Tag Archives: software

Dassault Making an Assault on AutoDesk?

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Dassault has released the beta of a free 2D drawing editor that works like AutoCAD. It’s based on ARES from Graebert and is currently available for Windows with Mac and Linux versions in the pipeline for later in the year. So far, all AutoCAD clones have remained marginal players so it is to be seen whether this one can hit its target.

Here is Dassault’s description:

DraftSight is a professional-grade, open 2D CAD product for users who want a better way to read, write and share DWG files. DraftSight is easy to use and is available for professional CAD users, students and educators to download and activate for free.*

Based on advanced architecture, DraftSight has a small footprint, should take less that a few minutes to download, and runs on multiple operating systems, including Windows XP®, Windows Vista® and Windows® 7.

Get the software from here. [~42 MB]

Props to :: Deelip.com and WorldCAD Access

Virus Masquerading as Home Planning Software

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If you’ve received an email supposedly from IKEA telling you about a fantastic new and free Home Planning Software, please note that it is (surprise, surprise!) a virus. Ralph Grabowski of WorldCAD Access received just such a mail and has posted a screenshot. IKEA, meanwhile have clearly stated that this email is a fake and a scam. Given that it installs a trojan on your system, I’d say it’s far worse…

Website Dedicated to Intellicad Users

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Trying to bring users of different flavours of IntelliCAD together to interact about all things IntelliCAD, Deelip Menezes has launched IntelliCAD.net. The intention is to:

  1. Use the forums to ask and offer help.
  2. Post on the IntelliCAD.net network blog.
  3. Create or join groups of members.
  4. Share photos and videos.
  5. Post events such as user meetings, tradeshows, etc.

If you’re an IntelliCAD user, head over to IntelliCAD.net a.s.a.p.

Edit: Site no longer available. Deelip has moved on and Intellicad.net has been dropped.

AVG’s LinkScanner and its Removal

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Warning: This post is slightly technical

I’ve been using AVG’s free version for quite some years now and have always been happy with it. Accordingly, when they posted their latest version, 8.0, I was quick to download and install it. AVG now includes an antispyware component and a bit of fluff called LinkScanner. This, I found to be rather unnecessary and also a consumer of bandwidth and time (although AVG denies it on their support forum). Search results loaded noticeably slower in Firefox and disabling it in the AVG control panel resulted in a horrible “you may not be protected” icon in the system tray.

Reinstalling AVG 8 without that component did pretty much the same as just disabling it in the tray and that led me on a hunt for a permanent solution. Well, it’s documented in the AVG FAQs and it is possible – albeit a little differently from what they say because of the way my XP is set up; I can’t RUN any program directly.

Here are AVG’s instructions:

  1. Download the AVG 8.0 Free Edition installation package from our website.
  2. Run the installation with the parameters /REMOVE_FEATURE fea_AVG_SafeSurf /REMOVE_FEATURE fea_AVG_SafeSearch.
  3. One way to achieve this is to:
    • save (or copy) the AVG Free installation file directly to disk C:
    • Start > Run
    • type c:avg_free_stf_*.exe /REMOVE_FEATURE fea_AVG_SafeSurf /REMOVE_FEATURE fea_AVG_SafeSearch
  4. The installation will be started, and AVG will be installed without the LinkScanner component.

In my case, I had to make a batch file in C: with the following line (watch for wordwrap).

Start “” avg_free_stf_*.exe /REMOVE_FEATURE fea_AVG_SafeSurf /REMOVE_FEATURE fea_AVG_SafeSearch

This is the only thing that worked for me and I hope it helps someone else in a similar situation.

One more thing. The download is a huge 47Mb+ in size compared to just 22MB for version 7.5. I suppose the antispyware component does need some space. However, I’m beginning to wonder if this software is getting too bloated for its own good. Time will tell…

Free Beta of SpecifiCAD

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CADalytic Media has released a free beta of SpecifiCAD for ArchiCAD 10/11, AutoCAD, ADT, Revit and Sketchup. SpecifiCAD allows you to click on a building component within each of these programs and access its CAD details, 3D models, specifications and Green information using the Sweets Catalog network and the Sketchup 3D warehouse depositories.

Download SpecifiCAD from http://www.cadalytic.com/index.php?dir=downloads

Edit: Sorry to say the site seems to be no longer available.

Barebones ArchiCAD

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Graphiosoft are offering a stripped down version of ArchiCAD 11 for way below their normal price, the target market being small architectural firms. On the face of it, it’s a good move because small firms may be able to get by without features like teamwork, markup tools or even a printed manual. However, if you look at the comparison, there are way too many essentials that have been removed. I mean, how can you do without something as basic as rendering (lightworks & sketch rendering have been knocked out), profile manager for making custom wall/column shapes or the ability to open normal ArchiCAD files?

I think, if they tweak the feature set a bit, they might have a winner but in its present form, they’ll get little response.

ArchiCAD Start Edition 2008 v/s ArchiCAD 11