I use an ancient edition of AutoCAD 2000 for my 2D drafting needs (such as all the illustrations for “Nuclear Pulse Propulsion”). But I’m running up against the clock… ACAD2K won’t even *try* to load on Windows 7. And apart from one elderly laptop, everything I have now is Windows 7. So, when that one laptop finally goes *sput,* I’ll be SOL.
Sadly, more recent versions of AutoCAD cost four grand or more, more than an order of magnitude more than I can even dream about spending. I procured a copy of “TurboCAD Designer 2D,” only to find out after I got it that it does *not* support importing raster images (BMPs, GIFs, etc), a function I *need* to have in order to trace diagrams and the like. So it’s useless to me (plus it’s enough unlike ACAD that it’s a pain to use… no text inputting of commands! bah!). Rhino is so-so for 2D drafting, but it only supports importing very small raster images… too small to maintain detail.
So… does anyone have a copy of some version of AutoCAD that will work on Windows 7 you’d be willing to sell me at a reasonable price? And is that even possible, now that, I think, AutoCAD is one of those “licensed” programs that will only work on certain authorized computers?