This year attendees that took in Allen's session about AutoCAD 2004 left with a pocket reference guide that cites her Top 10 reasons to upgrade to 2004. And so, we present Lynn Allen's top 10 reasons to upgrade.

1. AutoCAD is filled with time savers - AutoCAD2004 compresses drawing (DWG) files to about 50% of their iriginal size. The software now opens drawing files about 33% faster and saves them about 66% faster. The pan and zoom functionality no longer ends at the edge of your screen. Thumbnail bitmap images can now be displayed for all files contained within a directory.
2. The UI is smarter and more personalized - More toolbars, customizable blocks and patterns, and drag and drop functionality. Get this, pallettes can now be displayed transparent so you can see through them and view your data beneath them. The new communication center (displayed in the lower right corner) offers uptodate tips, tricks, updates, and other product and support information.
3. Text wishes have been addresed - frameless multi-line text editing... OOOHH... AAAHHH. This enables users to accomplish much more using the Mtext command. Setup margins, use tabs, even copy and paste from Word documents without losing your formating... this really works and its slick!
4. Common commands are more efficient - Multiple redo's are now a reality. This was at the top of last year's AUGI wish list. Other additions include closing a drawing file while a command is processing, REVCLOUD for redlining, Properties pallette, more control over blocks.. there's way too many to list here!
5. Express tools to increase productivity - All the best tools are now bundled into the install CD. Look for the express menu item where you can access all these handy tools. A member of the US national guard who recently returned from active duty told the crowd that the thing he missed most while he was away was his Express Tools!
6. Project collaboration is easier - Powerful tracking and notification of external references will prove invaluable to teams that share data. Bool notifications will notify users when an externally referenced drawing file has changed.
7. Impressive presentation graphics can be accomplished within AutoCAD - New gradient fills with support for 16 million true colors, plotting from model and paper space, and even gradient color hatching... another slick feature if you need to create a 3D or shaded effect.
8. Improved maintenance of CAD standards - integrated CAD standards tools where users define layer, linestyle, and text standards and save in a .DWS file.
9. Enhanced security - secure drawings using the Password option in the SAVEAS command or attach a digital signature to your data (third party account may be required.. see verisign for more info)
10. Publishing and sharing of data (with non CAD users) - AutoCAD 2004 users can now publish in DWF format enabling more efficient distribution and sharing of data with non-CAD users. Publish sheet sets using one command and distribute the data with the Free Express Viewer... its very simple.

GISuser Editor, Glenn Letham, was in attendance at AU once again this year. For those of you not familiar with "AU", once a year, typically in December, Autodesk hosts their annual user conference. The event usually runs 4 or 5 days and features keynote sessions, industry presentations, hands-on training, and other networking opportunities. This year some 3,300 attendees took in the event.