Here's my two eurocent's worth. I work for a very small company, and I recently used Kicad having previously used Proteus for many years. Proteus used to send me literally screaming mad. It was like trying to drive a car where not only were the brake, accelerator and clutch pedals swapped around, but also the brake pedal operated in the opposite direction from normal, the (triangular) steering wheel worked in reverse, and the gears would randomly shift position. And yes, it crashed a lot. Judging from what I've seen in the past, Proteus is nothing unusual.
Using the modern interface on Kicad to design a two layer board was for the most part a pleasure. It crashed only once, but I was trying to do something that is not really supported (importing the company logo). There are things that irritate me, but nothing that might lead to heart failure. The worst aspect was the library components, which I found self-inconsistent and often totally unsuitable, so I had to spend a lot of time up front working on them. However, the PCB so-created is now a production part, not just an experiment, and I would definitely use Kicad again. That said, maybe importing the company logo is for you a must-have feature. Maybe you're not prepared to invest time in creating your own libraries. Maybe you will find some other show-stopper. Only you know that, which is why you really need to try it yourself. However, so long as Kicad has the capablities you need, I don't think you will find it just plain infuriating to use. Regards, Robert. markjames_ipower wrote: > Hello, > > I'm new to KiCad, I've downloaded the last version and looked at it's > features and functionality. My company is at the point where we need > to decide if we should start using KiCad or buy one of the other > packages. I've used Orcad and Altium (and minor work with PADS and > PCAD) I'm not happy with most and really don't like Altium so I'm very > interested in KiCad. However, I don't have the time to do a project > with KiCad before my company decides; you have experience with this > program and it's evolution to this point. Do you think it is at the > point where we can put our trust in it as a primary design tool? > > I'd appreciate your input. > > Mark James > > > ------------------------------------ > > Please read the Kicad FAQ in the group files section before posting your > question. > Please post your bug reports here. They will be picked up by the creator of > Kicad. > Please visit http://www.kicadlib.org for details of how to contribute your > symbols/modules to the kicad library. > For building Kicad from source and other development questions visit the > kicad-devel group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kicad-develYahoo! Groups > Links > > > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com > Version: 8.0.135 / Virus Database: 270.4.5/1533 - Release Date: 03/07/2008 > 19:19 > > > No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.135 / Virus Database: 270.4.5/1533 - Release Date: 03/07/2008 19:19 No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.135 / Virus Database: 270.4.5/1533 - Release Date: 03/07/2008 19:19
