desktop subscription on conference computers

[Anonymous]

Greetings:

Add me to the list of people upset with an unjustified move by AutoCAD to end perpetual licenses.  And given that AutoCAD has had less and less care for 2D users, evidenced by the lack of network support, I have to wonder what I can do.  Add on top of that that my reseller does not seem to know the answer to the questions I pose, or at best, cannot answer them in a way that seems to actually answer my question, when they bother to answer all my questions.

But here is a question I would like someone to answer.  Background first.

As I understand it, the reason AutoCAD is getting rid of perpetual licenses is because changes to how design is done.  Particularly, taking a license with you to use on any device you are using.  Thus the license is per user, and not per device.  Thus you are not anchored to any one device.

A perpetual AutoCAD LT license is per device and can be installed on a computer and then who ever logs into that computer can use AutoCAD.  We have a couple conference room computers like this.  Whoever is running the meeting can log into the computer with their company userid and password and then use the AutoCAD on it.

So the question is this:

For our conference computers that are used by multiple Team Members, would we need to buy a subscription (rent) license for each potential use of the conference computers?  If the license is per person, it would seem so.  The computer would have the AutoCAD LT software on it but no inherent license associated with it.  When Dan logs into the computer, he'd have to use his AutoCAD license with the software and if Fran logs in, she'd have to use her license.  Is this correct?

I am trying to see what potential benefits there are and the options that exist that meet our needs.  And one of them is the communal conference computers.  Would each potential use of these computers need their own subscription (rent) license if we went with subscription (rent) licenses of AutoCAD LT?

Obviously, we could buy a perpetual LT copy and continue as we are now.  But I am trying to see what flexibility there is and what we can do.  Also, I realize that we could go with full AutoCAD subscription (rent) licenses and pool the licenses, but AutoCAD 3D is horrible and we have a far superior software called Solid Edge.  Solide Edge's 2D capabilities are likewise horrible and thus we use AutoCAD LT for 2D.  So why buy an option of AutoCAD that has something we don't need just to get the networking options that should be available on LT but are not?

Can anyone help me understand how this all will work?

Thanks.

[pendean]

1. That ships has sailed.
2. You seem to really need a network license, not a perpetual one. LT has that but it's only available to large Autodesk clients. Petition Autodesk to make that available to the rest of us. It already exists with Full AutoCAD and all their other software and it's best to use in your conference scenario among other scenarios.
3. There is a dedicated forum for the topic, with many answers and replies to your questions and very similar one there too. Explore it http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/perpetual-license-changes/bd-p/2015
4. I'm not disagreeing or agreeing with you.

[DonBoresky]

There are several scenerio's your reseller could / should review with you, but, if your main concern is the one system in your conference room, then your best bet is to buy a perpetual license of LT with maintence  subscription before the end of January. As long as you renew that maintence  subscription each year, the transition to Desktop Subscription will be a non-event for you.

I'd be happy to explore you options / details furhter if you'd like. If so, send me a direct message with your contact info.

Happy holidays !

[dgorsman]

We've addressed those problems in a couple of ways.  First, since there are inumerable per-user configuration settings for multiple programs we have a "global user" login ID that conference users make use of with a guarantee that the computer has everything properly configured.  Second, we can also remotely access a users desktop to run certain programs or if they want to use their own setting right away.  A little clunky for high-end stuff but very smooth on 2D work.