free download AUTOCAD 2004

With the release of AutoCAD 2004 ($3,395 direct), Autodesk's flagship product easily remains the leader of the pack for creating technical drawings, including 2-D drafting and detailing as well as 3-D design. But the notable news with this release is not just the new features but the improvements in speed, drawing file size, and enterprise management.

If you often share your drawings with others, an upgrade to AutoCAD 2004 is certainly warranted; the often huge sizes of AutoCAD files can be reduced by 40 percent or more in this version. The more efficient file size also means it takes less time to open a file—a real productivity boost for designers.

In these frugal times, managers with many AutoCAD users will delight in the product's improved license management and inventory control features. The latest network license "borrowing" model helps to cut costs by trimming the number of licenses you may need.

AutoCAD 2004 coexists happily with previous versions of the application, which reduces concerns about migrating to the latest version. But note that AutoCAD 2004 relies on Microsoft Windows for much of its enhanced performance. Unlike our experience with prior versions, installing the latest release on a computer that doesn't meet the stated requirements can bring down the system rather nastily.

Other new and improved features in this version include higher-quality presentations through True Color, industry-standard Pantone, and RAL color support; free productivity-enhancing AutoCAD Express Tools; and in-place mtext (multiline text) editing for annotations in many languages. Also noteworthy are automated peer notification of reference changes, new tabbed tool palettes to access frequently used content, checking and notification of CAD standards to ensure compliance, and checking and notification of digital signatures for data security.

Meanwhile, AutoCAD LT 2004 ($725) remains useful for those who have less-demanding design needs, and especially for those who simply need to share files from users of the full version of AutoCAD.

As with past LT versions, AutoCAD LT 2004 continues to be light on features. It doesn't contain the 3-D design tools and performance enhancements of its heftier sibling. It can't write (but can read) password-protected drawings. It also forgoes many of the advanced productivity tools of AutoCAD 2004, including task scripting, extensibility with third-party and custom-written applications, CAD standards management, network licensing and management, batch plotting, and more.

Both AutoCAD LT 2004 and AutoCAD 2004 support the same DWG file format as well as the enhanced Design Web Format (DWF6). Both support i-drop, which lets you drag and drop items from Web sites into designs. Both also support object enablers that read objects in industry-specific apps, as well as digital signatures.

AutoCAD LT 2004 is most useful for those who need to view and respond to drawings created by AutoCAD 2004 users. But if you need to create original designs, don't have to exchange them with AutoCAD users, and can't afford the full AutoCAD 2004, you may want to consider one of the less expensive CAD alternatives.

If you're a current AutoCAD user or contemplating a switch to it, if you share files outside your enterprise extensively, or if you simply work on numerous drawings every day, the speed and file size improvements in AutoCAD 2004 are worth the investment.