AutoCAD WS: in the cloud and under iOS

I was surprised to find out today about the recent appearance of AutoCAD WS - and with even greater surprise I found out that only a couple of lines in a post on another topic were devoted to him at Habré. Honestly, I do not use CAD programs myself, but I think that the appearance of AutoCAD WS is a milestone not only for CAD, but in general for web services, software and our cloudless cloudy future, so I still consider it necessary to fill in the space. What is AutoCAD WS (working title - Project Butterfly)? At the moment it consists of three components:



1. Online service autocadws.com . In it, anyone, just having an account, gets access to a flash application that replaces the usual “desktop” AutoCAD: you can view and edit DWG files. It is clear that, in terms of its capabilities, the web service is noticeably inferior to the desktop version (especially considering that it has appeared recently). However, its appearance means, for example, that AutoCAD is no longer tied to the operating system: the flash version works the same way in Linux, where there has never been a “real” AutoCAD. And it also means that DWG files can now be shown to someone who does not have AutoCAD on their computer without forcing it to install anything at all. And that they can easily be given access to other users (there is a “share” button in the corner) - and only for viewing and editing (it is possible to edit the file simultaneously with someone, both parties immediately see the other changes made). And that in case the working computer suddenly died a brave death, but the project was saved online, you can finish it on any computer connected to the Internet. Relatively speaking, it turns out a CAD version of Google Docs.

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2. Application for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch . It is clear that no one will fully work on AutoCAD on the iPod: this application is used primarily to show their projects to others at meetings and negotiations. However, some editing functions are present. Now the application only works online (uploading files from an account on the same autocadws.com), but they promise to add offline mode. It became available in the iTunes Store on September 29, after which over two days it was downloaded more than 150,000 times. Autodesk also reported that work is already underway on the Android version.



3. Plug-in for desktop AutoCAD 2011 . Adds the online tab to the menu, with which you can synchronize files with the same account (albeit manually, at least automatically) and share them with others.



Why is the appearance of AutoCAD WS so significant, if services like Google Docs have been around for a long time? As far as I understand (correct, if I am mistaken), this is the first time when not just an application came to the clouds, but such a specialized (for the sake of entertainment, it is not installed) and at the same time a widespread, complex, “heavy” and critical for users . The application, the developers of which do not chase fashion, but independently set conditions for users, because there is really no competition at the moment. An application that determines the choice of the operating system for people: many are sitting under Windows precisely because of the lack of AutoCAD versions for other systems (soon, though, for the first time in many years, a full-fledged Mac version will be released). I think this is a significant moment. Yes, of course, it was logical to expect such a step over time, but I thought that it would happen much later. Glad I was wrong.



official blog

official presentation video