Cloud Software...........

[Clark Pace]

I have good things about tinker cad. One problem. It's being discontinued. So I would not get too attached.

Well I have a 3D printer on the way and trying to learn 3D as I know regular CAD and own AutoCAD Lt 2008. So I found a web based very simple 3D Cad program, TinkerCAD and all my files are stored in the "cloud" or someplace anyway. It may be all I need or I may need something with more features, but for now its the cloud for me!
Forgot to add, its free for now and IF I need added features its $9.95 a month, cheaper by the year.

[Clark Pace]

Good luck on the 3d printer. I have owned 3 now. They are great fun. I use blender for 3d. I looked into tinker cad, but just just be aware that it's being discontinued. Another problem with cloud software.

Well I have a 3D printer on the way and trying to learn 3D as I know regular CAD and own AutoCAD Lt 2008. So I found a web based very simple 3D Cad program, TinkerCAD and all my files are stored in the "cloud" or someplace anyway. It may be all I need or I may need something with more features, but for now its the cloud for me!
Forgot to add, its free for now and IF I need added features its $9.95 a month, cheaper by the year.

[William Adams]

Yeah, but we could use a few more people in the industry such as Jim Von Ehr who didn't blink when threatened by Adobe, and kept Freehand a viable product for an additional 10 years.

Still waiting to see a successor come along. Serif's Affinity Designer is looking close, but I need for it to be cross-platform so that I can use it on a Windows box, or I need for Apple to make a Mac OS X machine w/ an active digitizer / stylus. Oh well, given how my Toshiba Encore 2 Write 10 has worked out, I may have to break down and purchase an Axiotron Modbook.

[William Adams]

As regards TinkerCAD being discontinued, I'd thought that that was from a couple of years back and that Autodesk had bought them and was going to continue it — has something changed since then?

All the search results on this seem to be from ~2 years ago.

[Tim Bateson]

I'm still using Adobe Illustrator CS not 1 or 2 or 6 just CS from 2000. Does everything I need and more. Keeping up with the annual versions - selling point of the Cloud - is over rated in my book. I should add that hardware isn't a real issue. I've been in IT long before PCs were around & it "was" true at one time that software wasn't compatible at a certain point. That hasn't been true for a long time. Case in point - my CS running on both a laptop and PC -- both i7 running Win 7 Pro. Actually ran on Win 8 too, but I couldn't stand that garbage so went back to Win7.

Now someone I'm sure will find the 1 peice of software that no longer runs, OK, bad programming happens - done my share in the past. The reality is if it works why spend more money? Floating in the Cloud, PC based, Mars based, what-ever floats your boat

[Bill George]

As regards TinkerCAD being discontinued, I'd thought that that was from a couple of years back and that Autodesk had bought them and was going to continue it — has something changed since then?

All the search results on this seem to be from ~2 years ago.

Yup Autodesk bought them out a couple years ago, maybe if my internet connection was solid I would be ok. Might go back and try again. Rhino has wonderful features, but way overkill for what I need right now.

Tim, I agree with you. Do you really need the latest software for design in a laser engraving business? Sometimes an upgrade is not...

I am running Office XP on Windows 7 and without issues.

[Matt McCoy]

Good luck on the 3d printer. I have owned 3 now. They are great fun. I use blender for 3d. I looked into tinker cad, but just just be aware that it's being discontinued. Another problem with cloud software.

Hi Clark,

Tinkercad was acquired by Autodesk two years ago:

http://www.wired.com/2013/05/autodes...ses-tinkercad/

Blender was discontinued and then revived as an open-source project:

https://www.blender.org/foundation/history/

[Mayo Pardo]

For those in need of software - you can download directly from Adobe for free:
Illustrator CS2
Photoshop CS2
Audition 3 with tons of sound effects
Acrobat Standard 7 and Pro 7
Creative Suite 2 for Mac or PC
(Most offerings on the final page are both Mac or PC)

It's not easy to find the download page but basically you just go to adobe.com and at the bottom of their page is a link for downloads. Click that. When it opens pay no attention to the free trial stuff. Near the top click the link for "Other downloads" and when that opens then click on the link for CS2. When that opens, scroll down and click the link for English. This opens a page with about 12 different full downloads all for free. On one of the pages you may be presented with a screen to create a log in. I entered my email and created a password, and after sending me a confirmation email I was in. There was never any payment details requested, so this is totally free.

[William A. Foster]

For those in need of software - you can download directly from Adobe for free:
Illustrator CS2
Photoshop CS2
Audition 3 with tons of sound effects
Acrobat Standard 7 and Pro 7
Creative Suite 2 for Mac or PC
(Most offerings on the final page are both Mac or PC)

It's not easy to find the download page but basically you just go to adobe.com and at the bottom of their page is a link for downloads. Click that. When it opens pay no attention to the free trial stuff. Near the top click the link for "Other downloads" and when that opens then click on the link for CS2. When that opens, scroll down and click the link for English. This opens a page with about 12 different full downloads all for free. On one of the pages you may be presented with a screen to create a log in. I entered my email and created a password, and after sending me a confirmation email I was in. There was never any payment details requested, so this is totally free.

Good to know . Thank's for the info......

[William Adams]

FWIW, that download was supposed to be limited to only people who had a license for CS2.

Last time I checked, there was a verification against one’s Adobe account to so limit it.

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7...te-2-for-free/

UPDATE, 2:40 p.m. PT: There has been clarification since this story broke. Adobe has not released the CS2 software for free. Instead, it has canceled its CS2 license management servers, so for those with existing licenses it is now offering downloads that do not require contact with the licensing servers. This service is only going to be available for those with existing Adobe CS2 licenses, which will be verified when creating the Adobe account to download the software.

blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2013/01/update-on-cs2-and-acrobat-7-activation-servers.html

...to ensure that any customers activating those old versions can continue to use their software, we issued a serial number directly to those customers.

Unambiguous statement by an Adobe official (post #37):

forums.adobe.com/message/4979305

There is no change. The software and serial numbers were posted for use solely by existing legal Adobe licensees of CS2 and other products of that era (i.e., purchased licenses for these products from Adobe, authorized resellers, or via registered with Adobe transfer from such licencees) who need to reactivate their software (such as having to reinstall due to system failures, etc.) and for no other purpose whatsoever, despite the apparent wishful thinking of many.

[John Bronleewe]

Regarding the FREE Adobe Illustrator CS2 (same goes for Photoshop). Right from the download page:

Read before you download a CS2 product
Adobe has disabled the activation server for CS2 products, including Acrobat 7, because of a technical issue. These products were released more than seven years ago and do not run on many modern operating systems; Adobe no longer supports them.

Adobe strongly advises against running unsupported and outdated software. Only customers who legitimately purchased CS2 or Acrobat 7 and need to maintain their current use of these products may use the serial numbers provided during the download.

Whether or not you can get this installed and running without a hack, you're still running pirated software if you never paid for it in the first place. Sorry to burst anybody's bubble. I once worked with a guy that bought a Education copy of Corel Draw and for his company to save money. No matter how many times I explained to him that he's still breaking the law and isn't much better than someone that simply downloaded it from a torrent site, he never got it. Oh well. I tried.

[Rich Harman]

I once worked with a guy that bought a Education copy of Corel Draw and for his company to save money.

I upgraded my X6 education version to X7 for under $200 using their upgrade offer. I phoned it in to make sure that it applied to the education version and that I would end up with the X7 commercial version. They said no problem and provided me with an X6 commercial serial number so that I could make the upgrade work. Just FYI...