Autodesk Ships Mechanical Desktop Release 1.2; Third Release in 11 Months Reveals Velocity Behind the Industry's Volume Leader in NT/Win 95 based 3D modeling

Business Wire, March 11, 1997

SAN RAFAEL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 11, 1997--Autodesk today previewed the latest release of its industry-leading parametric feature-based solid and surface modeling solution for mechanical design on the PC, Mechanical Desktop Release 1.2. Mechanical Desktop Release 1.2 delivers powerful 2D and 3D functionality with an easy-to-use Express User Interface and Edit-in-Place assembly capability.

"The Autodesk Mechanical team is channeling its efforts to create the most powerful and easy-to-use 3D modeling solution on the market," said Dominic Gallello, vice president of the Autodesk Mechanical Market Group. "As our third release in less than a year, Release 1.2 reveals the incredible velocity and customer focus that is making Mechanical Desktop the leading parametric feature-based solid and surface modeling solution for mechanical design on the PC."

Mechanical Desktop Release 1.2 includes an Express User Interface, featuring a context-sensitive menu structure. By presenting only the relevant functionality for each phase of the design process, the interface cuts screen clutter by up to 75%, reduces learning times, and improves productivity.

"I am extremely impressed with the Mechanical Desktop Release 1.2 user interface," said Mechanical Desktop user and beta tester Mike Klein of Wisne. "Having all of the draw commands on a standardized tool row makes solid modeling easier and more intuitive than ever."

Mechanical Desktop Release 1.2 also features Edit-in-Place assembly functionality. Individual components can be edited -- or created -- directly in the context of their target assemblies. By allowing designers to work in a top-down design mode and easily switch between component and assembly views, Edit-in-Place simplifies the parametric design process.

Mechanical Desktop Release 1.2 also has tight integration with Autodesk's WorkCenter, 3D Studio, Autodesk View, and AutoCAD. Advanced ordinate dimensioning, editing and display of crosshatch patterns, surface scaling, section views, and BOM generation round out a long list of powerful functionality included in Mechanical Desktop Release 1.2.

Autodesk Mechanical Desktop Release 1.2 is available as a multi-platform license which includes Windows 95, Windows NT, Windows 3.1 and MS-DOS. The U.S. suggested retail price for the English language version is $6250 for new seats and $2750 for upgrades from AutoCAD Release 13. Autodesk Mechanical Desktop Release 1.2 is available as a free upgrade for existing Mechanical Desktop customers. German, French, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese versions of Mechanical Desktop Release 1.2 are expected to ship in the near future.

Autodesk's Mechanical Desktop software has quickly established itself as the best selling parametric feature-based solid and surface modeling solution for mechanical design on the PC. Manufacturing engineering and product design companies worldwide purchased more than 25,000 units of the software in the first 11 months.

Available since March of 1996, Autodesk's Mechanical Desktop software integrates today's latest 2D and 3D mechanical design tools, including: feature-based parametric solid modeling, parametric assembly modeling, NURBS surface modeling, 2D design, and associative drafting. The Mechanical Desktop, in combination with seamlessly integrated applications developed by fourteen industry-leading Mechanical Application Initiative (MAI) partners in mechanical market niches -- such as design optimization, finite element analysis, plastic flow analysis, NC and manufacturing, sheet-metal design, and tolerance analysis -- provides complete design-through-manufacturing solutions for the mechanical CAD market. The Autodesk Mechanical Library, a CD-ROM library of over 500,000 vector graphic drawings of mechanical parts from over 80 manufacturers, ships with every Mechanical Desktop.

The matters discussed in this news release contain forward looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These include the timely development and acceptance of the new products discussed, the impact of competitive products and pricing, and the other risks detailed from time to time in Autodesk's SEC reports, including the report on Form 10-Q filed in December 1996.

Autodesk is the world's leading supplier of PC design software and PC multimedia tools. The company's 2D and 3D products, geographic information systems, and data management tools are used in many industries for mapping, architectural design, mechanical design, film and video production, video/game development and Web content development. Its Kinetix division is the leader in PC-based 3D modeling and animation software, providing a full range of products for digital media and design professionals.

The fourth largest PC software company in the world, Autodesk has three million customers in more than 140 countries. Autodesk products are sold through Autodesk Systems Centers, Dealers and Distributors worldwide. For more information, please call 415-507-5000, type GO ADESK on CompuServe, or visit its World Wide Web site at http://www.autodesk.com. Kinetix can be reached by calling 800-879-4233 or through its World Wide Web site at http://www.ktx.com . Autodesk shares are traded on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol ADSK. -0-