Microsoft showed off Windows 8 and the Surface today. Both look very interesting to me. One question that has been on my mind is if Autodesk will release any of its mobile apps for Windows 8, both Windows 8 RT and Windows Phone 8? Or neither?
I figured the best way to find out is to ask Autodesk. So I did. Here is the response from an Autodesk spokesperson:
“As of today (October 18th, 2012) no Autodesk products are supported on Windows 8, but it is our intention is to support many of our key products on Windows 8 in future versions. Our current offering of mobile apps are limited to iOS and Android but we are actively investigating opportunities to broaden offerings to include Windows 8 mobile versions.”
I felt it was safe to say the entire time that Autodesk will support Windows 8, the desktop version. I don’t see Autodesk putting full versions of their products on Windows RT. I do think it very possible for them to create versions of their apps (AutoCAD WS, Autodesk 360, etc.) for Windows RT and Windows Phone 8. The two platforms are not synonymous but Microsoft has said that porting apps from Windows RT to Windows Phone 8 (or vice versa) is not that difficult to do. That’s kind of the point to RT. Autodesk announced on its Facebook page today that it has reached 10,000,000 downloads of its AutoCAD WS app on iOS and Android (that’s a combined total). It seems that their apps are very popular.
Do they even need to create a Windows RT/Windows Phone 8 version? Windows RT devices, which could possibly be used by enterprise companies, could simply run the AutoCAD WS browser version. The same is also true for the Windows 8 Pro users. The same can also be said for Mac user, but Autodesk has created a standalone version of AutoCAD WS for Mac OS. Where’s the Windows love Autodesk? They would need to create a version for Windows Phone 8. You can’t run the full browser version of AutoCAD WS on a phone. I’m not even sure you would want to do that on a tablet to be honest.
I don’t know. I wish Autodesk would come out and say “YES!! Windows Phone 8, Windows RT and Windows 8 look great! We are going to support them all!” Seeing how Autodesk has plunged head first into cloud based design services I would think that they would also incorporate the cloud based uses that these new Windows platforms will make available to users.
We shall see.
