By Accident. Or on Purpose.

I'm updating my Using AutoCAD book for Autodesk Press, and as I go through AutoCAD 2010 -- and as technical editor Bill Fane tech edits my work -- we got to wondering: Does Autodesk pull features from new releases on purpose, or by accident?

Here's some of the puzzlers we've come across:

Mtext command. The ribbon interface leaves out the AutoStack function, as does the right-click context menu. To access this useful feature, you need to change mtexttoolbar system variable to 1, which switches the mtext user interface to the traditional floating toolbar.

Presspull command. In AutoCAD 2009 and earlier, you could use the presspull function directly on faces. In AutoCAD 2010, you have to start the command, and then select the face to press/pull.

Toolbars. I've complained about this one before, but AutoCAD 2010 makes it difficult to turn on a toolbar. (Once one is visible, you have quick access to all others.)

3D workspace. The ribbon displayed by the 3D workspace contains no provision for layers. You can't create, change, or manage layers. "I guess we're supposed to do everything simply by using QuickProperties to change colours and line types of individual objects," says Bill. On the other hand, visual styles get two placements in the 3D ribbon.

Comments

[Guillermo Melantoni]

PressPull changed the combination of keys to Shift Ctrl E.
Layer and Properties panels are not displayed by default in the Home 3d tab, but they are there. Just right click, go to Panels, and check Properties and Layers.
You can save the workspace and keep them on.

[R. Paul Waddington]

The answer to your question is YES; and many will re-appear as NEW features to be paid for a second, third or fourth time.

The wider strategy is to hobble and or poorly develop one piece of software to 'force' users to purchase another.

Autodesk is about marketing and selling to earn money; it long ago moved away from the role of tool and technical service supplier.

Autodesk are the software equivalent of a car manufacture, changing the shape and colour of their products for the same reasons - to disrupt and cause customers to spend.