Autodesk Download Manager

Believe it or not, this new Autodesk download manager tool not only seems to be speedy, but works in Safari, on a Mac no less. Wow, was that a pleasant surprise. Now that many of the new products are available for a free trial download, simply itchy waiting for my physical DVDs to arrive, and being the major geek that I am I thought – let’s give it a whirl. Low and behold, it worked.

OK, so the image points to the soon to be announced evidence that I am not solely dedicated to Revit. There are many customers out there, who still use and love AutoCAD Architecture. There’s a project in the works, which I’ll discuss when the time is right which involves ACA 2010, and training. Now, where was that line command again? Just kidding.

Download Manager

Exhibit A.

Earlier in the week, I also successfully logged into my Autodesk Subscription account through Safari, and there was no hint of the typical warnings of browser compatibility. Now, we just need to work on that pesky legacy Buzzsaw accessibility.

Kudos to the marketing and web teams at Autodesk for increasing support for browsers other than IE. Job well done.

YouTube – The Revit 2010 Ribbon – Designing the User Experience

I have been excited about the new software release for some time, but of course there’s still an NDA. Rather than providing small snippets of what I can say is in the upcoming new 2010 software, especially Revit,  I direct you to some really cool official videos that show it off. Video is certainly the best way to learn new software tools, so let’s just sit back and watch the folks from the factory tell us their tale.

YouTube – The Revit 2010 Ribbon – Designing the User Experience.

Wow… Excitingly cool stuff! That preview should help prepare those of you that have expressed anxiety of the inclusion of a Ribbon UI in your favorite design tools. I really think it’s going to be OK. Once you get used to the changes (which might take less than a week of use), you will be productive. When the software is officially released, I give the lowdown on how you can best take advantage of the Ribbon in Revit, AutoCAD, and AutoCAD Architecture.

And by the way, if you want more: Autodesk now has a You-Tube channel with HD content here: www.youtube.com/Autodesk

2009 may well just become the year of the video blog. Cheers.