Thanks to Jimmy Bergmark, I now know that the controversial subscription-only* AutoCAD 2017.1 Update has itself been updated. Jimmy was brave enough to install and run the execrable Autodesk desktop app and discovered the update update. Rather you than me, Jimmy!
Here’s the readme. You’ll need to get at it using Autodesk Account.
I note that a bunch of crashes are fixed by this update update. Perhaps that is related to the magical missing AutoCAD 2017.1 crash information? Who knows?
The update was apparently released over a month ago on 17 November 2016. Autodesk needs to work out an alternative mechanism to Autodesk desktop app so that those of us who won’t/can’t use it will still be informed when updates become available. If only there were some other method Autodesk could use to communicate with customers! Too hard, apparently.
* not really
You can log into your account ( http://manage.autodesk.com ), find your product, then click “Downloads”, then in the pop-up window, click “Updates and Add-ons”, then scroll down the list until you find what you’re looking for.
FWIW – mine says “Released Nov 16, 2016”
https://s27.postimg.org/3qxcjx62b/2017_1_1.png
the account page is the obvious place to look, and its currently there, so that raises the question why you did not go there? Don’t worry, not picking on you. Some good answers would be “because that page has been flaky from day 1”, or “because you did and did not see it because it was confusing or buried…” I’d be curious to hear why you avoided that page.
Who avoided the Account page? I stated in the post that’s where you need to go to get the update. Once you know it exists, of course. Not being informed it exists is the main problem, and Autodesk desktop app is no solution. Yes, the Account page needs work too.
well, I mean avoiding the downloads listing for your products. I agree though, why not a “check for updates” item in the help dropdown (or ribbon, if you like wasting space that way). My issue with the account page is autodesk clutters the list of products with my ADN seats, and even free junk I am “entitled” to. They seem clueless about the end result of their innovations that “we asked for”.
I wasn’t exactly avoiding it, but neither was I inspecting it regularly to see if it contained anything useful. Shouldn’t have to. Autodesk knows how to contact me, and has had no trouble doing so when sending me notification of special offers in a vain attempt to persuade me to rent their products. Yet notification of product updates is too hard, apparently.
of course, I did a support request with bricsys on grdraw lisp function not “highlighting” the vectors drawn, and got a “fixed” reply from Torsten a couple days later, for next bcad update. If only Autodesk focused on actual support of the product, not 20 ways to change their sales model and create gizmos that only admins can use but don’t. I did an adesk DG post on why the adesk desktop app did not respect me disabling its startup, and two expert elitists responded to uninstall it. What a crack up.
James, I know we all know this, but I’ll say it again. “support of the product” does not generate sales $$$. “20 ways to change their sales model”, must be working to generate sales $$$.
Put another way…. “The basic premise which you must keep in mind is that the interests of the shareholders supersede everything else.” -sboon.
I would say support does generate sales, and autodesk might be riding the support wave its own DG’s set up long ago. Why buy acad over other products? Because it has great DG’s and a lot of people able to help. People will discover Bricscad is a parallel system though and then purchases will siphon off, but its still transitioning. Either way, a software’s reputation is dependent on its support at some level in my experience. Why dilute that with development efforts on updater programs that most cannot use? Its because Autodesk wants to make it seem convenient to always have the latest, but we all know that is a pitfall. If I knew their revenue depended on autocad, I would never buy their stock. Bricscad will burst that bubble sometime, mainly as 3rd party developers consistently compile for it. Adesk stock prices depend on many great products though, so I would buy their stock presently.
I think support has only a small direct effect on sales, but the indirect effects add up. Particularly where efficient support results not only in a satisfied customer but also in a better product (a la Bricsys), the effects can accumulate over time to be significant.
Poor support (a la Autodesk) has the opposite effect, and human nature means the effect is much larger.