supportting (or rather not supporting) the classic interface in 2016

[ampster40]

All, if there's anybody out there that could take the time to confirm this, I would appreciate it. Lets assume an experienced Acad user "JonDoe" manages to load the classic interface onto their 2016 setup, but now needs support from our support center. We technically will not support someone who's figures out how to load the classic interface. What my thoughts are here is I would walk the client thru the process of backing up their profile with the classic interface (<---that would not be a requirement of my current job since this isn't supported but I would still offer it) - then simply use the "Reset Settings to Default" thru the start menu in order to get them back to a default, supported state for any troubleshooting purposes. I'm assuming that option would still be available with 2016, I don't have that version installed yet but it's available with 2014 and 2015 at least. I'm basically looking for confirmation that Reset Settings to Default would in fact wipe out their classic workspace setup. TIA

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

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@ampster40 wrote:
All, if there's anybody out there that could take the time to confirm this, I would appreciate it. Lets assume an experienced Acad user "JonDoe" manages to load the classic interface onto their 2016 setup, but now needs support from our support center. We technically will not support someone who's figures out how to load the classic interface. What my thoughts are here is I would walk the client thru the process of backing up their profile with the classic interface (<---that would not be a requirement of my current job since this isn't supported but I would still offer it) - then simply use the "Reset Settings to Default" thru the start menu in order to get them back to a default, supported state for any troubleshooting purposes. I'm assuming that option would still be available with 2016, I don't have that version installed yet but it's available with 2014 and 2015 at least. I'm basically looking for confirmation that Reset Settings to Default would in fact wipe out their classic workspace setup. TIA

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Reset to Defaults returns the install to its out of the box state, which happens to be the ribbon interface.  If the user chooses to use toolbars (assuming that's the classic interface you're referring to) and drop down menus, all they have to do is back up all of their customization files when prompted to in the Reset to Defaults operation, then restore them after resetting.  

Just curious, why do you choose not to support a different interface?  ACAD is so customizable...

[dgorsman]

Available workspaces are defined by the Main and Enterprise CUIx files, which in turn are set by the active AutoCAD profile.  You could simply replace one or both CUIx files, depending on your setup; we have a centralized Enterprise and user-specific Main, so wiping out a workspace is as simple as loading one of the default workspaces from our Enterprise CUIx.  And that can be done by the user without any tech support.

I try to avoid the Reset program as well as the Reset Profile inside AutoCAD.  Both can wipe out profile-specific information which is necessary, especially if you have third-party programs installed.  If you don't have a default profile stored as an ARG or REG somewhere doing that reset can mean a lot of extra work.

[Anonymous]

Internally at our company we don't support closing the ribbon anymore, as many commands now are dependant on the ribbon interface.  We also have disabled the RIBBONCLOSE command, to push everyone onto the ribbon.

A good argument we used for this was, no one complained to us when we upgraded to the new Microsoft Office.

MS-O doesn't have a classic interface, and everyone migrated with no complaint.

[ampster40]

Thanks for the confirmation replies all. It's what I suspected would work but without access to 2016 at the moment (working on it), I wanted to back up what I had already stated as fact here. jherbst, we follow a very simple support clause, we only support the software in a "as-is" or "out of the box" setup. I sit on one location, but take calls from all over the world daily (OK, emails from outside the U.S. for the most part but calls from all the States) and it would be practically impossible to try and support everybody who does what they want to their software. While I try to accommodate those clients as best as possible thru advice and what not, it would be a nightmare to support anything that can be done/customized to Acad - which is alot. We do provide our own "customization" packages for both Acad and Acad Elec, but even with that setup, we have to maintain some sort of control over what we support - or things can get out of hand real quick. I am the type of person who would rather setup a "one-click" solution to something I do repeatedly, but in some ways I'm thankful for the simple "out of the box" support we only offer.

[jggerth]

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@jclaidler wrote:

Internally at our company we don't support closing the ribbon anymore, as many commands now are dependant on the ribbon interface.  We also have disabled the RIBBONCLOSE command, to push everyone onto the ribbon.

A good argument we used for this was, no one complained to us when we upgraded to the new Microsoft Office.

MS-O doesn't have a classic interface, and everyone migrated with no complaint.

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Comparing MS Office jumping to the Ribbon, and AutoCAD adding a Ribbon is an apples to rutabagas comparison.  Office is broken apart into a number of partialy related programs, none of which individually are as complex, and each of which uses a different file format.  Converting MSOffice to a Fluent style GUI was relatively straightforward -- since it never had a command line, and could only be operated by clicking things, and frankly has very few commands to begin with.  Not giving customers a choice is historically a very MS attitude -- one that would have relegated Autodesk to 'also-ran' status if they had baked that attitude intor their corporate genome.

Acad is a whole 'nother kettle of fish -- and they didn't help acceptance of their Ribbon with the crappy and slow initial release.  It's much better now; the Ribbon is actually usable, and since none of the verticals have pulldowns created, anyone using a vertical has to adopt Ribbon usage.

Still a lot slower than a pulldown menu - and wastes a lot of space on pointless pictures, so I keep the Menubar loaded to supplement the Ribbon.  Simply faster.

[Anonymous]

Actually, a much quicker way of using AutoCAD is by using SHORT KEYS.

One of the things we look for when interviewing new CAD users, is if they use the pull-down menus.

If they do, then most of the time they are new users.

[Patchy]

Except for special commands to work with land model, 100% of the time, all old users here typed them in.

[Anonymous]

I always had my short keys set for the left side of the keyboard, that way my right hand never left the mouse.

I didn't want to be slowed down.  

[jggerth]

OH yes -- using shortcut keys is faster -- at least for that subset of commands I use frequently enough to remember.  Given the total number of commands in vanilla, much less the verticals, I'm not going to remember them all, or have them loaded in my pgp.

Actually, if someone knows about the Menubar -- and can turn it on, I would think they're not that new to Acad.  Ribbon has been the default interface since the 2006 release, so that would suggest a decade or more of Cadding around.

Heck, the fastest way to get typical work done was always a digitizing board and 16 button puck.  One that chorded was even better.....

[Anonymous]

WOW... now you're going back!!  

I learned AutoCAD 9 on a digitizer....  way back in the day.  LOL

[Patchy]

Calcomp 16 buttons, I can only use 4. How can you move your palm to click the lower 12 buttons?

[Anonymous]

Below is similar to what I learned on, and I used all of the 16 buttons.  

[jggerth]

Grip it at the bottom with thumb on one side, pinky and ring finger on the other.  that leaves the two most controllable fingers free to hit the 16 buttons.

The flat shape worked better than Calcomp's later curved 'ergonomic' puck.  That version was much more awkward to use the bottom half of the buttons.

[Patchy]

That's why, mine was a curve shape

[dgorsman]

Dashboard was introduced, and abandoned, in the 2008 release.  2009 were the first Ribbon using products, and they didn't become mainstream until around the 2011 or 2012 releases.

I remember using the digitizer.  While it had some benefits the drawbacks were horrible - wandering templates, having to move the puck across most of the tablet.  Not missing that at all.

[jggerth]

Thanks dgorsman,  you're right.  it was the CUI in the 2006 release.....

Tablet -- I didn't have much use for the Tablet Menu itself, but the absolute positioning of the puck, vs relative position of mice, was a huge advantage IME.

I generally used the 30"x42" Calcomp, with a powered table, and got a ton of drafting done quickly.  Of course back then Acad was strictly a DOS drafting program so a lot simpler to use, and small enough to fit in a box of 360k floppies.  10Mb hard drives were an incomprehensibly large space for bits and bytes.

times change....  I don't think a tablet today, if they are even functional with Win7, 8 or 10, would be very useful on a three monitor setup  running multiple opens sessions of Acad.