AutoCAD 2010 Faux Review

First the Link:
AutoCAD 2010 tips and tricks video
http://adskmedia.com/autocad_2010/

Now the rant:
From my experience, AutoCAD spent many years (R12-2007) in a rut. The interface remained basically unchanged (same commands new images), while new, fragile, features were added with every release. The features often seemed half-baked and languished in an unfinished state for many (sometimes all) subsequent releases.

In the last three releases, the interface has received a major overhaul. I find many of the changes fascinating, and refreshing. But it seems that the dust hasn't settled on the interface. It continues to change in each of the three previous releases. This is a reversal from the many years when the interface remained basically static, but not necessarily a better scenario. To be productive, you really need to know where all your tools are going to be.

The interface has changed, but has the underlying problem been improved? Are the new features now more stable than the ones of previous years? What about the big new features of AutoCADs past. Has there been any improvement? I guess it isn't as much of a selling point to say, "Remember all those broken features we gave you five years ago? Well, we finally fixed them."

That being said, I should fully disclose: I haven't tried the new release. My previous work computer struggled to manage the interface adjustments in 2009. My home computer is a Mac. So, while the software has upgraded, my hardware hasn't.

In spite of my complaints (it is mostly just sour grapes), I appreciate the power and change in focus of the new features. The additions of parameters and constraints to geometry in this release along with improvements to the 3D modeling interface and tools over the course of the last four releases makes the full version of AutoCAD begin to come into its own as a true design tool. It is no longer CAD drafting that tries to emulate hand drafting conventions, but a completely new variety of drafting where lines respond to relationships to other lines.