Free ACAD

Page 27 of the Nov/Dec issue of AUGIWorld Magazine has this advertisement.

What on earth is A/CAD? What is A/CAD LT? And what is A/CAD LT Express. And why is it free? There are (1) things I know, (2) things I don’t know, (3) things I can tell you; and (4) things I can’t tell you, thanks to some NDA which I regretfully signed.

(1) I know the answers to all the questions above, quite simply because I have A/CAD LT Express installed on my computer.

(2) I don’t know how this advertisement found a place in AUGIWorld, the official publication of Autodesk User Group International.

(3) I can tell you that IMSI/Design, the makers of the TurboCAD range of products are upto something. And wary of the fact that they are taking on Autodesk, they appear to be doing it carefully. For example, they applied and got a trademark for “ACAD” this year. Incidently, Autodesk had two trademarks for “ACAD” which they abandonned in 1987 and 1992. So I guess Autodesk may not drag IMSI to court saying that they own the “ACAD” name, like how they think they own “DWG”.

(4) I can’t tell you things that I can’t tell you.

According to the advertisement, A/CAD will be displayed in Las Vegas at the Venetian Hotel between December 2nd and 4th. I hear that another CAD vendor is having it’s annual user conference in the same city at the same hotel at the same time. Gee… I wonder who that may be.