AutoCAD - Hot Issues / Fixes

Hot Issues Share with Autodesk Seek Hotfix Port 9013 is used when uploading files to Autodesk Seek. This port may be blocked by firewalls. This hotfix allows Share with Autodesk Seek to use port 80. VBA support in AutoCAD 2010 Autodesk has begun the transition of VB customization from VBA to .NET technology. Currently, VBA is still supported in Autodesk products. However, starting with AutoCAD 2010, VBA is no longer part of the default AutoCAD installation and must be downloaded and installed separately.

Recently Published Solutions Supported operating systems for the Autodesk Network License Manager shipped with 2010 products Location of Plot Styles folder Partial CUI files not converted to CUIx file format during migration

Exclusive Solution Preview TS1105167 - Network License Activation Utility Issue: You have found that the Network Activation Utility is not included on your 2010 product media. Solution: If your product does not include the Network License Activation Utility, you can activate your license by visiting http://www.autodesk.com/register and following the on-screen instructions.

A First Time For Everything - LT Legacy Promotion

Rumor has it that Autodesk will be offering for the first time ever, a Legacy Promotion on AutoCAD LT. 

AutoCAD LT is normally upgradable from 3 versions back from current (for example, 2010 being current, you can upgrade at a discounted price from version 2007, 2008, or 2009).  Under this LT Legacy Promotion, users of version 2000, 2000i, 2002, 2004, 2005, and/or 2006 will be eligible for a rebate of up to US$400 for each new license (seat) of AutoCAD LT 2010 purchased.  This offer will be effective May 1st through July 31^st and is limited to a maximum of five seats total per customer invoice address.

Hotfix for Inventor / Revit ADSK file format

Please be advised there was a known issue with the ADSK file that Inventor exports and the ability for Revit to import data.  Recently a Hotfix for Inventor around this issue was released.  Once the Hotfix is installed, Inventor users will be able to export an ADSK file from Inventor and Revit users will be able to import it directly into Revit without problems.  the hotfix can be download from:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=13105818&linkID=9242019

More Autodesk 2010 Release Dates (FCS)

Software Product	FCS Date
Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2010	April 8
Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design 2010	April 8
AutoCAD® Visualization Suite 2010	April 13
AutoCAD® Revit® Architecture Suite 2010	April 16
AutoCAD® Revit® Architecture Visualization Suite 2010	April 16
AutoCAD® Revit® MEP Suite 2010	April 16
AutoCAD® Revit ®Structure Suite 2010	April 16
Autodesk® Revit® Architecture 2010	April 16
Autodesk® Revit® Structure 2010	April 16
Autodesk® Robot™ Structural Analysis 2010	April 16
Autodesk® Robot™ Structural Analysis Professional 2010	April 16
AutoCAD® Raster Design 2010	April 20
Autodesk® Quantity Takeoff 2010	April 20
AutoCAD® P&ID 2010	April 22

New pricing structure coming next year

Autodesk has announced that starting next year they will be going with a new ‘simplified’ pricing model for upgrades and cross-grades.

Once 2007 becomes retired (as of March 16 2010), Autodesk will no longer offer a 3-tier price structure for upgrades / cross-grades to the current version at that time. Rather, all upgrades and cross-grades to the current version from previous versions will be 50% the cost of a new license, while cross-grades from a current version to another product will be about 20% the cost of a new product license. Legacy versions (versions older than 3 versions back) are not included in this and the Legacy program will continue at 30% discount of the price of a new product license when Subscription is purchased.

So let’s look at an example to illustrate this:

THIS YEAR
AutoCAD 2007 to AutoCAD 2010           $1795
AutoCAD 2008 to AutoCAD 2010           $1195
AutoCAD 2009 to AutoCAD 2010           $595

NEXT YEAR
AutoCAD 2008 to AutoCAD 2011           $1998
AutoCAD 2009 to AutoCAD 2011           $1998
AutoCAD 2010 to AutoCAD 2011           $1998

As you can see, this is a lot of different cost to you especially if you are only 1 or 2 versions behind.

So why is Autodesk doing this, well, it is to encourage users to put their licenses on Subscription.  In the example above, Subscription costs $450 a year - multiple that over 3 years and you have paid $1350 versus the $1998 upgrade cost. That's a huge difference in cost to net you the exact same product in the end.  Now, also remember all the extra benefits Subscription includes - extra software extensions, e-learning, web support access, license management, etc.

Autodesk has announced an aggressive promotion to help 'transition' you before next year's changes - details of which can be found at http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=7176852&siteID=123112.

In summary, it goes like this:

    Phase 1:    May1 – July 17

                     30% off with Subscription

                        20% off without Subscription

    Phase 2:    July 18 – October 16

                    20% off with Subscription

                        15% off without Subscription

    Phase 3:    October 17 – January 15

                     10% off with Subscription

                        reg price without Subscription

This promotional pricing is applicable to upgrades and cross-grades from 2007, 2008, and/or 2009 going to a 2010 product.

NOTE: that the best period is between May 1 and July 17

All prices above are based on US$ MSRP.