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Autodesk mentioned that Autodesk Desktop App is a new enhancement for Autodesk 2017 products. Autodesk Desktop App is not a new feature. It replaces Autodesk Application Manager. Similar to Application Manager, Desktop App will notify you when installed products have new updates available. Probably all of you already know this.
So what’s changed?
Learning Contents
Application Manager only shows available updates. The Desktop App also shows learning contents.
Autodesk said in their blog post that if you logged in with subscription account, you would see contents that available only for subscription customers. It means you have to log in with active subscription account. If you don’t log in, you might not see all contents.
It can be helpful if you want to learn something new. But honestly, I don’t think people will check it regularly to find fresh contents. And with so many free tutorials available on the internet, I expect the contents are unique for subscription customers.
But obviously, people won’t like it if they get a pop-up notification if new content is available.
Add-ons and Extensions
Autodesk has been delivering add-ons and extensions for subscription customers only for years. Below is the famous Revit Extensions as an example.
Initially, they are available in Autodesk Subscription page (now Autodesk Account). Then when Autodesk released Autodesk App Store, you need to download them from that store. As you can see here, no new extensions are available. So where we can get them now?
Now you can find the add-ons and extensions in Autodesk Desktop App. This is the main reason why I publish this post. I’ve seen people asking where they can download the extensions. If you have Autodesk Desktop App installed, you can download them from the app.
It could raise the awareness about subscription benefits. Not all customers are aware they can download the extensions as subscription customers.
To sum up
I think Autodesk uses Desktop App to increase awareness about subscription benefits. The notification would be easy to see, saying that the customers can download free extensions.
However, not everyone loves the Desktop App. Many people choose not to install it. I think it would be good to provide an alternative method to download extensions and add-ons.
When a service pack or update available, it would be nice if Autodesk allows us to receive notification via email. So we don’t have to visit this download page regularly.
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