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[DesignSmith]

If you are the least bit curious about the MCAD industy and related product trends, Ralph Grabowski, puts out one of the best free e-newsletters and blogs out there.

http://www.upfrontezine.com/welcome.htm
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From the Editor
. . . . .
If you find upFront.eZine useful, you could help out by encouraging co-workers and
friends to subscribe. I'd like to double the readership this year.

Have them send the message "subscribe upfront" to editor@upfrontezine.com .
Thank you!
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Paypal donations are accepted.
Ralph also blogs about the latest tech gadgets here:
http://worldcadaccess.typepad.com/gizmos/

[DesignSmith]

It what may be a bold marketing move in a down economy or folly, Alibre Design cuts purchase cost to just $99 for a limited time.

http://worldcadaccess.typepad.com/blog/2009/08/alibre-drives-down-the-cost-of-mcad-temporarily.html

I can verify that this in fact a real offer and that I did purchase it and install it.  Fortunate timing for me as my previous free copy of Design Xpress recently went away when I had a laptop hard drive failure.
Maintenance and training materials are extra if you want them, and for $99 you a downloadable copy of the software, a physical CD can be had by express mail for a nominal S&H fee.

Even given the press both good and bad, Alibre may eventually make out on this. In a down economy more folks are dusting off their sideline or moonlighting business to pick up some extra work on the side.

In my opinion, Alibre is providing 85% of SolidWorks 2007 capability with a SolidEdge 18 style UI, which was a reasonable buy at $999. For $99, it is more than suitable for my moonlighting work, and removes any legal concerns of using company tools for non-company work.

I actually hope that this gets a good number of other moonlighters off the fence and into a purchase. If for no other reason than to help insure continued competition in the MCAD market.