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Is Altium free anywhere?
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Zero999:

--- Quote from: PlainName on May 28, 2023, 08:47:00 pm ---
--- Quote from: Zero999 on May 28, 2023, 08:35:36 pm ---
--- Quote from: PlainName on May 18, 2023, 07:49:49 pm ---Commercial web browsers got dethroned by Microsoft embedding IE in Windows. Nothing to do with open source.

--- End quote ---
In the 90s Microsoft had a grand plan of owning the Internet by pushing IE only standards, but their wicked little plan failed when people noticed how buggy and insecure IE was compared to the alternatives. IE was firstly de-throned by open source browsers, but mobile phones with fully functional browsers were the final nail in the coffin.

--- End quote ---

Uh-huh. But you'll appreciate that came after IE did for the competition. So, again, open source didn't screw commercial browsers (that was IE) but stiffed IE once it was heading for domination.

--- End quote ---
IE was a commercial browser and it was screwed by open source. That was the point.


--- Quote from: nctnico on May 28, 2023, 08:49:15 pm ---
--- Quote from: Zero999 on May 28, 2023, 08:35:36 pm ---
--- Quote from: nctnico on May 20, 2023, 05:17:54 pm ---
--- Quote from: Faringdon on May 20, 2023, 04:43:27 pm ---
--- Quote ---KiCad can't hold a candle to Altium or the other professional programs. Can you make it produce excellent boards? Absolutely. Does it support you in doing so the same way Altium can? Absolutely not.
--- End quote ---
Thanks, this is interesting, by "support", you mean Altium can send out Applications Support Engineers?...and KICAD can't?.....

--- End quote ---
You are reading this wrong. The remark is about the difference in features. You can buy professional support (=help to use the software) for Kicad.

--- End quote ---
Just one question given the price of Altium, I question why it's so popular. I would have thought it would be better to hire another PCB developer, even on a part time basis and get them to use KiCAD.

--- End quote ---
You'll soon find Kicad is not as productive as a commercial package. Logistics is the keyword here. Altium's popularity is largely due to agressive pricing strategy in the early days which made it a kind of standard. But IMHO it is the Windows of PCB CAD programs. Many use it, few actually like it -especially when exposed to alternative commercial packages-. Personally I won't touch Altium; way too cumbersome, slow and frugal to use.

--- End quote ---
I get that Altium is better than KiCad, but is it really worth more than an extra person? I understand that's the case for some tools, but question whether it's the case for Altium?

Forgive me. I've not done PCB design for years.
PlainName:

--- Quote ---IE was a commercial browser
--- End quote ---

Only in so far as it was supplied by Microsoft. You couldn't buy it nor could the not have it. It was not commercial in the sense that the competition was: in that a user could choose to buy it or not buy, like the products it replaced.


--- Quote ---and it was screwed by open source
--- End quote ---

It enabled open source browsers, since that was the only way to have a decent alternative to IE.

Specifically, since y'all seem to have short memories, IE was embedded to kill off Netscape Navigator, at which it was successful. Netscape threw in the towel, understandably, and the source for their browser became Firefox.
Someone:

--- Quote from: Zero999 on May 28, 2023, 08:57:54 pm ---
--- Quote from: nctnico on May 28, 2023, 08:49:15 pm ---
--- Quote from: Zero999 on May 28, 2023, 08:35:36 pm ---
--- Quote from: nctnico on May 20, 2023, 05:17:54 pm ---
--- Quote from: Faringdon on May 20, 2023, 04:43:27 pm ---
--- Quote ---KiCad can't hold a candle to Altium or the other professional programs. Can you make it produce excellent boards? Absolutely. Does it support you in doing so the same way Altium can? Absolutely not.
--- End quote ---
Thanks, this is interesting, by "support", you mean Altium can send out Applications Support Engineers?...and KICAD can't?.....
--- End quote ---
You are reading this wrong. The remark is about the difference in features. You can buy professional support (=help to use the software) for Kicad.
--- End quote ---
Just one question given the price of Altium, I question why it's so popular. I would have thought it would be better to hire another PCB developer, even on a part time basis and get them to use KiCAD.
--- End quote ---
You'll soon find Kicad is not as productive as a commercial package. Logistics is the keyword here. Altium's popularity is largely due to agressive pricing strategy in the early days which made it a kind of standard. But IMHO it is the Windows of PCB CAD programs. Many use it, few actually like it -especially when exposed to alternative commercial packages-. Personally I won't touch Altium; way too cumbersome, slow and frugal to use.
--- End quote ---
I get that Altium is better than KiCad, but is it really worth more than an extra person? I understand that's the case for some tools, but question whether it's the case for Altium?

Forgive me. I've not done PCB design for years.
--- End quote ---
Altium had a very powerful set of tools from early on (say 200x) but haven't really added that much since (hence why many shops are happy using old versions such as '99). KiCad is rapidly catching up and will soon be a very viable alternative, 10 years ago it was still a toy, 5 years ago it was functional but still had many gaps, give it a little more time....
Someone:

--- Quote from: c64 on May 16, 2023, 11:09:49 pm ---
--- Quote from: EEVblog on May 14, 2023, 01:42:16 pm ---Altium spent a long time watching with tears in their eyes as practically the entire Chinese design market uses Altium 99SE for free, it was the industry standard, and they couldn't do anything about it.
--- End quote ---
Why do they use this particular version and not something more recent?
--- End quote ---
Being from the era of offline software it was easy to share licenses without tracking. People got used to the software and it stuck around as there was no need for anything more.
thm_w:

--- Quote from: Zero999 on May 28, 2023, 08:57:54 pm ---I get that Altium is better than KiCad, but is it really worth more than an extra person? I understand that's the case for some tools, but question whether it's the case for Altium?

Forgive me. I've not done PCB design for years.

--- End quote ---

Where are you going to hire someone for $5k per year?
Its not worth an extra person no, maybe 5-20% of your PCB time or something.
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