February 21 - 11:45am EST   Ilexsoft today unveiled HighDesign 1.8, a major update to its professional CAD application, featuring over 50 new features and improvements. HighDesign Professional supports the AutoCAD DWG and DXB file formats, from v9.x to 2008, while both Standard and Professional versions support DXF from v12.x to 2006. The Professional version can export projects as high-quality TIFF images. HighDesign 1.8 Standard sells for $150, while the Professional version is available for $350. [full story]

November 30 - 1:55pm EST   Microspot has announced the release of Microspot DWG Viewer 1.6.6, a new Universal version of its popular 2D AutoCAD file viewer. The application allows users to view, annotate and print AutoCAD DWG Files on a Mac. In addition to the "Universal" application, the company said the update brings better support for the AutoCAD 2007 file format. DWG Viewer is an application based on Microspot MacDraft Professional that opens AutoCAD DWG files created on Windows PCs. Users can open the Layouts as well as the Model; it enables them to show, hide or grey the individual layers and zoom in and pan around the document. [full story]