My drafting skills are nil. What kinds of software are available to the amatuer designer and builder?

Any good books for small catamaran design?

Click Start->Run enter "pbrush.exe" click OK and there you go

oh - that's cold.
There are a bunch out there but you're going to get what you pay for.

Rhino Cad is pretty well respected as a low cost powerful platform
Turbo CAD is decent.

Top players are solidworks and AutoCAD but mucho $$$.

You looking for 2D or 3D modeling?

There's a difference! 2D would probably get me off to a decent start.

Hey, while we're talking computer geek stuff, what is the "best" meaning; easiest to use, cheapest, or a free download, etc. US based (does that matter?) Anti-virus software?

My Dell (crap) computers came with McAffee installed, and I HATE it! Well, it's about time to -renew- and people are telling me NO, NOT McAffee!

Well, OK, What then?

The only other one I'm aware of is Norton. Are they so much better?

What's the Buzz? Thanks in Advance. Tim.

My Boys at work say, DELL? You IDIOT, Should have got an APPLE! Well, I looked at them, they cost Twice as much and to do some of the things I need to do online for my work (like bidding my schedules, swapping trips, etc.) I would need to load an app. that would, get this, make the Apple run like Windows!

That's what they told me anyway.

I have an HP, running Windows Vista and use the MS anti-virus.

McAfee is insufferable! Norton isn't much better. No problems with the microsoft product.

I like the Mac Mini, it is very affordable and you can keep using your existing monitor etc.
Although at home I have a cheap clone PC that does its job ( I work in IT and take the parts of the shelf at work).
The problem with all consumer AV products is that they try to get too much features in which you dont need which in turn slows down your new PC.

If it is just AV you want there are plenty of free and good alternatives, I kinda like this one:
AVM.com

You should probably wait till Windows 7 gets released in Q4 though, it really is a lot better then Vista (been using it for nearly a year now).

About McAfee: The consumer version sucks, the Enterprise one is really good though.

If you think McAffee is bad now, wait until you try to uninstall it.

It's almost as though they (McAfee) are running some sort of scam. None of my searches ever came out right. It was as though they were sending me to sites they wanted. It was a very weird experience, I don't trust them at all!!

I have had pretty good luck with Avira. It's a free download that updates regularly. Knock on David Strickland's head, I've not had any virus trouble so far.

Searches? Heh? All they do is put a rating next to the website in the search engine...I'm quite sure they don't (can't) change any of the results. Google would kill them over that.

Only had the problem with McAfee, not before, not since.

Timbo,

If you're using Brighthouse (RoadRunner of Central Florida), they have a co-op agreement with CA to use their suite of tools--FREE.

I've used this for the past 2 years with reasonable success.

CA Internet Security Suite Software Description

You get what you pay for.

Macs will run Windows. All that's required is partitioning the disk, install Windows and add drivers specific to the platform. You can add virtual machine software (VMWare) that will let you run Mac and Windows O/S at concurrently.

Ok, with over 12 years in desktop and server support, I can say that McAfee has been a fine product. Norton was a very good second choice until recently. Norton seems to have dropped the ball several times. McAfee has never given me any problems.

More recently, I have moved to Kaspersky for my clients. I have not bee using it very long but it seems to do a great job. I will be installing the home user version on my system today or tomorrow.

Just my .02

Sam

Free antivirus.. I use one called "common sense", and rely on AVG (Tony posted a link) to catch what "common sense" fails to detect. Then I have "Superantispyware" as third line of defense. Keeping your system updated and configured while relying on "Common sense" is the best way to keep it healthy.


There is a load of free hull design software out there, but you still need to know what you want from the hulls. I dont know of any packages that let you design the whole boat with rig, sails and everything. Freeship is a free package that can do a lot for you if you feel like learning it. http://sourceforge.net/projects/freeship/


My next computer will probably be a Mac.

Blender is a good open source (free) 3D modelling package. There is a bit of a learning curve to get up and running - it is not like switching from Internet Explorer to Firefox. Google sketchup is another free 3D package - I've used it for modelling buildings and other simple shapes - I've not tried anything as curvy as a cat hull but you could explore it as the price is right and there is an active on-line community of users.

Can't help with the boat design books. What are you considering building?

Chris.

Free AVG anti virus is the shiznit.

McAfee Enterprise owns all!

Like Flumpmaster I thought you were asking about CAD software. I like TurboCAD. I am using version 8 and like it just fine. They are up to version 16 now. You can get versions 10 - 14s on ebay for less than $20. Version 16 retails for $129. I can do 3D modeling and rendering on mine though. What do you need?

Later,
Dan

Chris, Dan: I'm looking for a CAD type program; Timbo is looking for anti-virus. Just the normal hijacking.

I'm not really considering anything, just day dreaming. I'd like to combine the best qualities of my Tiki 21 with my Blade, F16. I know, it's a tall order.