CAD Mgmt: AutoCAD 2007 Information Overload

Try to Google "AutoCAD 2007" and you get over 1,020,000 results (and rising). That's a lot of information for a product that isn't shipping yet. So, using the Durkee Method of Rounding Off, that's about 1,000,000 pages at 5 minutes per page, or 5,000,000 minutes of reading. That's over 10 years of reading. What's a CAD Manager to do? As the old saying goes, "How do you eat an elephant?" "One bite at a time."

As an appetizer, I'll start with a plug for the regular press. I really like the What's New in AutoCAD 2007 article by Sara Ferris of Cadalyst. It was one of the first posts available and has a clear, succinct explanation of new features.

Next, go straight to the elephant by checking out the information from Autodesk. I don't mean the marketing stuff on the autodesk.com site - it isn't even posted there yet, and you'll get more than your share of it soon enough. Go to the Autodesk blogs at http://autodesk.blogs.com. At Shaan Hurley's Between the Lines blog you'll find a link to download the AutoCAD 2007 Preview Guide. Print it for some between meal snacks (i.e., offline study time). Shaan also has a growing list of side dishes at AutoCAD 2007 links.

And since we're talking about side dish links, have you subscribed to TenLinks Daily yet? (See CAD Mgmt Toolbox: TenLinks.com) Links come through there at an almost manageable rate and they have been featuring AutoCAD 2007 articles. Unlike a search engine, the links are categorized, so you don't have keep passing the same green bean casserole to find something you really want to chew on for a while.

From there you can narrow your search based on the new features that interest you most. But a healthy AutoCAD 2007 requires both diet and exercise. Don't spend all of your time digesting - spend some time doing. Beta users have a head start on this, but non-beta subscription users will be exercising soon. Install your software, browse through the New Features Workshop, and start exercising.

Now, what's for dessert?

MARCH 23, 2006 UPDATE:
The Google search of "AutoCAD 2007" now results in only 196,000 hits. Is this a result of Google's recent acquisition of @Last Software, the makers of SketchUp? :)

The Autodesk web site has now been updated to include information on the new 2007 products.

Be sure to check out the online AutoCAD 2007 New Features Workshop and AutoCAD LT 2007 New Features Workshop.