QCAD New User Observations

[jcthegreat]

Hi All,
I am new to QCAD free version running under Windows. As a long time user of AutoCAD, I find QCAD absolutely fantastic. Being mostly retired, I can't afford to spend any money on purchasing CAD software. Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that my old AutoCAD would no longer run under Windows. After trying several free CAD programs without any real success, I discovered QCAD and it worked perfectly straight away. There is just one thing that bothers me.

Even though QCAD is open source and FREE, when you download it, the installation file has the word "trial" in it suggesting that you have downloaded a trial version of QCAD. In order to make the free version run properly, you must delete some files, which, while not difficult for me, is a problem for some. There is a button to press to select the free version of QCAD but rather than deleting the files, it tells you what files to delete. Pressing the button could have just as easily stated what files were to be deleted and a second button could have appeared that would delete the files automatically.

I must admit that I am old (79) and suspicious (very suspicious) but have the feeling that someone has intentionally made it difficult to make the free version work, in order to get new users to pay-up. This is all very strange, considering how well the free version works.

I haven't read-up on the history of QCAD but I suspect that it was the intention of the QCAD creators, to make QCAD free. What do you other folks think?
John Caldwell New Zealand

[CVH]

Hi, and welcome to the QCAD forum.

You are correct that one downloads a fully functional Pro version in trial mode.
This is to evaluate QCAD in its full potential.

The differences between Pro and CE are listed here: QCAD Features.
Features in blue italic are available in QCAD Professional only.

After evaluation, you can decide whether QCAD is suitable for your needs and whether you want to continue with the Pro or CE version.
For QCAD Pro as trial there are only a limited session time and a limited number of sessions.

As user I can only advice you to buy a lifetime and personal licence to be able to exploit its full potential.
The cost of a single user licence can not be an issue.
A license includes updates for one year and this can be extended at any time at a discount.
You get access to a personal download area where you will find the same list of installation packages but then as QCAD Pro.


It are mostly Windows users that report an issue with downgrading to CE.
The reason is not at all to make it difficult because it is beyond QCAD.
First, it is not a good idea that an application alters itself while running.
This is typically seen as a viral infection.

Using the msi installer, QCAD is commonly installed under the C:\Program Files\ folder. (Not mandatory)
This part of your drive is guarded by the Windows UAC (User Account Control).
Applications can not make changes to that area, 'automatically deleting' is simply not allowed.
Instead, you get a list of what to delete, on a Win system you need at least Admin rights.
A simple solution to a complex problem that suits all as QCAD can be installed on various operating systems.

A trial version for Windows can also be downloaded as a ZIP file and installed anywhere on your system.
The QCAD application package is a self-contained bundle and does not need external resources.

Regards,
CVH

[andrew]

I haven't read-up on the history of QCAD but I suspect that it was the intention of the QCAD creators, to make QCAD free.

QCAD creator here.

No. QCAD version 1 started off as proprietary software by RibbonSoft, GmbH. QCAD version 2 was released under GPLv2 with binary packages being available for a small license fee. QCAD version 3 started of as a proprietary, completely new product. The free open source QCAD Community Edition started with QCAD version 3.1 when the base system of QCAD was released under the GPLv3 with optional commercial proprietary add-ons for QCAD Professional, QCAD/CAM and other products. This dual licensing model has worked very well for all sides, securing the continued development of both QCAD CE and QCAD Professional. Without the continued development of QCAD Professional by RibbonSoft, GmbH, the free QCAD CE would quite simply not exist at all.

[jcthegreat]

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for correcting me with your excellent information on QCAD history. As the QCAD creator, you can be proud of such an excellent piece of software. I am a big fan of QCAD.

Regards,
JC