This list does not include the new and updated features to AutoCAD Architecture as I will have a separate post for those enhancements. But of course, all of these enhancements will be part of AutoCAD Architecture!
User Interface
Application Window
Quick Access Toolbar
- Located at the top of the AutoCAD Interface, It includes the most commonly used tools, such as New, Open, Save, Plot, Undo, and Redo. The Toolbar can be customized to include what you want to see.
InfoCenter
- Enhanced to provide more flexibility.
Ribbon
- Very similar to the Office 2007 layout, the Ribbon provides easy access to tools through a collection of tabs and panels.
Status Bar
- Re-designed to now utilize Icons or Text. Additional right-click access has been added as well as a new tool…Quick Properties.
Quick Properties
- Quick Properties will show an editable list (customized through CUI) of properties of objects selected.
Quick View Layouts
- New button on the Status Bar that will display a horizontal row of Quick View Layout images along the bottom of your AutoCAD Window. As you pass your cursor over an image, Plot and Publish icons will display.
Quick View Drawings
- Very similar to the Quick View Layout button, Quick View Drawings provides an alternative to the Ctrl+Tab keystroke some folks to switch between open drawings. As you pass your cursor over an image, Save and Close icons will appear.
Tooltips
- Tooltips have been enhanced to not only display the name of the tool but provide additional information, and even graphics, directly from the help system.
Hidden Message Settings
Design and Drafting
Action Recorder
- Allows anyone to record the actions on the screen and make them into a macro to be used at a later time. New Action Recording file locations now exist in the Options dialog under the Files tab, so you can share your recordings with others.
Layer Management
- Layer Manager is now a modeless dialog box. Changes made are now made instantly without the need of an Apply button.
Working with DGN files
- Support for Exporting your DWG’s to Bentley Systems’ MicroStation® V7 DGN format, in addition to the V8 support that already exists. Layer visibility control has also been added along with a new DGN mapping for Layer properties.
DWFx Support
- Support is now included for Microsoft’s XML Paper Specification (XPS) format of easy distribution on the Vista® platform supported by the XPS Viewer.
Xref Clipping
- Grips can now be used to edit the boundary for clipped Xref’s. In addition, a new grip now appears to easily invert the clipping boundary.
Interactive Array Preview
- When previewing an array, you can now pan, zoom, and navigate the drawing space before accepting the newly arrayed objects.
Find and Replace
- Has been updated to include an expandable dialog box and includes more options.
Visualization
ShowMotion
- The new ShowMotion functionality enables you to create and play camera animations for presentation purposes or to navigate through your design.
New View/Shot Properties
- The New View dialog for creating named views, has been updated and renamed to support the new ShowMotion functionality.
Geographic Location
- In-lieu of entering latitude and longitude for location information, you can now import location information from a KML- or KMZ-format file or from the Google Earth™ application.
3D Navigation Tools
- The ViewCube and SteeringWheel are now part of AutoCAD 2009.
