Once the install was complete, it asked me to register the software (this is part of the user agreement for the free version) which thankfully did not ask me for any in-depth personal information. I kept waiting for a bad surprise like a virus or some annoying advertising to all of a sudden take over my screenI (it didn’t, of course). Once the download was finished I did the installation procedure which proved to be quick and straightforward.
I went to the DraftSight website and downloaded the software directly from them (a 55.4MB download). So at the very least my engineering buddy had my attention. For me to pick up the latest version of AutoCad LT (the light, 2D only version) it would set me back at least a grand. This brings me to the second thing and that is the no-cost to the DraftSight. If you ask me, is a ploy to get me to upgrade and as you can see, I have not done so yet – mostly out of spite and the fact that the existing software works just fine for my needs. This is thanks to AutoDesk for making the decision to not have backwards compatibility with the new versions. Now you have to understand that I am still using AutoCAD 2004 currently and I have had quite a tough time of being able to open drawings that have been created in newer versions. When an electrical engineer friend of mine told me about DraftSight 2D CAD Software, I figured it was too good to be true.