AutoCAD 2009 Update 3

AutoCAD 2009 Update 3

Update (nee Service Pack) 3 for AutoCAD 2009 is now available. See Between the Lines for full details. As always, read the readme first. Here are the links:

Readme
AutoCAD 2009
AutoCAD LT 2009
AutoCAD 2009 for Revit Architecture
AutoCAD 2009 for Revit Structure

No word yet about related updates for the vertical products.

While I’m not convinced by some aspects of the recently introduced multiple-update-per-release regime, I do approve of Autodesk continuing to maintain 2009 after 2010 has been released. People have complained about this not being done in the past, and on this score at least, I have to say that Autodesk has listened.

What do you think about these updates? Do you use them? What about CAD Managers using deployments; do you deploy the updates? Is it too disruptive? Does it cause problems with the deployment no longer matching the installation, for example when attempting a repair install? Any other issues?

6 Comments

  1. martin.rossiter

    For what my opinion is worth, I am staggered that a major software company is still releasing versions of its industry-leading, products and then having to follow them up with so many service packs which, let’s face it, are no more than bug-fixes to the original released version. What amazes me is that after regular consecutive annual release of new, improved, and updated versions since at least 2004 Autodesk are still releasing versions that are not fully tested and show a continual lack of thorough proving prior to release.

    In my office we predominantly use AutoCAD 2008 and whilst trying to model a major water treatment works project we suffered an enormous level of delay and frustration and crashing drawings due to the “scale list” bug which caused major bloating of DWG files into which other drawings had either been X-refd or into which objects had been cut/paste copied (the cut/paste experience could last up to 5 or 10 minutes -or longer, because of the enormous amount of spurios scale data that was being dragged between drawings). Even running -scalelistedit and resetting the list to default size didn’t solve the issue and running the cleanup utility was a tedious process requiring that all team members working on component drawings had to be logged out whilst the utility compiled long lists of effectively “purged” files showing in some cases thousands of accumulated scale lists being erased from the drawings.

    Even with the cleanup utility and after installing SP1 which was supposed to address the issue, we still noted files expanding and reducing afer cleanup by as much as 50% filesize. What compounds the frustration about such issues is that even today, as I was writing this comment, I noted a colleague in another office suffering exactly the same issues and problems that we faced last year; and additionally after endless error reports being sent to Autodsek from this office, not one was acknowledged or replied to by Autodesk, even though this was an apparently “known issue” that our external supplier was aware of and finally helped us with by providing the cleanup scales utility and SP1.

    This is, of course only my opinion and I do not claim to know about all of the technical issues related to this problem, but that is surely the point isn’t it? We, as technicians and draughtsmen use tools like AutoCAD in the same way that a mechanic used pneumatic tools or computer hardware and software to analyse and repair vehicles: but would you expect such a mechanic to know all the detailed ins and outs of how such tools work, and to be able to analyse and identify problems that do not simply self-manifest? If a computer readout screen goes blank it would be reasonably obvious to check the power and data connections first right(?) but if error code #55487651 appears on the mechanic’s diagnostic computer screen is it fair to expect him to know what the problem is?

  2. 1. I like the fact that support is still being offered for an “old” version.
    2. No, we are not using them. We are still on 2008.
    3. No, I’m not deploying them.
    4. I have enough problems just trying to keep our 2008s on the same SP. There is still no way to push these out (without rolling your own script, etc.), right?

  3. R. Paul Waddington

    Maybe Shaan would like to ‘bug fix’ the misleading ‘free’ statement; FREE to whom?

    Bugs cost those that encounter them; downloading and installing and implementing, costs those who have already been inconvenienced once and now will be again!

    Neither the bugs nor the fixes are free Shaan. Maybe Autodesk should first apologize (each bug fix) to its customers; then again for supplying a faulty product and leaving us to – at our cost – download, install and implement the rectifications they have made to their original mistakes, using the $’s we have paid for the original product! Bug fixes are NOT free they are paid for many time overs.

    Imagine GM telling its customers to come to their ware house, pick-up a ‘free’ new faulty fuel pump to take it home and install.

  4. R. Paul Waddington

    I’m not “berating Autodesk for fixing bugs”. What’s ‘tardy’ about pointing out the incorrect use of the ‘free’?

    At worst I could be ‘berated’ for stating the obvious!

  5. Paul, Autodesk isn’t charging users for Update 3, so in my view it’s not actually incorrect to call it ‘free’. There are costs associated with practically everything, but that doesn’t make the word ‘free’ redundant. If somebody gives me a SpacePilot PRO, I’d be inclined to call it ‘free’. I’d do this even though to use it I have to supply my own computer, my own software, my own electricity, my own Internet bandwidth to register the driver software on-line, and so on.

    Martin, my apologies. Your comment was stuck unnoticed in spam filter for a while. No censorship was intended.

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