CAD Products Split - New CADPower and New GeoTools Released
Four Dimension Technologies and Coordinate Systems are pleased to announce the release of CADPower - our new general purpose productivity tool for AutoCAD and Bricscad.
We also announce the release and re-launch of GeoTools in its new avatar, containing tools which are required only for the geographic, mapping and civil/survey CAD users.
May 10, 2012
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"GeoTools & CADPower - Two small utilities that should complement Bricscad"
The split came into effect in March 2012 with the release of V 12.21. As on date, we are on V 12.25 of the product which is expected to be the last update before we announce the release of our next version, V13 later this month.
The purpose of this split and the re-branding exercise has been to make the two products address their target markets in a clear manner without causing confusion.
During this process, we are also re-designing our web-sites to make it simpler and easier to use and navigate.
It has taken us this long to get all the ducks in a row and ensure that the products are stable enough for a release.
There may be still be some areas in the product code-base and on our web-site/documentation that needs polishing. We will be working on this tirelessly to ensure that you have a pleasant experience using these products. Your feedback and constructive criticism are most welcome, as always.
For those of you who are reading about our products for the first time, here is the background info.
GeoTools has been in existence since 1999 and contained over 275+ tools for general CAD productivity and many specifically for geographic CAD data users. It ran on both AutoCAD and Bricscad platforms, and enjoyed a user-base of over 1000+ distinct customers in about 35 countries. Now, we have split the tool collection into a pure-GeoTools software and the rest into CADPower - for the general CAD users.
Here is a quick summary of some important points to note about the two products:
GeoTools contains mainly only those CAD tools that typically surveyors, mapping professionals, GIS-CAD data users and other geo-data users would find useful. For instance, you will not find tools to do CAD file management, multiple DWG formats, batch processing and so on.
Pure CAD productivity tools that are of interest to ALL CAD users have been shifted to CADPower. For instance, you will not find Civil, AutoCAD Map and Drawing Cleanup tools in CADPower.
Many GeoTools users may find CADPower also very useful, because general CAD management tools are required for everyone. In such cases, you are advised to purchase both GeoTools and CADPower.
What's new in GeoTools and CADPower?
Support for network/floating licensing in case of a multi-user license environment, in addition to the existing methods (long standing user request).
Long pull-down menus have been further classified and bunched into sub-categories. This will make it easier for you to locate your favorite commands and remember their locations as well. In short, we have taken one big step to remove the clutter of commands that hits the eye, especially when you are dealing with Polyline, Blocks, AutoCAD Map and Miscellaneous Tools (again a long standing user request).
Support for online license verification through internet (makes license management easier).
We hope that the single biggest feature of these software is that it is going to be easier to use than before.
Full support for MAC-address based appkeys. The MAC-address based appkeys have been now tested thoroughly under various network conditions and is more reliable than ever. Although disk-based appkeys are still available, users are encouraged to provide us with MAC-address based appkeys.
Pricing Structure:
- A single user license of GeoTools will now be USD 129.
- A single user license of CADPower will now be USD 109.
- If you require both CADPower and GeoTools, a combo price of USD 219 is possible.
- These are promotion prices, and expected to be in place atleast until May 2012, when the next release, V13 will be out.
- Bricscad users in India will now get a license of CADPower free with every purchase of Bricscad from us. GeoTools will no longer be available free for Bricscad purchases in India (except if provided by special arrangement).
What are your advantage now?
With the 275+ tools split up into two products, each with is own focus, you now can expect better value for your money depending on what exactly you want.
You now have to choose to purchase either GeoTools or CADPower or both because you now know what exactly you will get in either of them.
For the general CAD user, CADPower offers better brand recall and understanding of what it provides, rather than a GeoTools which seems to suggest only geo-related tools.
Supported platforms and versions:
- GeoTools 12.21 / CADPower 12.21 and later will be supported on AutoCAD versions 2007 onwards until 2012. Support for AutoCAD 2004, 2005 and 2006 has been dropped.
- Under Bricscad, GeoTools/CADPower 12.21 and later will be supported on Bricscad V 12.1.15.1 and later only. The software may not work correctly on earlier builds of Bricscad v12 because of some new floating licensing API functions that have been specifically created for GeoTools/CADPower and available only in 12.1.15.1.
Disclaimer:
GeoTools and CADPower are released-products but the commands available in each software are subject to small changes. In other words, we have bunched about 150 commands each in these products based on a preliminary sort and we may shuffle a few of them across the two products in the coming weeks/months, based on user feedback or design change. The number, order and occurence of commands within CADPower and GeoTools may change without prior notice. We expect the contents of the two software to stabilize in a few weeks/months.
About Coordinate Systems:
Coordinate Systems in based in Bangalore, and has been in the business of CAD since 2004. It is a reseller for Bricsys products in India since 2008. Coordinate Systems is the developer of the GeoTools add-on software for Bricscad and has executed a large number of high-end CAD customizations for a number of clients world-wide.
For additional information on this offer and to learn more about Bricsys in India, contact Kirana Bhat (+91-80-41147616) or visit www.coordsys.com
About Bricsys
Bricsys® is a global provider of dwg engineering design software brought to market under the BricsCAD® brand.
With relentless commitment to the success of the BricsCAD community, Bricsys is focused on providing an industrial strength CAD software platform and industry leading support at a compelling price to customers in the AEC, GIS, civil engineering, process and power, and mechanical CAD markets.
Founded in 2002, Bricsys is a founding member of the Open Design Alliance. For additional information about Bricsys, visit www.bricsys.com.
About BricsCAD
BricsCAD® is the powerful CAD software and development platform unifying the familiar feature set of native dwg with advanced 2D tools and intelligent 3D direct modeling on Windows and Linux.
The software allows design, engineering and manufacturing professionals to enter the world of 3D direct modeling without the need to leave their familiar dwg environment, and this at a compelling price. BricsCAD provides application developers with the software platform and broad suite of standard APIs required to deliver advanced solutions to cost conscious customers in the AEC, GIS, civil engineering, process & power, and mechanical CAD markets.
Available in more than 15 languages and with hundreds of Third Party solutions, BricsCAD is so much more than an alternative. For more information about BricsCAD, visit www.bricsys.com/BricsCAD.
