[austin.mn]

i just got a new laptop yesterday, and was real excited about it untill i tried to use it for my old copy of AutoCAD. Doesn't work. i tried to do some searching around, i found a cad program that i thought might be similar to autocad, but it too was incompatible with VISTA. So i am sitting here thinking, what good is this new OS if nothing that i need to use a computer for works with the damn thing.

if anyone has had any ideas for something that will work i would appreciate it. i think that AutoDesk will have a new version of AutoCAD available soon, but it is probably more than i want to spend. how much is it nowadays anyway?

thank you for any help,
Austin.MN

[psychomill]

Go back to XP......

Here's something thats the "new" problem with CAD systems and the new Windows Vista..... Vista doesn't support Open GL graphics.... then couple that with compatibility issues. There's a few articles floating around about this. Even on systems that will "run" on Vista, the results are poor. Word has it that Nvidia is working on something for this, but nothing concrete yet except for some Beta versions as far as I know. Here's an article on Vista and its issues with existing software .... XP vs Vista

But, according Microsoft, theres a download called OpenGL ICD. This is to allow OpenGL compatibility for Vista. Even though with the Direct 3D stuff, the performance takes a hit because OpenGL support lays on top of it. The downloaded driver supposedly takes care of that. And the driver must be downloaded... it will not ship with Vista. See here....

As far as AutoCad products... word is, none of the products from AutoDesk work with Vista. A patch is being worked on......

[tobyaxis]

Asfar as the eyes can see there isn't any CAD or CAD/CAM that is Vista Capable.

Sorry

Is there any way you can Return your New PC and get an XP sp2 O/S?

[ger21]

As far as AutoCad products... word is, none of the products from AutoDesk work with Vista. A patch is being worked on......

The patch for 2007 will be out shortly, but Acad 2008 will be released in 1 month with Vista support - about $3800 I think.

[psychomill]

but Acad 2008 will be released in 1 month with Vista support

Right.... but I think its still utilizing Open GL. So now, just need to get around the graphic performance issues....

[tobyaxis]

Right.... but I think its still utilizing Open GL. So now, just need to get around the graphic performance issues....

Graphic Performance Issues???????

Is there something we should know about these? I have a friend that just gave me the Information you and Gerry just wrote above. AutoCAD 2008

What he failed to tell me is that there are Graphics Issues. If you guys could let me know I'll tell him before he buys a New PC and AutoCAD 2008.

[ger21]

I did some research on the AutoCAD newsgroup after I read that post. From what I gather, open GL support is solely dependant on the video card drivers. Graphics performance as well, will be entirely dependant on the drivers.

[zippy]

AutoCAD 2008 will work with vista. I've seen 06 and 07 work on a vista upgrade when they were loaded before the upgrade but after nothing will load. The user profile folder structure and system file structure in vista are differnt enough that little designed for older versions will cross over. I work for a autodesk reseller, sorry we aren't aloud to publish pricing; Autodesk rules. resellers can get it for you for a few hundred under msrp. Vista is like all other MS products it should be avoided for the first six months more like a year if its a tool for bussines.

[tobyaxis]

I did some research on the AutoCAD newsgroup after I read that post. From what I gather, open GL support is solely dependant on the video card drivers. Graphics performance as well, will be entirely dependant on the drivers.

AutoCAD 2008 will work with vista. I've seen 06 and 07 work on a vista upgrade when they were loaded before the upgrade but after nothing will load. The user profile folder structure and system file structure in vista are differnt enough that little designed for older versions will cross over. I work for a autodesk reseller, sorry we aren't aloud to publish pricing; Autodesk rules. resellers can get it for you for a few hundred under msrp. Vista is like all other MS products it should be avoided for the first six months more like a year if its a tool for bussines.

I'll call him now.

Thanks for the tips guys

[austin.mn]

thank you guys, i will call up best buy right now and see if there is something that they will do for me about getting XP on this thing. what a bummer though, i finally buy a new toy and can't even use it.

[ger21]

You can always buy a copy of XP Home from Newegg for $89. I just bought one last week.

[austin.mn]

best buy has just lost a customer for life. i will never shop there again.

called them to see if there is anything that they will do to help me out here a little. nope! not even willing to entertain the idea of doing anything for me. and if i want to exchange the new laptop for a display model that they have with xp(the only computer they have with xp) it will cost me 15% of the original purchase price. in which case i am better off just buying a new copy of xp (somewhere else of course.)

this all after the nice salesman told me i shouldn't have any issues loading my software onto it..... i am very disappointed. sure, i guess one should expect some issues with a new os, but the way i was handled on the phone by 'best buy' was in excusable and they should have made at least a half assed effort to help me out. sell me a copy of xp at a discount and tell me your sorry that things didn't work out as i was told they would.

[austin.mn]

so now i need to buy a new os. do i buy xp pro 64bit? will it be better than the standard home version. my laptop has an amd dual core turion 64. i don't know weather any of the programs i have are 64 bit capable programs.... does the home xp have support for the dual core processor, i think that i read that xp pro64 does.

i really don't want to buy another thing that doesn't do what it is supposed to. did i mention that i was dissapointed with the way i was handled by Best Buy?

[tobyaxis]

best buy has just lost a customer for life. i will never shop there again.

called them to see if there is anything that they will do to help me out here a little. nope! not even willing to entertain the idea of doing anything for me. and if i want to exchange the new laptop for a display model that they have with xp(the only computer they have with xp) it will cost me 15% of the original purchase price. in which case i am better off just buying a new copy of xp (somewhere else of course.)

this all after the nice salesman told me i shouldn't have any issues loading my software onto it..... i am very disappointed. sure, i guess one should expect some issues with a new os, but the way i was handled on the phone by 'best buy' was in excusable and they should have made at least a half assed effort to help me out. sell me a copy of xp at a discount and tell me your sorry that things didn't work out as i was told they would.

Issues with a New O/S, Sure!!! Lies from a Sales Person, Sure!!!!
Aways try to find out as much as you can about something before Shelling out $$$$$

Sorry you got Ripped Off. I hope the XP install goes Extra Smooth for you.

[ger21]

First thing you need to do, is make sure you can get XP drivers for every device in that laptop. If not, you might be better off sticking with Vista.

As for 64 bit XP, if you don't know if you need it, then you don't need it. Either XP Home or Pro should be fine. Home is $40 cheaper. Make sure you buy an OEM copy from Newegg or someone else that sells them.

[austin.mn]

called gateway, they said that all the drivers are available and i should have no issues.

i'm afraid i haven't been keeping up with all the new computer stuff out there... so when i started to look things up online, i didn't really know what the heck i was looking at. whats better than what.... so it seemed like a good idea to go to a store so i can talk with someone that probably knows what there talking about.... i probably should have just called gateway from the beggining. the guy that i talked to from there last night was super helpfull, gave me the address so i could predownload the drivers and didn't talk to me like i was an idiot for buying what the sales person told me to buy.

thanks again

[ParkerMillguy]

Will windows XP support this then? I'm in the market for a new laptop myself and want to get the best for CAD/CAM will be learning Pro-e, Solid Works, and Camworks. I'm now using Mastercam. Any suggestions for specs? ie: 2G of mem etc.

[jfc11]

I was told(havent done it..still have XP) to use your other programs not to auto install but go in and manually install it...
Jim

[daedalus]

I have just made the move to vista myself for my new cad workstation. Solidworks has support for vista in sp3, but im still waiting for my VAR to get back to me with a trial before i can give it a go (in the middle of a licence purchace).

OpenGL is supported in hardware under vista on nvidia boards, see www.nvidia.com. Im not sure on ati's position, but if they dont have a driver yet its going to be out asap. The issue about software mode was a problem when the RTM came out, but its pretty much sorted now.

Obviously there are going to be problems running software that wasnt designed for vista, but i cant imagine anyone developing software isnt doing vista testing, i know all the projects i work on have been testing vista compliance for months now.

I guess the question is can you deal with waiting for patches from your software suppliers, or do you want to install a soon to be obsolete OS to save the wait.

Only thing i would suggest is you check the vista OEM licence agreement, some versions are pretty nasty with regard to reinstalls, should you go to XP then want vista back.

PS: my old workstation that this is replacing was running XP64, and i found driver support and software compatibility to be excellent, also if you have a lot of ram (around 4gb) then xp64 is a far better option, as the original XP has a limit to how much it can address.

[tobyaxis]

http://www.alibre.com/

Free and Vista Compatible