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AutoCAD will be 40 years old in 2022.
AutoCAD is a software application developed by Autodesk that enables computer-aided design (CAD) and drafting. The software is used to produce 2D and 3D drawings. AutoCAD software allows users to conceptualize ideas, produce designs and drawings to the required levels of technical accuracy, and even perform rapid design calculations and simulations; across a wide range of industries.
List of AutoCAD versions / releases
| Icon / Logo | Official Name | Release | Version | Codename | Release date | Price | DWG VERSION | OS | Notes | Documents | Screen image | MEDIA IMAGE | PACKAGE IMAGE | NEW FEATURES | Details | SOFTWARE |
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| Icon / Logo | Official Name | Release | Version | Codename | Release date | Price | DWG VERSION | OS | Notes | Documents | Screen image | MEDIA IMAGE | PACKAGE IMAGE | NEW FEATURES | Details | SOFTWARE |
Before AutoCAD – INTERACT
INTERACT was the first CAD system to run on mainstream microcomputer hardware. (Other contemporary systems ran on mainframes or minicomputers.) Its first commercial customer was Atlantic Richfield, which used the system to plan deep dives for offshore oil rigs.
INTERACT was written by Mike Riddle. He had previously worked on a ComputerVision CADDS3 system, which was used by his employer, Marathon Steel, to detail the structural steel used in the Palo Verde nuclear power plant, west of Phoenix. With the self assurance that many hackers have, Riddle figured he could do better than CADDS3.
He wrote INTERACT in his spare time, starting in 1977. He was slowed down by the state of hardware at the time — he had to write the program in pieces, and assemble it as larger memory boards became available. Ultimately, he decided he needed a processor that could support hardware multiply. Marinchip Systems, owned by John Walker and Dan Drake, made an S-100 main board with a TI TMS-9900 processor that fit the bill.
When Walker saw INTERACT running on the Marinchip Systems computer, he was impressed enough to become a dealer for the software.
In late 1981,Walker, Drake, Riddle, and about a dozen other people, came together to co-found what, in January 1982, would become Marinchip Software Partners, and shortly thereafter, Autodesk. INTERACT was rewritten in the C language, to run on the new IBM PC, and was rechristened–first as MicroCAD, and then (when the MicroCAD name was sniped by another company) as AutoCAD.
Today’s AutoCAD bears little resemblance to INTERACT. Yet most of the original INTERACT commands still work in current versions of AutoCAD.
First AutoCAD versions
Autodesk participated in COMDEX in November 1982. The CAD software shown at that conference was AutoCAD-80, so named because it ran on machines powered by either the Zilog Z80 or Intel 8080 microprocessor. Another company had appropriated the MicroCAD name sometime after the West Coast Computer Faire and before COMDEX, necessitating another name change.
This early version of AutoCAD proved to be one of the hits of the show. Several other vendors (Sierra Data Systems, Sun Flex, and Victor demonstrated AutoCAD in their booths and the software was awarded “best of show.” For a while, the Victor 9000 version was the most popular, because the Victor had the highest resolution screen of any PC, 800 by 400, and dual, high-density (1.2MB) floppy drives were standard. This initial version of AutoCAD consisted of approximately 12,000 lines of source code. The first revenue copy of AutoCAD was sold to Jamal Munshi, the president of MOMS Computing in Sausalito, California.
Sales continued to be fairly slow until a new Intel 8086 version, written in C and called AutoCAD-86, was released in January 1983. Both versions were priced at $1,000. A dimensioning package was being developed that was to sell for an additional $500. It would eventually be combined with other features and sold as ADE-1 (short for AutoCAD Drafting Extension). Sales during that first year ending January 31, 1983 were $14,733 and the company lost $9,465. This was a far cry from the nearly $2 billion in annual revenue the company would generate several decades later.
AutoCAD History Timeline Infographic
Links / Sources
- Autodesk website
- Autodesk Design Academy
- CAD History by David E. Weisberg – (Chapter 8 – Autodesk and AutoCAD)
- John Walker personal website (AutoCAD co-author and Autodesk founder)
- Michael Riddle personal website (AutoCAD co-author and Autodesk founder)
- List of all AutoCAD commands and system variables (CAD Forum)
- List of AutoCAD updates (JTB World)
- Wikipedia AutoCAD (EN)
- Wikipedia AutoCAD (PT)
- Shaan Hurley blog – Between the lines