Good free 3D CAD software

[Stu Bloom]

ANYONE CAN DOWNLOAD PRO/DESKTOP EXPRESS FOR FREE !!

Pro/Desktop is a "light" version of the heavy duty Pro/ENGINEER commercial software. And Express is their FREE "trial" version which supposedly has some features disabled (I can't figure out what is disabled). This software is very similar to Inventor, some would say better. I have used most of the major CAD programs over the past 20 years, and I can say that these new desktop packages are capable of doing most of what any design engineer needs - with a very intuitive interface which is easy to master.

The requirements for the free download are simple ... you must first register on the Pro/ENGINEER (Parametric Technologies) website (http://www.ptc.com/appserver/common/account/basic.jsp). Then you go thru the software download/learn/try page (http://www.ptc.com/appserver/it/icm/...e=en& tab=try) - link at lower left - and accept the license agreements. Then you download the software (WOAH ... 32MB!) and install. The first time you run the program it walks you thru the process of getting your "key code" which is good for approximately 6 months, after which time you just get a new code (again for FREE!). I have been doing this at home AND work for the past 1+ years and it works GREAT!