think3 thinks2

Another free 2D CAD package, this one called "free2Design" from think3, who now thinks2. The company has set up a indie-looking .org (indicative of a non-profit organization) Web site at free2design.org.

Features include:
+ Full-featured 2D drafting, dimension, annotation, DWG read/write, and so on.
+ "Free forever," including free updates.
+ All 2D enhancements in think3’s 3D CAD immediately available to free2Design.
+ Support through Web community and self-training lessons.
+ Free API for vertical solutions.

You can download the 82MB software from here. Be forewarned that this software runs only on Windows XP SP2, so I won't be running it on my desktop computer. Internet connection required for firsttime startup, but then you can use ZoneAlarm to block further pings to the mother corp. In hardware, it requires a 64MB OpenGL 1.4 graphics board, and a fast CPU (2.4Ghz+) and 1GB RAM are recommended. Suddenly, free has a cost attached to it.

Curiously, the press release implies the software is meant for China "and other developing countries" but I had no problem downloading it from the overdeveloped country of Canada.

Other info on the free2Design Web site indicates that think3 has "more than 25,000 users of think3 technologies," which, when you think about it, is a smallish number.

Update

Before running the software for the first time, you are forced to become a member of the free2Design community. Thus, the number "200" on the front page (as of writing this) tells us the number of installations. AutoCAD translation could be better:

+ Multi-formatted MText is not translated correctly.
+ Variable-width polylines have fixed widths.
+ Rays, xlines, multilines, and 3D objects are not displayed at all.
+ Complex linetypes are displayed as continuous (solid) lines.
+ Etc.

I'll be interested to watch the "installation" counter over the next few months.

Comments

[Eugenio]

Thanks for trying our software. To answer/clarify some of your comments:

1) free2Design is essentially a non profit initiative, we want to create an independent community of users (initially backed strongly by us in terms of end users support, of course) and promote free2Design as a platform to develop community driven verticalizations (as we make availabel API access for free, too), that's why we set up a .org web site (but we clearly state it's a think3 initiative, as there's also our corporate logo on the home page)

2) I suggest not to block log files uploads as they're a mean, for us, to understand which are the most used commands and focus our development team on improving those areas; of course users can block this upload and the software will continue to work without any restriction

3) The software has been developed with emerging markets in mind, but the registration is available in most of the countries in the so called "developed" world, too

4) the number of members you find on the home page is not directly tied to the number of users/licenses, as you can register multiple computers with the same username/password

5) thanks for your comments about the improvements on DXF/DWF translations, I forwarded them to our R&D team. Please, to help the community, post any advice or suggestion you have on community forums at http://www.free2design.org/

Thanks again for helping growing our free2Design community.

[R. Paul Waddington]

Ralph, I have a philosophical objection to any software that removes data from my systems to another without my knowledge or control. I think THINK3 were smart to at least warn us of this action even though it is done in a document that very few read. Probably even less will read this licence contract because, after all, the software is for ‘free’.

I also think the logic or the reason behind the .log file is flawed. It may appear to be a way to determine and allocate resources but the collection of this type of ‘use’ data can only be usefully assessed if it is accompanied with the user’s explanations and details of what he/she was actually trying to, and or achieving. If software is to be taken forward it is what it cannot do, now, that will do that and you will never determine that from the ‘usage’ data I have seen in the .log file.

I have looked at the .log file and I will, for the moment, assume and hope this is the only data THINK3 are transferring, but for me it had one glaring problem. It records file names and locations. This single point prevents me from opening any realistic drawings of mine or my customers. This information simply is not needed and whilst I will happily recommend others go and look at and consider using Free2Design it will be with a caveat. I would not use the software professionally nor allow any person handling my files to do so either whilst this exists.

Solution – a bare minimum; Think3 need to detail and document their reasons for collecting the ‘usage’ data, provide complete details on what is being collected, provide all this information at the time of installation and allow the user to ‘opt-in or out’ warning the user at the time the transmission is to take place and allow it to be canceled similar to the prompt that appears asking if ‘you want to download the new update’. This is choice without the issues of ‘blocking’ software.

[ralphg]

In Canada, you solution is a legal requirement. I wonder if the software is illegal here?

[Mark Dalmen]

Yet one more company desperately trying to gain some attention giving away a CAD software for free. In this field, when companies run out of marketing ideas, they lower the price or they go for the free approach.
I believe that every serious professional can afford a mid-range CAD system. If you are a professional and the CAD software looks too expensive to you, your problem is somewhere else in your business, not in the CAD system. And I have a bad news for you: the free software is not going to fix that problem... sorry!

--Mark