The latest update to the Autocad family is a homogenisation of the lot with the exception of the Autocad Civil 3D package. Previously you would buy Autocad for a fantastic general purpose tool but for industry specific tools you would 'upgrade' to a specific Autocad + Industry specific add on which in this bloggers case is the Autocad Architecture (once Autocad Architectural Desktop). There was also Autocad Electrical, Autocad Mechanical which are all the Autocad software plus specific tools.
BUT there's a catch !
You need to move to Subscription. But Wait There's More! Well that is to say, what was once subscription is now referred to as Maintenance. To move from Maintenance to Subscription (new version) you need to surrender your perpetual license which means that once you stop paying you lose access to Autocad xxx. Previously, if you stopped paying, you kept whatever release you were on. Which is why I'm very mad with the sellor who signed me up one week before the new release comes out. It means if I ever quit, it will be one week before the new release!
Further, you can no longer 'buy' the software. You can only buy a subscription which gives you access for a year to the software.
So.... if you subscribe, you will get access to all the Autocad Family except Civil.
Just another cherry.
But for me I will stay with subsc.... er my maintenance plan. It's still upgraded to the latest version of Autocad Architecture each year, actually now known as just Architecture.
But for you? You might like the additional offerings. I know there are those who work across several fields of Architecture, Mechanical, pipe design etc .
You can read more of the details here.
https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/learn-explore/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Only-One-AutoCAD-Frequently-Asked-Questions.html
https://www.autodesk.com.au/products/autocad/included-toolsets
Cheers
Nathan
