I rarely use TurboCAD now – I have more or less completely gone over to Alibre Atom, but the TC 19 and 24, both “Deluxe” (i.e. their most “basic”) editions I have, on separate confusers, are still occasionally useful for certain 2D-only applications.

I forget when I purchased TC2024, three or four years ago now, I think. The number that looks like a publication year isn’t really.

Anyway, yesterday I received an e-post ad for “TurboCAD 2026 up-grades”. This did surprise me. Evidently I am still on their licence register.

Purchasing TurboCAD and its up-grades is by single, up-front transactions. I don’t know the cost of the Deluxe editions, this was for “up-grades” only. I won’t be buying as although still a fairly reasonable cost I don’t use TurboCAD enough to justify it, and I suppose most of the changes will be in the “Professional” and “Platinum” editions for professional engineers and architects.

Some people might be miffed at the unsolicited advertising, but I don’t object to IMSI sending me this. It’s hardly every other day they publish significant changes, more like every other year or so. I looked back over some fifteen years or so….

TurboCAD was the first proper engineering CAD system at sensible prices to amateurs. It used to be advertised in our magazines, and sold by agent Paul Tracy at the exhibitions.

There were a few “free” CAD packages on-line but many were useless for mechanical-engineering drawing, and the best were only trial versions to persuade you to buy their real things.

Subsequently TurboCAD started to be rivalled by Fusion 360, as other CAD makers started to realise the possible market for software that can be used seriously, but can be made by stripping various features from the full commercial programme.

Next, came Siemens’ “Community” version of its professionally well-established Solid-xxx software, but with very poor training material. (I don’t think Fusion offered much, and TurboCAD even less.)

I tried those two, without success, as potential replacements for TurboCAD, whose 3D mode I found so fiendishly difficult. TC is 2D mode though, is relatively simple and I still find it useful for areas like geometrical constructions

Then Alibre Atom popped up via a trial licence and tutorial series in MEW.

So eventually, after reading others’ conversations on here about it, I tried it.

Although never able to learn anything to any decent level, I find Alibre the least difficult of all those four CAD packages. So I do use it but not very often, nor to a high level, and tend to design things so I can draw as well as make them.

Alibre Atom has some very significant advantages I like, over its otherwise much more powerful rival. TurboCAD ‘Deluxe’ lacks anything like Alibre’s Parts files and multi-part Assembly system.  Nor does it have an equivalent of Alibre’s system that copies a Part alteration to the assembly and drawing, and Alibre’s drawing routine is less difficult than TurboCAD’s arcane ‘Viewport’.

Otherwise of course, there are many overlaps: extrusions, revolves, view orientations, line characteristics, etc. I suppose the hidden “works” is much the same. I was often warned of the trap of thinking in manual mode when using CAD, or in TurboCAD mode when using Alibre; but I never thought like that. I knew every system goes its own sweet way.

Although it seemed a wrench bordering on disloyalty to almost abandon poor TurboCAD after all those years, all that effort, trying to learn it enough for it to aid my model-engineering!

So sorry IMSI, I won’t be up-grading my edition of TurboCAD, but I appreciate you remembering me!

[Ah – just realised. That offer is for up-grading TC2026. Mine is TC2024. Ah well. IMSI’s sales chaps have not spotted I have not bought TC2026.  Still, even TC2019 still does everything I want, and more.]