The final version of Autosketch, version 10, was released on November 14, 2008. Much of the speed and ease of older Autosketch was lost, and many users continued to use Autosketch 2.1 while it would still run on 32 bit Windows. Older files had to be converted in order to be opened in the new Autosketch. It is unclear if it was a complete 32 bit rewrite by Autodesk or if they bought in a 32 bit CAD programme and renamed it AutoSketch. It was very different in function, menu structure and used a different file format. Autodesk apparently found this product both a threat and opportunity and bought the company.Īfter Version 2.1, Autodesk massively changed Autosketch. This allowed Drafix to offer features to help automate reporting such as cost estimation and part list generation. ĭrafix also took advantage of Windows Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) prior to any Autodesk product.

One important limitation was that while Drafix was a complete drawing tool at a reasonable price for many industries, especially architecture and industrial design with relatively small drawings, it lacked the extendability AutoCAD had thanks to its LISP interpreter. In later versions Drafix took advantage of virtual memory available in Windows to edit more complex drawings. One limitation of the first DOS release was that it needed to store all of a drawing in RAM, while editing and could not use any sort of swapping. Among the features that made the original Drafix stand out when compared to the much more expensive AutoCAD were the ease of learning, the variety of dimensioning available out of the box, including relative dimensions, and being able to draw new primitives (line, circle, square, etc.) relative to existing primitives or points on them using keyboard shortcuts. Drafix won the first American Institute of Architect's 'CAD Shoot-out'. An Atari ST version was also available around 1989.

AutoSketch was developed by Foresight Resources under the name 'Drafix' to run under Microsoft DOS, and was one of the first Windows based CAD software products.

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