elese computer with a radically different layout and try to work - you'll find similar delays to working with the Ribbon.  Trust me - initially I was skeptical but having been through many versions of different software and operating systems, I find that change is the only constant.  Consider that as the CAD Admin here I have to work with multiple disciplines, applications, and users all with their own preferences and standards - being able to adapt is *highly* useful.  I find what what works, I modify what doesn't.  If many users are having to flip back and forth between Ribbon tabs I move the tools around so they are on the same tab in logical relation to each other.

When used repeatedly there is little difference between toolbars and the Ribbon.

[RudolfCAD]

Change for the sake  of change  only is unjustified. I embrace change as  a constant. However you look at it the change  from classic icons to ribbons seems  to more about change than about efficiency. It is impossible for me to  put all my tools I need  on a pure ribbons workspace , so that i can hit every button that i need as a first hit. You always end  up doing a secondary or even tertiary hit on  a fly-out or roll down etc. The only way to have  all my tools  on the workspace is to do  a hybrid , and add classic toolbars  to the workspace. I am told  a lot of users do this. Which proves that the pure ribbon setup does not replace classic toolbars. What you also have to bear in mind : You in all probability work for  a salary , or  for  some users drafting time equates  into billable hours. I do not. For me CAD is one  of many tools that  I have to use very efficiently to be able to pay myself. I have done the maths. The measurable milliseconds difference multiplied by the amount of actions that takes place on average  per day using ribbons equates into 1 to 3 working days lost per annum.

One question that Autodesk leaves unanswered : What does the future hold?

[steven-g]

So long as they don't take away the ability to type commands and add your own shortcuts int he .pgp file. I have a toggle for the ribbon in my toolpalettes and another one for the menubar. I used the ribbon toggle once a long time ago (OFF) and 95% of the time my menubar is off as well.

[pendean]

Microsoft has deemed the Ribbon to be the future.
Autodesk will follow Microsoft's guidelines in Windows. Much like how they follow Apple's guidelines on that platform.

The Ribbon is nothing more than a interactive SINGLE toolbar with tabs: it can be resized, completely modified, moved and move. It takes someone with the ability and willingness to modify it, and not simply acept it as is.
If you are unable to put all of your constant-use tools on one long toolbar with no flyouts in the first tab, maybe you need help doing so? let us know, most of us have done this already and it works great.

[dgorsman]

Lets break that down a bit.

You say you can't put all of your tools in the Ribbon.  Grab a screen shot with all of your toolbars up - if its *that* many toolbars, its going to occupy more room than the Ribbon.  I can guarantee you aren't using them all at once, too.  They can be grouped into tabs (hell, even workspace controlled tab appearances) to focus on the task at hand.  Oh, and have you tried tearing off panels?  Yes, try it out - they function as a kind of "super toolbar".

Lets keep your estimates of lost time in perspective.  You say thats 1 - 3 days lost per year.  Lets make that a full work week, 40 hours.  Over the course of a working year (less 2 weeks vacation), thats 50 weeks of 40 hour weeks, or 2000 hours.  One work week out of 50 (or 40 hours out of 5000) is miniscule, and thats a gross over-estimate.  I'd say we all spend more time drinking coffee while working.

Finally, publically held companies cannot disclose future plans.  That would open up problems of insider trading.  Privately held firms likewise won't discuss future developments to prevent potential lawsuits or feelings on the part of consumers they were promised something.

[gctd]

I agree with RudolfCAD in that it does make it more cumbersome having to click multiple buttons to run a particular command, where only one click was required before with the toolbars, up-front and ready. I also agree with others in that the ribbon can be customized to concentrate the more frequently used commands onto one or to tabs. Unfortunately, I have found tht many are uncomfortable with doing such. I have also found that well seasoned users did tend to not like the ribbon concept and only reluctantly switched over to it. I personally try to customize the pop-ups as much as possible and wonder if a complete right-click pop-up menu interface having expanding rings around the cursor would be an efficient system to be considered for the future.

[susanrussel2229]

Please do not recite AutoDesk's response to us.

Just because Microsoft does something, does not make it faster or smarter.  Windows 8, anyone???

[dgorsman]

Faster, slower, smarter, stupider, doesn't matter: the program lives in the Microsoft ecosystem, the same way AutoCAD for Mac lives in the Mac ecosystem.  The OS provider creates the interface paradigm for the others to follow.  While the MS system is a little more loose with respect to guidelines for certified developers, creating and managing your own UI system is expensive and time consuming.  Even more so across major operating system upgrades, where the custom UI programming may become completely incompatible and require a full rewrite.

[pendean]

My original comment stands regardless. DOS is dead and so far Linux isn't happening for Autodesk: so the eutopia of non-conformance with Microsoft/Apple is not an option for most large software creators.

Of course Autodesk still gives you the option to create a classic workspace in plain AutoCAD2015 so feel free to continue getting upset for no good reason 🙂

[gctd]

Good point. Perhaps some do not know how easy it is to bring up the toolbars. It doesnt show up when right clicking in the ribbon area. Its simply a matter of typing "-toolbar" (include the dash) and then the name of a toolbar, such as "draw". When it appears, one can right click on that toolbar and bring up a list of all others to enable. Then minimize the ribbon. Seems simple enough. I think both UI's have pros and cons and seeing that its usually impossible to please everyone, its good that Autodesk still includes the toolbars, though it initially lacks the up-front right-click activation. Its not necessary for anyone, on either side of this issue, to get steamed up over it. Friendly, constructive comments and/or advice is more appropriate.

[pendean]

There are several good blog posts on the topic of creating a classic workspace in 2015: many are quite well done with illustrations that are easy to follow.

A search on Google moments ago yielded most of the links on the first page: worth exploring for anyone interested.

[cyruskulei]

How to add autocad classic to autocad 2015 Open autocad 2015 > go to manage > go to user interface > go to transfer tab > on the right side table open folder > then add autocad 2014 cad.cuix file from autocad installation files > Then autocad classic will appear on the right side of this table > drag it to the left side of the table under workspace. Done. By Kulei.

[pendean]

No need to add an old CUIx... http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/The-Aut...