Autodesk: Difference between revisions

Autodesk primarily develops and maintains computer-aided design (CAD) software used globally across many engineering and design industries. Autodesk's vast array of proprietary software allows their programs to interoperate, allowing for cloud-based building information management (BIM) collaboration between owners, architects, engineers, and contractors.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Autodesk BIM Collaborate Pro: Create, collaborate, and stay up to date |url=https://www.autodesk.com/products/bim-collaborate/overview?plc=COLLRP&term=1-YEAR&tab=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250130014051/https://www.autodesk.com/products/bim-collaborate/overview?plc=COLLRP&term=1-YEAR&tab=subscription |archive-date=30 Jan 2025 |access-date=2 Aug 2025 |website=[[Autodesk]]}}</ref>

Modern versions of Autodesk Products, such as Inventor or AutoCAD, have been known to operate via [[Digital rights management#Always-online DRM|always-online DRM]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Install network licensing software |url=https://www.autodesk.com/support/download-install/admins/network-deploy/install-licensing-software |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250130014417/https://www.autodesk.com/support/download-install/admins/network-deploy/install-licensing-software |archive-date=30 Jan 2025 |access-date=2 Aug 2025 |website=[[Autodesk]]}}</ref> and have served to provide significant inconvenience for consumers if their internet goes out or their license verification servers are offline for maintenance   

Future Fusion versions will lack support for Windows 10, with unclear consequences for existing installations{{Citation needed}}.

In the End User License Agreement (EULA) for Autodesk products, section 9.7 allows Autodesk to audit a users premises to verify compliance{{Citation needed}}. If the user or company is found to have over-extended licenses, Autodesk requires the user to purchase licenses to cover the over-extended licenses in question. However, the software does not restrict how many machines can sign in and activate the software at one time. Autodesk compliance agents threatened to increase fines if a legal council is hired against Autodesk. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Vondran |first=Steve |date=2023-04-12 |title=Autodesk Internal Getting Very Aggressive in 2023 Beware of Over-Assigning Licenses |url=https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/autodesk-internal-getting-very-7707218/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250730215441/https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/autodesk-internal-getting-very-7707218/ |archive-date=2025-07-30 |access-date=2025-10-23}}</ref>

Autodesk holds a majority of the market share on CAD software, especially in the BIM catagory{{Citation needed}}. This allows Autodesk to significantly raise their prices each year.

|In 2012, Autodesk acquired HSMWorks, a computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) product for programming Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines, with the intention of integrating the technology into their own software and cloud services.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 Oct 2012 |title=Autodesk Acquires HSMWorks Technology |url=https://investors.autodesk.com/news-releases/news-release-details/autodesk-acquires-hsmworks-technology |access-date=2 Aug 2025 |website=[[Autodesk]]}}</ref> HSMWorks could continue to be purchased with a perpetual license until 2016, when Autodesk announced that all Autodesk products, including HSMWorks, would transition to a subscription model, ending support and maintenance plans for perpertual licenses.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Johnson Swan |first=Keli |date=14 Jun 2021 |title=Recent Developments in Autodesk Licensing and Audits, Part I |url=https://scottandscottllp.com/recent-developments-in-autodesk-licensing-and-audits-part-i/#:~:text=Autodesk%20introduced%20subscription%20plans%20in,previous%20versions%20of%20perpetual%20software. |access-date=2 Aug 2025 |website=scottandscottllp.com}}</ref> In 2019, Autodesk transitioned HSMWorks subscribers to Fusion 360 subscribers with entitlement to download and use HSMWorks.<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 Apr 2019 |title=HSMWorks 2020 now included with Fusion 360 subscriptions |url=https://www.autodesk.com/support/technical/article/caas/tsarticles/ts/4ZktnaH9yvV8DxOnwA0LCv.html |access-date=2 Aug 2025 |website=[[Autodesk]]}}</ref> In February 2025, Autodesk sent an email to Fusion 360 subscribers that HSMWorks entitlement would no longer be included on new subscriptions after March 25, 2025. and entitlement would end March 25, 2028 for all subscribers. "''At that point you will no longer be able to download, access '''or use''' HSMWorks.''"<ref>{{Cite web |last=@lenny_1962 |date=3 Feb 2025 |title=HSMWorks End Of Life March 25th, 2028 |url=https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/hsm-support-forum/hsmworks-end-of-life-march-25th-2028/td-p/13297431 |access-date=2 Aug 2025 |website=[[Autodesk]]}}</ref>

Because HSMWorks was subscription only, or entitlement through Fusion 360 subscription only, from 2016 onward, any person or organization who used up-to-date versions of HSMWorks since then will cease to have access to all data associated with HSMWorks, despite the data being locally stored and HSMWorks being installed (albiet unusable). HSMWorks data is not compatible with Fusion 360 nor Inventor CAM (products that share some technology with HSMWorks), thus no solution exists to bridge user's data to actively supported software.

|In 2024, Autodesk announced that Autodesk Fusion would no-longer be supported for Windows 10 users after the start of January 2026. Stated in their support article, "Autodesk will no longer consider Windows 10 for Validation, bug fixing, and product support of future releases." The phrasing has rightfully baffled consumers and with a lack of elaboration from support teams, it is unknown whether or not existing installs will no-longer function, especially the line "existing installations cannot be repaired or reinstalled." is confusing and leaves questions open.<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 Dec 2024 |title=Fusion Announcing End of Support for Windows 10 |url=https://www.autodesk.com/support/technical/article/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Fusion-Announcing-End-of-Support-for-Windows-10.html?_ga=2.208606034.1190329573.1738186074-1680147263.1738186073 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250130015007/https://www.autodesk.com/support/technical/article/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Fusion-Announcing-End-of-Support-for-Windows-10.html?_ga=2.208606034.1190329573.1738186074-1680147263.1738186073 |archive-date=30 Jan 2025 |access-date=2 Aug 2025 |website=[[Autodesk]]}}</ref>

|Youtuber Ian Davis owned a permanent standalone license for Autodesk Product Design Suite Ultimate 2013 which failed to renew itself. Autodesk refused to issue a new license without an additional subscription purchase.<ref>{{Cite web |last=@amymuckin |date=21 May 2023 |title=Need Activation Code for AutoCAD 2013 (full version) |url=https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/previous-version-support/need-activation-code-for-autocad-2013-full-version/td-p/11978768 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250130014846/https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/previous-version-support/need-activation-code-for-autocad-2013-full-version/td-p/11978768 |archive-date=30 Jan 2025 |access-date=2 Aug 2025 |website=[[Autodesk]]}}</ref>

|Consumers reported Autodesk's telemetry<ref>{{Cite web |title=AUTODESK ANALYTICS PROGRAMS |url=https://www.autodesk.com/company/autodesk-analytics |access-date=2 Aug 2025 |website=[[Autodesk]]}}</ref> on paid versions of software detecting pirated versions of their software on PCs, and they explicitly send large fines as a punishment.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Autodesk detected pirated programs after purchasing licenses |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/Architects/comments/1ct8nqd/autodesk_detected_pirated_programs_after/ |access-date=2 Aug 2025 |website=[[Reddit]]}}</ref> This software has also been caught malfunctioning and Autodesk scaring consumers into purchasing expensive versions of their licenses.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Autodesk detected pirated programs after purchasing licenses (Reply) |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/Architects/comments/1ct8nqd/comment/lod8lo2/ |access-date=2 Aug 2025 |website=[[Reddit]]}}</ref><!-- Useful info, not so valuable for this specifically though.