Answer day: What does LT mean

[TheCADnoob]

On this wonderful answer day, riddle me this, what does the LT and AutoCAD LT stand for?

[Bernd.Gerstenberger]

Hi TheCadNoob,

most people LT is for Light but originally it is for Laptop.

Best regards

Bernd

[DarrenP · Accepted solution]

i also heard it also meant Limited Technology

[Victoria.Studley]

Hi @TheCADnoob,

@DarrenP is exactly right. It stands for "Limited Technology", which is why there are many features not available in LT which are available in the full version of AutoCAD.

[DarrenP]

i personally call it Autocad "Light"

[pendean]

Like he said, but it also applies to REVIT LT, INVENTOR LT and MAYA LT to name a few of the may Autodesk products with cheaper/less costly/value variants https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-2013-2014-2015-2016-2017/answer-day-what-does-lt-mean/m-p/633...

[TheCADnoob]

ack... three answers...

was looking for a little more definitive answer..

Would it be correct to say:

Historically LT = Laptop

Colloquially LT = Lite

Officially LT = Limited Technology

[DarrenP · Accepted solution]

i don't really think there is a official meaning

Autodesk just calls it Autocad LT on everything

[TheCADWhisperer · Accepted solution]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGDQ8Em0BXE

[jggerth]

it's a brand name -- slightly more informative than 'Brand X',  much more informative than 360.

[TheCADnoob]

Similar to the rules of the playgroud are the rules of 'publish or perish' and the first semi authoritative source for the answers presented is from Autodesk's Scott Shepard rocking his who dat gear in this 2007 blog: http://labs.blogs.com/its_alive_in_the_lab/2007/05/free_autodesk_i.html

"Limited Technology"

Unless There are any other sourced references indicating otherwise, I'm sold on "Limited Technology"

Glad the conundrum is solved. The world is now a better place 🙂

[RobDraw · Accepted solution]

Did a little digging and found this gem from 2000 that says AutoDesk stated it didn't stand for anything and provided a link, but the web address provided in that thread returns a 404 error for me. http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-lt-general-discussion/lt-what-does-it-stand-for/td-p/395779 According to the rules of the playground, I think we need to call the judge back on this one, Sheriff Noob.

[rkmcswain]

I agree, I've always heard it "officially" did not mean or stand for anything.

The press release about the launch of AutoCAD LT does not mention anything either.

Maybe John Lynch (VP, Product Dev Group, at the time) could provide some insight?

[TheCADnoob]

Sheriff noob says conjecture in a thread and a 404 does not a proof make.

But the way back machine solves that problem. 

Behold in all its glory an Autodesk Sourced Answer from AutoCAD 98 LT Q and A:
http://web.archive.org/web/20000302000048/http://www.autodesk.com/products/acadlt/lt98/qna.htm

for posterity sake here is a screen shot for proof so once the way back purges its database we will still have proof here. 

1.7 What does the LT stand for in AutoCAD LT?
The letters LT are not an abbreviation for anything. They are simply letters used to differentiate it from the full version of AutoCAD. Contrary to popular belief, LT does not stand for "Light" or "Laptop" or "Learning and Training."

[TheCADnoob]

So we are down to two different sourced answers. Gonna need some sort of tie breaker / clarification

[jackswills004]

LT usually means "Lite" or "Limited", like in AutoCAD LT, which is a simplified version of AutoCAD with fewer features.

[TheCADWhisperer]

@jackswills004 

Do you have a link to cite your source of information beyond what these experts, @TheCADnoob and @rkmcswain have written, or is your response AI generated?

[RSomppi]

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@TheCADWhisperer wrote:

@jackswills004 

Do you have a link to cite your source of information beyond what these experts, @TheCADnoob and @rkmcswain have written, or is your response AI generated?

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That information has been common knowledge, right or wrong, for decades. 

[cadffm]

and "common" or "usually" doesn't matter, the question is: What does it mean

and not whould could it mean.

(learning and training is cool 😄)

[RSomppi]

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@muhammadbilaljack wrote:

lt can mean different things depending on context

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The context is set by the nature of this thread being in this forum.