Autocad R12 Dos For Windows
Trying to run autocad release 12, a 16 bit application in Windows XP home edition with service pack 3. After installing program.and when trying to start autocad.get.
Autocad r12 for Windows - Review Autocad r12 Windows (Copyright 1982-94 Autodesk, Inc) October 10, 1995 Reviewing Autocad would be a monster job, one which I feel is best left to the guys who do this sort of thing for a living. I will try to keep this review focused on the technical illustration tools the program has to offer. I started using Autocad back in college, when I first learned it. That was release 11, running on a 386 and DOS. Autocad has certainly come a long way, but the technical illustration tools are still pretty much the same.
Isometric Illustration Autocad has some of the best isometric illustration features I have seen yet. Isometric drawings are created in 'ISOPLANE' mode, where the illustrator can toggle between left, right and top planes with [CTRL+E]. Drawing lines in isometric mode has all the bennies of regular line creation, allowing the user to constrain the lines to orthographic (ortho being 30-60-90 iso in this case) as well as make use of snap and grid tools. The grid shifts into isometric when you change into ISOPLANE mode. Ellipses Autocad allows the use of Isocircles which are isometrically-aligned ellipses. This is one feature in a drawing program which I have never (yet) seen.
An isometric ellipse seems so standard for a technical illustrator to use and need, yet this feature is so rare among today's so-called 'Technical Illustration' programs (software that is). Autocad has had this feature as long as I can remember, and frankly, this one tool will keep me drawing with Autocad (in isometric situations)a long while, until someone else comes up with a better way. I do have one beef with Acads isocircles though, and it is that isocircles become useless as snap-to-center points. Examine the graphic below. This drawing is my attempt to use the snap-to-center command when drawing a line. The program does not seem to be able to compute the center point, and in fact seems to choose a different center depending on which quadrant of the ellipse I select. All this makes for a bit of extra effort in creating organizing contstruction lines.
My First Incredible Amazing Dictionary 2. It keeps you thinking ahead.If I make this ellipse, am I going to need to align anything to it later?? Pros: Awesome object snap tools include 'nearest','center','midpoint','intersection','quadrant','tangent' and probably a few more I don't know about. Grids and Snap settings make for an easier drawing when their use is needed. A dizzying selection of drawing and editing tools, as well as layer and color support.
Cons: Aligning lines to iso-ellipses is too hard. Center and Quadrant snaps do not work well with these types of ellipses. Dimensioning variables are way too cryptic. Unless you use this program 8 hours a day, you'd better keep your manual handy. I would suggest making a cheat sheet or hint card if you use dimensioning alot. It is my understanding that the dimension options have been completely rehauled in rel. Supported File formats: IMPORT: DXF, DXB, IGES, Postscript, Windows Metafile (WMF) EXPORT: DXF, IGES, Postscript, Windows Metafile (WMF), Filmroll PLOTTING: Many raster formats: TGA, GIF, XWD, BMP, TIFF, Postscript, PCX, and more Summary: Autocad, which is definitely aimed at much more the technical illustration, offers significant tools with which to create high quality drawings.
The other features of the program are what I call 'bonus' since they are there when you need them. Grades: low (1-10) high ease of use6.5 Text tools6 Vector tools9 Editing tools7. Foison S24 Driver more. 5 Affordability2($3000 or so?) Online Help5 Other (comment) This review was done on the version which came from 'The Autodesk Collection' from Addison-Wesley. While it is the full software product, it is quite lacking in paper documentation.
Reviewed by -Mark Foster.