FreeCAD for Windows

User Reviews

• Not the real FreeCAD

  tomascgSeptember 12, 2011

  Pros

  On CNET. CNET is awesome.

  Cons

  Not the real FreeCAD.

  Summary

  FreeCAD is great, but I'm talking about the one developed by Juergen Riegel, Werner Mayer, and Yorik van Havre. The most recent version is 0.11 (release date 2011/05/03). Don't let the version sway you, it is a powerful CAD program. Look for it. It is way better than this one. Another powerful open source CAD program is BLR-CAD, but it is much harder to use and not compatible with other CAD programs.

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• A very simple and easy to understand program.

  snoopzx1May 3, 2010

  Pros

  Easy to use, did not use alot of disk space.

  Cons

  Not state of the art, engineering design level.

  Summary

  A simple to use program.

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• Does not come up after the "run" pop-up in XP SP 2.

  indrajit_pMay 19, 2009

  Pros

  ould not use it.

  Cons

  could not use it.

  Summary

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• Could not construct cube in seconds as with other CADs

  asawhoMarch 9, 2009

  Pros

  Pros? I uninstalled it, wasn't worth the hassle !

  Cons

  Reminds me of 80s programs!

  Summary

  I have simple test for ease of use,FreeCAD8 failed,I moved on. :)

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• Lame

  TahuyahickAugust 16, 2008

  Pros

  It doesn't crash my computer. It actually runs, and seems to do what it's said to do, which is to run animations of mechanical assemblies.

  Cons

  Odd interface, menu bar seems to be a mix of menus and command shortcuts. Help and tutorials are even weirder, with a minimalist approach in all of the documentation that requires that you already know how to use this particular program to understand it. Non-intuitive drawing interface. I keep getting the feeling that I'm in the presence of a long-winded science teacher who does not care so much about results or getting work done, but would rather spend all day teaching abstract concepts using flow-charts. Non-intuitive. Using this program is like dragging fingernails across a chalk-board. It looks like this is really geared towards importing a 2D *.dxf sketch of each component you need to animate, as the first FreeCAD tutorial emphasized the extrusion of 2D objects to get 3D shapes. I didn't wade through it enough to see if there was a way to import 3D shapes, which if there is should be advertised up front. Basically, you will need to use some other drawing program that can export dxf files. Considering the drawing limitations of FreeCAD, I would recommend drawing your entire model using other software. I'm thinking I should just purchase Autodesk's Inventor and just get everything done right to start with.

  Summary

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• Met my needs.

  OldRedsMay 19, 2008

  Pros

  It is a straight forward program, easy to figure out how to use it. The program was easy to install and did not cause any conflicts or programs to hangup.

  Cons

  This program would be great if some plug-in were offered.<p>It would be nice to have a floor plan plug in and furniture, cabinets etc. that could placed in the rooms and adjusted for size based on dimensions of the room.

  Summary

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• not much of a program

  alburyantsJanuary 23, 2008

  Pros

  Cons

  Summary

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• OK for kinematics(4-bar mechanisms, etc), NG for dynamics

  mikedwySeptember 26, 2007

  Pros

  Basically, the author says do the examples OR forget about it. That's the only way to figure out the weird structure and the "tree view". <p>I like the kinematic aspects, but the dynamics are really weird except for gravity loading. The author uses notation for the dynamic loads that is unreasonably complex, especially for an older engineer. <p>This is NOT a Cad program for modeling or drafting, it is a kinematic and dynamic simulation and analysis program for mechanical engineers. <p>But, if you can't afford Pro-E Mechanica, then spend $35 and buy Cadsm which is the colorized version with dxf import. Works fine on XP.

  Cons

  If you find out how to use his dynamic loading notation, please let me know.

  Summary

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• was hard to use, advertisements in the program were annoying

  jalapanopepperSeptember 22, 2007

  Pros

  Cons

  Summary

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• good

  ambuinOctober 11, 2006

  Pros

  easy

  Cons

  Summary

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