Introducing AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT

Maybe you’re one of the few remaining holdouts who continue to practice
the ancient art of manual drafting with pencil and vellum. If so,
I must tell you, you’re a dwindling breed. Or maybe you’re completely new
to drafting and yearn for the wealth and fame (would I lead you on?) of the
drafter’s life. Maybe you’re an engineer or architect who needs to catch up
with the young CAD hotshots in your office. Maybe you tried to use AutoCAD
a long time ago, but gave up in frustration or just got rusty. Or maybe you
currently use an older release, such as AutoCAD 2006 or even (if you’re into
antiques) AutoCAD 2000.
Whatever your current situation or motivation, I hope that you enjoy the
process of becoming proficient with AutoCAD. Drawing with AutoCAD is challenging
at first, but it’s a challenge worth meeting. AutoCAD rewards those
who think creatively about their work and look for ways to do it better. You
can always find out more, discover a new trick, or improve the efficiency and
quality of your drawing production.
AutoCAD first hit the bricks in the early 1980s, around the same time as the
first IBM PCs. It was offered for a bewildering variety of operating systems,
including CP/M (ask your granddad about that one!), various flavors of UNIX,
and even Apple’s Macintosh. By far the most popular of those early versions
was for MS-DOS (your dad can tell you about that one). Eventually, Autodesk
settled on Microsoft Windows as the sole operating system for AutoCAD.

AutoCAD 2011 and AutoCAD LT 2011 are supported in the following Windows
flavors, including both 32- and 64-bit versions:
✓ Windows 7 and Windows Vista Home Premium
✓ Windows 7 Professional
✓ Windows 7 and Windows Vista Enterprise
✓ Windows 7 and Windows Vista Ultimate
✓ Windows Vista Business
✓ Windows XP Professional
✓ Windows XP Home (32-bit only)
Although it’s not officially supported, it can also run in Windows XP Tablet
2005 Edition and make use of the tablet functionality included in Windows
Vista and Windows 7. Trying to do production drafting on a tablet isn’t a
great idea due to limitations in the graphics system, but I know it works,
because I’m running it that way myself!
Because of AutoCAD’s MS-DOS heritage and its emphasis on efficiency for
production drafters, it’s not the easiest program to master, but it has gotten
easier and more consistent over the past decade or so. AutoCAD is pretty
well integrated into the Windows environment now, but you still bump into
some vestiges of its MS-DOS legacy — especially the command line (that
text area lurking at the bottom of the AutoCAD screen. But even the command line — oops! command window — is kinder
and gentler in AutoCAD 2011.