Thread: Alternatives to DraftSight ( or any DWG viewer with editing function )

Originally Posted by Scottl

Unfortunately it requires Windows 10 Professional and for various reasons I have no intention of "upgrading". That leaves me with the choice of either one of the open source packages or paying for DraftSight. If it was a one time fee of $99 I would go for it but they want $99 a year and and I don't use it enough to justify that.

The older versions definitely will stop working, according to Dassault Systemes.

"All free versions of DraftSight (2018 or earlier) will cease to run after 12/31/2019."

2D 3D CAD Software Download | DRAFTSIGHT™ - Dassault Systemes(R)

I'm fairly certain it doesn't require it.

You will see the exact same thing no matter where you go. Nobody is supporting W7/8 anymore. Doesn't mean the thing won't work.

Originally Posted by gregormarwick

I'm fairly certain it doesn't require it.

You will see the exact same thing no matter where you go. Nobody is supporting W7/8 anymore. Doesn't mean the thing won't work.

It appears you are correct.

"Due to the potential for critical issues on these older operating systems, Solid Edge 2020 could be the last Solid Edge release that installs on Windows 7 or Windows 8.1."

System Requirements | Solid Edge | Product Development Software

I guess I will download it and give it a try but I've also downloaded and installed LibreCAD ....... just in case! LibreCAD seems capable of doing most of what I want and is easy to use so I'll keep it as a backup. It's likely Solid Edge will stop working on the older systems in the future and I likely will go with Linux as my next operating system.

I could afford to pay the $99 a year for DraftSight but that price might go up substantially AND they talk about migrating in future to "the cloud" and that is something I will never do.

I had problems trying to install Solid Edge on my Win 7 system so until something better comes along I will use LibreCAD for 2D and I've also downloaded and installed FreeCAD for small 3D stuff. Both are open source and available for multiple platforms.

Most likely some functionality lost vs more sophisticated programs but the plus side is no future notices like the one about DraftSight.

Originally Posted by Scottl

I had problems trying to install Solid Edge on my Win 7 system so until something better comes along I will use LibreCAD for 2D and I've also downloaded and installed FreeCAD for small 3D stuff. Both are open source and available for multiple platforms.

Most likely some functionality lost vs more sophisticated programs but the plus side is no future notices like the one about DraftSight.

Scotti,
I too was a Draftsight user. I switched to Linux in 2008 when I retired (30 years Autocad experience) and Draftsight was available in a Linux version. I suffered thru their ridiculous forced upgrades and a couple of bad releases, but by and large it served it's purpose for a full featured 2D only package. I have also used Progecad smart 2009, which is an Autocad clone both under windows (XP, Vista, 7, & 10), and under linux using Wine. Progecad is very good, although it's an older program requiring older .dwg formats. Nanocad is another possibility for windows users--never could get it to run under Wine, but runs well on my win 7 laptop. I liked Progecad best, partly because once you download and install it, you are never bothered with upgrades, version changes or other phone home bullsh*t. Unfortunately. Progecad doesn't run well on newer distros of Linux, even under older wine versions, so I'm now using Librecad and find it usable but missing a lot of features of the Windows autocad clones. I've done quite a few drawings in Librecad now, and breaking old autocad habits is the biggest hurdle to becoming proficient. (Where is that right-click functionality???).

Good luck, I'm sure you'll be able to find something to fill your 2d cad needs, especially if you're a windows user.

Regards,
Bob

Originally Posted by Scottl

I guess I will download it and give it a try but I've also downloaded and installed LibreCAD ....... just in case! LibreCAD seems capable of doing most of what I want and is easy to use so I'll keep it as a backup. It's likely Solid Edge will stop working on the older systems in the future and I likely will go with Linux as my next operating system.

If you are planning on going Loonix, then I'd watch for a copy of Cadkey 7 and run it in a DOS box. It's a nice nice nice 3D wireframe CAD program, professional, excellent drafting, just a super program for high quality drawings.

Another option is an old DOS version of Bobcad. Just use the CAD part, the CAM kind of sucks. I think version 14 is the last DOS one. It's nowhere near as capable as Cadkey and doesn't look pretty but boy is it fast. I gave a copy to a friend who was running some much newer Windows software and he threw them out, went with antique blobcad. It is quick.

If you run stuff in a virtual machine you don't have to deal with this 'upgrade' crap.

I haven't found any open sores cad programs I really like. They all seem like they were designed by a bunch of ernest sixth-graders.

Has anyone looked into nanoCAD?

nanoSoft - professional CAD Software programs - free download, for DWG and 3D CAD/CAM Design

Apparently the basic product can be downloaded and registered for free. Anybody tried it?