X-CAD registration

[John Stevenson]

The x-cad registration for 100,000 users is coming close to the end.
http://www.x-cad.net

I spotted this post on Don's board:-
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Was told by an internet Guru that automatically scans and has monitored that ip says he knows the count is continually manually adjusted to make sure the number is reached. He said the count is actually less than a quarter of what is actually stated at this time.
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Can anyone who internet savvey confirm this or is it hype?

Wouldn't supprise me as i feel it has to reach that figure for them to take the next step.

Loser John - Formerly known as John S.

[mrainey]

Here's a review of what's coming:


"Surprise! 3D Modeling Software for the Masses!
By Mike Hudspeth

Earlier this summer X-CAD burst onto the scene with its amazing offer to give away free seats of its 3D design software to the first 100,000 people who registered before August 1st. But no one knew who X-CAD was. It's been quite the mystery. Well, the cat is out of the bag! X-CAD is changing its name to Alibre Design Xpress. That's right, the company behind X-CAD is Alibre, the makers of Alibre Design, a parametric 3D solid modeling application with integrated online collaboration. Now that you know who is behind X-CAD is, it's time to see what the product does.

Alibre Design Xpress is 3D solid modeling software for the masses. It is better than low-cost, it's free! That's right, free. How do they do that? When you run Alibre Design Xpress some of your screen will be dedicated to ads that are served up by Google. They aren't huge and obtrusive but they might be somewhat distracting. After all, you're trying to model stuff, not shop. It's probably a reasonable trade off for the free capabilities. Alibre Design Xpress is a subset or scaled-down version of Alibre's standard software Alibre Design. As such, it has certain things turned off. This means there will be many things you cannot do. For instance, hollows or shells are disabled and you'll be limited in how many components you can have in an assembly. It also requires you to have an internet connection to use; that can be somewhat restricting if you are on the road a lot. But don't panic. Alibre Design Xpress has a multi-stepped upgrade path that will take care of the problem. For a mere $49, you can eliminate the ads and work offline. You can also upgrade to the full Alibre Design software. Standalone, the standard verion of Alibre Design software costs less than a grand so it's pretty inexpensive for 3D solid modeling software. They also have Alibre Design Professional and Alibre Design Expert. You can visit their web site for details on those packages.

Installation is pretty straightforward, but don't forget your internet connection. You'll need that to run Alibre Design Xpress. One of the nice things about this is that you never have to worry about compatibility. You are always assured that you will be running the current version. That can be a relief for those who have had bad experiences dealing with vendors who have the same software but have not upgraded it for a while. Alibre Design Xpress is simple and easy to use. It is very similar to other 3D solid modelers on the market, so similar in fact that you should be up and running in no time. The familiar interface and work flow will mean instant productivity. I like the simple way you can dimension your sketches in this fully parametric modeler.

Assembly modeling is fairly straightforward as well. You can bring in previously modeled parts or create them within the context of the assembly. As I mentioned before, you are limited in the number of components you can have in Alibre Design Xpress, but once they are in your assembly you can assign constraints like mate, align, orient, tangencies and offsets and so on.

Last, but certainly not least, you can create 2D drawings using Alibre Design Xpress. The drawings are fully associative to the models so when you make a change to one, the other will update. It's very simple. You can generate all the normal orthographic views, although you have to upgrade to create more advanced views like details, sections, and auxiliary views. You can even explode the assembly and show how it goes together. There are balloon callouts, multiple fonts, layers, and so much more. What more could you ask from something that costs nothing?

When you get to the place where you need more sophisticated capabilities, the other products in the Alibre Design family will be standing in the wings. You'll be able to bring your Alibre Design Xpress models right into Alibre Design. Alibre Design removes any limitations on part modeling, assemblies or 2D drawing as well as providing full online collaboration. Alibre Design Professional adds built-in check-in/check-out, integrated sheet metal, photorealistic rendering, a part library and bundled finite element analysis and CAM software. So when you are ready to grow, so is Alibre Design Xpress.

If you want to check it out for yourself, you still have a few days in which to register. Of course, if you're nice, I'm sure the nice people at Alibre could be talked into giving you a nice deal on their free software, even after August 1st."

[Tinkerer]

Well I think the mark will be hit.


X-CAD: FREE Mechanical Design Software Current Registrations 99998

Waite it's been hit 100000

[PolskiFran]

I just got my e-mail saying the number has been hit. From reading the e-mail it seems there is a charge to turn it off once you have started. I'll have to read it again to get all the fine print.

Frank

[Bob Quale]

Just me but I think it is a scam!

The economy is very soft! gas is way up, power up, food up etc...

How can anyone give something away and be successful? unless there is a hidden agenda?

If you gave away 100,000 pennies it would cost you? so why do it?

HIDDEN AGENDA!

Sorry just me.

Bob

[AZSORT]

This deal could be a good one I think. The good CAD packages are too expensive unless you drive them full time and are plenty fustrating to use - although the recent versions have finally gotten the bugs under control. There is an opportunity for a well designed low cost package without some of the bells and whistles. The key is to capture a large enough user base to make up in volume what they don't get in price. If it works well, they won't need to field all the user help calls which is most of the expense anyway. I'd be glad to spend several hundred a year for something that doesn't fustrate me and is commonly used.

Greg C.

[MikeHenry]

Maybe it's already been mentioned, but X-Cad is Alibre Express. Here's some more detailed info on what is included:

http://www.alibre.com/xpress/softwar...ign-xpress.asp

Note that one of the requirements is a continuously active Internet connection and that the application windows will display ads (*not* pop up ads, apparently). From what I've read it sounds as though the Internet requirement and ads can be eliminated for a $50 upgrade fee. I'm not certain on that though.

Alibre Express also lacks the 3-D sketching and Boolean operations that are included with the standard Alibre Design program. It will apparently still do parts, assemblies and drawings. Frankly, I think that this looks like a really good deal for hsm's, assuming that they are willing to live with the Internet requirement and ads.

As mentioned here before, I've been using the retail version of Alibre for a couple of years now and have really liked the product right from Day 1.

Mike



[This message has been edited by MikeHenry (edited 07-23-2005).]