AutoCAD® 2012 FOR DUMMIES®

Checking System Requirements

If you're upgrading from AutoCAD 2011 or another recent release, and you work mostly or entirely in 2D, you're probably already current with system requirements. In fact, if your work is mostly or entirely 2D — and therefore, this applies especially for LT users — AutoCAD 2012 will run fine on pretty well any computer that will run Windows 7, Vista, or XP.

AutoCAD's requirements for running in Windows 7 or Vista are substantially higher than for running in XP. This section covers the details.

You should know the following before you upgrade from any older AutoCAD release:

• Wash those old Windows: AutoCAD 2012 does not support older versions of Windows, such as Windows 2000, NT, 98, or Me. For AutoCAD 2012, you have three choices of operating system:
  • Windows XP (Home or Professional, SP3 or later)
  • Windows Vista (Enterprise, Business, Ultimate, or Home Premium, SP2 or later)
  • Windows 7 (Enterprise, Ultimate, Professional, or Home Premium)

  If you like to be cutting edge, there are 64-bit versions of AutoCAD 2012 and AutoCAD LT 2012 that run in the 64-bit versions of XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

• DWG file compatibility: The AutoCAD DWG file format changed with AutoCAD 2010. Users of that version can open drawings created in AutoCAD 2012, but you have to use the Save As option on the Application Menu, or the SAVEAS command, to create DWG files for users of ...