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February 17, 2006 CADzette - Volume III Issue 38
CAD News Large and Small
Microsoft's Partnership Program
 
An even better deal than being an Autodesk partner is to be a Microsoft Partner. Right now, Microsoft is selling a subscription to their Action Pack for $300 This subscription gives you TEN seats of Windows XP Pro, Visual Basic 2005, Office Professional, and a lot more software.

So, what do you have to do? Well, it costs ZERO, nothing, bupkiss to sign up as a partner. You do not have to be developer...if you write your own VBA programs for your office or manage your office's network systems, that is sufficient. If you want the software, sign up for the subscription, pay the money, and they ship you the goods - plus quarterly updates.

So, who wouldn't want to be a partner with that kind of deal?

Comments on IntelliCAD
 
Ragnar Thor Mikkelsen, of Norway, weighed in on my recent article about the impending shadow over IntelliCAD.

Just a comment on the number of IntelliCAD users (OK it looks like a commercial) :
BricsCad today has over 20,000 customers and grows each year with 45% (for the last three years). That is more thatn 20.000 single licenses + a great number of site licenses, the biggest is VolksWagen in Belgium.
BricsCAD is sold in 55 countries, through more then 40 partners in 8 languages.
IntelliCAD is now also a parts of Solid Works, isn't it?
Personally I switched to BricsCAD (as a reseller, consultant, trainer and developer) because BricsCAD now is the driving force in the ITC (most of the new features in Icad V5 and V6 came from BricsCAD), and because BricsCAD is a funding member of the ODA (Open Design Alliance).

Well, I guess I low-balled the number of IntelliCAD users out there. But compared with the millions of AutoCAD/Autodesk users, it is still small potatos as far as Autodesk is concerned.

John McEleney takes some umbrage as to the idea that IntelliCAD is part of SolidWorks. He will admit that they license some of the IntelliCAD software code for their 2D module, but he does not consider that the same thing.

I'll leave it to you, Dear Reader, to decide if using an ingredient is the same as using a product. To me, it is simply splitting hairs. A very fine distinction, indeed.

Interestingly, a couple of Autodesk employees who subscribe to this ezine clicked on the link for the IntelliCAD information. I will leave it to your imaginations as to why an Autodesk employee would want to learn more about the IntelliCAD situation...hey, why should they be any different from any other concerned CAD user?

Time is Running Out for Register....
 
If you haven't signed up to register for the AUGI CAD Camp scheduled for March 7 in Mountain View, CA, you have missed the early bird discount period. However, you can still register to get into a class. It's still a bargain at less than $200 for a full day of classes in your favorite software.

Lynn Allen will be there, of course. So will Robert Green, every one's favorite CAD Manager. Bob is a favorite speaker at AU and if you've never taken a class from him, you have truly missed some great info.

I'll be there with one of my drafters. If you see me, feel free to say 'hi'. I do enjoy meeting other users at these types of functions and hearing what folks have to say.

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