The future of AutoCAD – coming to a web browser near you.
Autodesk are very interested in making their products work on any platform – having a software solution that can work on any device whether it be a PC, a MAC or a tablet and having the same interface and functionality would be a boon.
There are some massive hurdles involved in the process of bringing this about and Autodesk has chosen to use Autocad as it’s torch bearer in this endeavour. A few days ago, Kean Walmsley who is was one of the past developers in the project posted an announcement that could have been easily passed over – it announced the first (early) release to the public of “Fabric” – a truly cross platform version of Autocad. To temper the excitement, the version that has been released is quite limited in its functionality but of course, give it time and things will progress.
The nerdy reason for the excitement is that the new web based version of Autocad is running the same core engine as the PC version of the software. Autodesk have cracked the process of getting a web based platform to access the power of C++ through a technology called Webassembly. If you want to get really nered out read the article here: http://through-the-interface.typepad.com/through_the_interface/2018/03/the-future-of-autocad.html
However, if you want to bit of a hands-on, try the real thing here: https://web.autocad.com/#/ Just login using your Autodesk credentials.
Have fun!