AutoCAD 2009 GUI-ing Pains

If you've been using MS Office for a while and upgraded to Office 2007, you would have noticed the biggest change is the interface. The ribbon is Microsoft's answer to having access to all the tools and functions that their flagship products contain without hunting and searching through pull down menus. Many long time users of Office have complained about the ribbon. I personally found it took a bit of getting used to. But why am I writing about MS Office 2007 in a post about AutoCAD 2009?

ANSWER: Welcome to the new "ribbon" interface of AutoCAD 2009!

Apparently AutoDesk who has always been close partners with Microsoft, has decided to adopt Microsoft's interface enhancement in it's latest release.

 

Now for long time users of AutoCAD there will be some growing pains. But AutoDesk has made sure that the other interface tools from past releases are still there, including palettes, menus, and even the Tablet and Screen Menus are still there for anyone who uses it. (Seriously, who still uses it?)

Autodesk has done a few things better than Microsoft. The big one is that the ribbon interface is very easy to customize thanks to the CUI editor. Also, you can have different modes for the ribbon display.

Simply right click on the arrow shown on the top of the ribbon to access different view modes. This is a handy way to control what panels you see and how much screen space the ribbon will take up. I personally like to have the ribbon collapse to panel titles.

After some testing 2009, I think that the new ribbon interface is a welcome addition to AutoCAD and its vertical products. Considering that Office 2007 is now a standard in Universities and colleges, users who shirk the ribbon interface should give it a try. There's no way of avoiding the ribbon! As with any new feature that AutoDesk introduces, there's a bit of a learning curve, but productivity for veteran users should be the same if not better. And this GUI change is a step in the right direction for users new to AutoCAD.

Take the time to go through the "What's New" workshop included with AutoCAD. There's many enhancements that come with 2009, including significant changes to the new DWFx file format introduced in AutoCAD 2008. Keep an eye on this blog for updated information and tips for AutoCAD 2009!