Downloads to be Default for Subscription Software Delivery

seen on Shaan’s blog – Between the Lines

subscription benefitsStarting this month, software download will replace CDs and DVDs as the default method of delivering software upgrades to most Autodesk Subscription customers worldwide.

If a customer would prefer to receive their software upgrade via CD/DVD instead of via download, customers can set their delivery preference to “box” by signing in to Subscription Center and updating their profile prior to March 12, 2010.
After March 12, 2010 customers in countries affected by this policy change can still request a CD/DVD by submitting a request in Subscription Center and Autodesk will ship a CD/DVD at no additional cost.
Software download gives Subscription customers immediate access to the latest Autodesk software. It’s more convenient than installing upgrades from a CD or DVD. And, it’s a more sustainable choice. Autodesk will continue to ship CDs/DVDs to Subscription customers in some countries as the default delivery method; however, these customers will also have the option to download their Autodesk software upgrades.

Discover new commands used by the community

seen on Autodesk Labs

Take advantage of the Customer Involvement Program (CIP) and receive command recommendations from the user community. CommunityCommands is a new plug-in for AutoCAD that compares your workflows with those of other users in the community and recommends new commands which might be particularly useful for you.
Compare this with the recommendations you get on iTunes or Amazon. When you buy music or books, you see also what others are buying in the same genre.

In addition to providing new recommendations, CommunityCommands provides a quick access panel to your most recently used commands.

To use this technology preview you will need to sign up for the Customer Involvement Program.

http://youtu.be/PTT30FbCJnk

Software as a service – the Cloud

Software as a Service – SaaS – or Cloud Computing is an online service where the software is not running on hardware at the enduser, but on a machine farm at an application service provider or directly at the software vendor.

The software licences are not purchased, but the software use is rented. For a certain period of time, for a certain project – there are several contractual options.
Software updates and hardware services are fulfilled by the service provider without overloading the IT department of the enduser.
Sometimes a small client utility is used to connect to the service, sometimes it runs over the HTTP or HTTPS protocols in a regular webbrowser.

Autodesk is currently running a pilot with the products: AutoCAD, Inventor and Revit op Autodesk Labs – Project Twitch.

ESRI has ArcGIS Online that provides ArcGIS users with a set of core services over the web.

Autodesk Announces Sketchbook Mobile for the iPhone

seen on Geoff’s blog – Between the Poles

Autodesk has announced SketchBook Mobile, an app for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch. SketchBook Mobile is a professional-level paint and drawing application designed for illustrators and artists. It will be available on the iPhone App Store worldwide.

SketchBook Mobile includes a set of sketching tools with the same paint engine as SketchBook Pro for digitally capturing ideas as napkin sketches.

AutoCAD Malicious Code / Virus Alert “acad.vlx” and Solution

seen on Shaan’s blog – Between the Lines

viral biohazardThere is a virus being reported by a couple AutoCAD based product customers. The original virus first popped up in 2005 and was very limited but has been changed slightly. Some antivirus software does detect this virus and remove it. See below for the link to the technical solution.

The virus spreads simply by someone placing the malicious acad.vlx in a directory with the DWG files or a support path location being opened and then spreads from there into open DWG files and by replicating itself.