Autodesk buys Eaglecad?

[EBRAddict]

I'm looking at KiCad but also CircuitStudio and Diptrace. But I expect CS and DipTrace to go subscription model eventually, too. Diptrace non-comm license is $125. CS is $995 plus $150 annual maintenance. Those are 4+ layer licenses.

Assuming annual major version upgrades, over 5 years Eagle would cost $2500, CS $1595, Diptrace $625, and KiCad is donation-based.

I will just camp on Eagle 7.7 until OSHPark stops supporting it, so that gives me a few years. I don't need or want any of the new features offered in v8.

[EBRAddict]

Well, it looks like AutoDesk heard the griping.

TL;DR version: standard license how has 4 layer, commercial or non-commercial use. $100 per year. Freeware requires a connection once upon install. Freeware can read/view and print gerbers for any file. All paid versions still have 14 day internet connection requirement, or they revert to freeware capability.

I will grudgingly put down the torch and pitchfork.

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/eagle-forum/a-path-forward-for-the-make-license-a-step-up-for-standard/td-p/6823182

A path forward for the Make license, a step up for Standard...
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232 Views, 1 Replies
01-22-2017 06:10 PM
Hi All --

We're excited today to announce that the forthcoming release of EAGLE will have an expanded Standard Edition with more capabilities at a lower cost than ever before, and a change to network connectivity requirements for the Freeware version of EAGLE!

Firstly, the all-new Standard Edition will bump up the layer count to 4 signal layers (to enable those of you interested in building wireless, etc.) from the previous 2 layer limitation.  This gives users of the previous Make and Make Professional licenses a path forward, for only $100/year or $15/month!  What's more, this is a commercial license, so unlike previous licenses, this is available for use in anything you might hope to take to market.

How does this compare to the $169 Make and $269 Make Pro licenses from Cadsoft?

Though the $169 Make license from Cadsoft was capable of 6 layers, this was distinctly non-commercial.  Thus this license could only be used for hobby projects and were you interested in commercializing your creation, you would be required to purchase a commercial equivalent. 

The $269 Make Pro license was a 4 layer, annual license and though it was a commercial license; the Make Pro license required it be renewed each year, under a subscription model.  If the product was not renewed, you would roll over to the Freeware license and layer restrictions would apply.

The not-so-Standard, "Standard" Edition

The Standard edition from Autodesk will now provide the equivalent capability of Cadsoft's 'Make Pro' license, for more than 2.5x off the Cadsoft price.  Again, this is a commercial license which means you're safe using this for your next crowdfunding campaign, or even business applications in the workplace. 

When will this be available?

Because we've moved away from big, monolithic releases with the move to subscription, you can buy the standard edition today and expect that within the next several weeks, the new capabilities will show up as an update in the software.  So just to be clear: if you purchase Standard today, you are guaranteed access to the additional layer count with the next release of EAGLE, scheduled just a few short weeks away!

Network Changes to the Freeware Version

As mentioned on the EAGLE user forums, the forthcoming release of EAGLE will include a small but welcome tweak for many of you to the network requirement which affects the Freeware software.  In the forthcoming release, a network connection will be required the first time you launch the freeware software.  Beyond this point, you are not required to maintain a network connection, except when updating the Freeware tools. 

Stated another way, you will only be required to login when you install the Freeware software, and each time you install a subsequent update / upgrade. 

How will paid licenses operate?

As discussed in myriad other threads, a paid license will require you login once every 14 days.  If you extend beyond 14 days, unlicensed, you can still open the software, produce output files, print, etc. however you won't be able to modify the content of a multi-layer file without logging in first to retrieve either your Standard or Premium license entitlement. 

The software will automatically roll over to freeware and you will be able to use the free license however you will not be able to author new content beyond the scope of the freeware license without retrieving your license from the server.

Again, this all goes into effect in the next version which will be released in the next few weeks. 

We're super excited about what these changes mean to the community and you can expect this release tempo to continue as we make the move from slow, monolithic release timelines, toward something of value coming regularly along the subscription path.

Best regards,

Matt Berggren - Autodesk
EAGLE, Tinkercad, Fusion

[madbean]

Going up to 4-layer is a great move. At least they are being a bit responsive to the community. Still, I'm not going to upgrade if it invalidates my 7 license permanently. Just dumb.

[EBRAddict]

Going up to 4-layer is a great move. At least they are being a bit responsive to the community. Still, I'm not going to upgrade if it invalidates my 7 license permanently. Just dumb.

Rather than copy-paste, here's a link from an Autodesk employee saying that it doesn't affect the 7 license.

http://www.eevblog.com/forum/eagle/the-autodesk-eagle-edition/msg1119838/#msg1119838

[wgc]

I use inventor and fusion360 for work. (Btw Probably the most intuitive ui for cad/cam I've seen.)

I would expect that it's going to be mostly unchanged in the short term but over time, it should be much improved, even if only through a larger user base and libraries.  I'm sure they bought eagle to use some of its features in a different product and compete with other layout packages.

All that said, not much wrong with Diptrace for pedals imho.

[gordo]

$100 is far more palatable even at the hobby level. I use AutoCAD on a regular basis and their support is very good and a solid product.

[EBRAddict]

Altium came out with a cross-grade offer for Circuit Studio: $500 for a perpetual license and if you want to stay current, an ongoing annual maintenance fee of $150.

http://www.altium.com/eagle-switch/circuitstudio/#page2

There don't appear to be any size or layer restrictions but I noticed a note in the FAQ:

While there are no 'hard limits' per se, the software has been engineered to make it impractical for use with large designs. To this end, the PCB Editor will start to exibit performance degradation when editing designs containing 5000 pads, becoming virtually unusable with designs containing 50,000 pads. Degradation itself takes the form of progressive slow-down in PCB editing functions (such as routing, placing components, polygon pours, etc).

It looks pretty full featured, but having played around with it some, it is probably overkill for layout out guitar pedals or basic analog electronics. If you're working on projects with microcontrollers and digital or mixed-mode, it looks fantastic. It uses the Altium library vault which is *the* place component manufacturers want to put their libraries for their customers.

[gtr2]

I've done a fair amount of reading on Circuit Studio and it looks great on some angles.  It's Alltium without all the bells and whistles, but the support is non existent for it and they haven't even made strides to fix the bugs from years ago from what I've seen.  Everything is done through 3rd party, Element 14.

[EBRAddict]

There's a couple other red flags about CircuitStudio: I can't find release notes on any of their software releases for one... the support staff were on Element14 bragging how they were going to be at version 2.0 by the end of 2016 but are still at 1.3. It's a bad sign when you can't see a timely progression of bug fixes.

Another is the components in the Altium Vault cannot be copied and modified into custom components. That's a show stopper for me, I think.

[gtr2]

Alltium is 40% off atm

I must say I've been drooling over it as of late.

Sadly it's out of the range of all of us still....

[tatou]

Just now getting up to date with this development.

For now I can stick with EAGLE 7.5, but I've been tempted to try and learn KiCad anyway.

Does anyone know if EAGLE libraries can be imported into KiCad? In particular, I've taken the madbean library circa 2014 and modded it heavily for my own use... is there a way to use these for schems/boards in KiCad?