Survey confirms AutoCAD users' annoyance
Bentley Systems has released the initial results of its open, ongoing survey of AutoCAD users facing forced retirement of their software by Autodesk.
Bentley Systems has released the initial results of its open, ongoing survey of AutoCAD users facing forced retirement of their software by Autodesk.
Autodesk states on its website: "After 15th January 2005, Autodesk will no longer sell upgrades or crossgrades from any AutoCAD 2000i-based products or Autodesk Inventor Series 6".
"Additionally, Autodesk will no longer provide technical support, apart from existing maintenance patches that are downloadable from www.autodesk.com".
In less than a week, more than 2000 people responded to the survey and were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with four statements.
The results are as follows.
87% agreed or strongly agreed: "I want my software vendor not to disrupt my project workflow by forcing me to upgrade or retire my software product".
90% agreed or strongly agreed: "I want my software vendor to supply my team with free viewers so we can easily access and exchange project data".
93% agreed or strongly agreed: "I want an open solution that allows me to participate in all types of projects and work with all CAD file formats and versions".
And 92% agreed or strongly agreed: "I want to create PDF deliverables of my projects so I can freely share engineering and construction information".
Also, when asked whether they were interested in a platform that supports both DWG and DGN projects, 89% indicated they were.
A spreadsheet of these results can be downloaded from the Bentley website.
The markets represented by the respondents were: building (design, construction, and operation) 28%; geospatial (communications, government, utilities and mapping) 16%; industrial and process plant 23%; civil (rail, road, and site) 22%; and other markets 11%.
Bentley is studying the results of the survey and formulating a programme to address the concerns of these users.
More AutoCAD users are invited to add their opinions to the survey.
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