Customers Purchase More Than 258,000 Copies of Autodesk Inventor and Autodesk

                 Inventor Series Software in Just Four Years

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Nov. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK), the world's leading design software and digital content company, today announced a milestone in the success of its Autodesk Inventor(R) and Autodesk Inventor(R) Series software, as the company reached a total installed base of 258,463 licenses sold -- 102,371 commercial and 156,092 educational licenses -- since the software was introduced less than four years ago. Autodesk was able to achieve this success in approximately half the time of its nearest competitor, SolidWorks, which claimed a combined installed base of 250,000 over a seven-year period. In addition, Autodesk already outsells SolidWorks in the education market.

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"The accelerated adoption rate of our software proves undeniably that manufacturing companies and educational institutions are choosing Autodesk Inventor Series over competitive products which simply do not compare to the comprehensive set of solutions delivered with Autodesk Inventor Series," said Robert Kross, vice president of the Manufacturing Solutions Division at Autodesk.

Autodesk Inventor Series is the world's best selling 3D mechanical design software according to 2002 publicly announced commercial unit sales from PTC, SolidWorks, and Dassault Systems. With more than 156,092 education copies of Autodesk Inventor and Autodesk Inventor Series in high schools, universities, and other educational institutions, Autodesk Inventor Series software is the leading 3D mechanical design solution for educational institutions. More than 4,000 educational institutions have access to Autodesk Inventor Series software through the Autodesk Comprehensive Education Solution and the Autodesk Design Academy licensing programs. Many educational institutions around the world have implemented Autodesk Inventor Series software as their primary 3D tool for their engineering programs.

"I am a long-term Autodesk Inventor user and am familiar with several competitive products currently on the market. I am convinced that no other product offers the same combination of functionality and ease-of-use," said Richard Chilton, engineering manager, Chilton Engineering. "Using Autodesk Inventor, I've been able to take on more projects by increasing my productivity while maintaining product quality, allowing my customers to achieve earlier and more cost-effective product completion."

Autodesk Manufacturing's Design and Data Management Solutions

As part of its strategy to help customers create, manage, and share their digital design data and solve critical business challenges, Autodesk Manufacturing Solutions Division offers companies the most comprehensive selection of 2D and 3D design and data management solutions -- critical tools that help customers innovate, increase productivity, simplify processes, improve product quality, and accelerate time to market for less cost. Unlike other offerings on the market today, Autodesk's design and data management solutions are easy to install and use, providing rapid results without the complex, costly installations of large-scale product lifecycle management systems. Autodesk's manufacturing solutions include AutoCAD(R), AutoCAD(R) Mechanical and AutoCAD(R) Electrical software, the Autodesk Inventor(R) Professional and Autodesk Inventor Series 3D mechanical design packages that are integrated with the new Autodesk(R) Vault functionality, and the Autodesk Streamline(R) collaboration service. In addition, customers can take advantage of widely available third-party applications purpose-built for Autodesk software and they can utilize Autodesk Professional Services to garner greater value from their software.

For an annual fee, Autodesk(R) Subscription customers benefit from a complete technology, training, and support program that protects their software investments by providing them with the most current design technology, web support direct from Autodesk, flexible self-paced training options, and a broad range of other technology and business benefits. For products like Autodesk Inventor Series, the program provides a timely cycle of new releases with rich new content as soon as it becomes available. For more information about Autodesk Subscription, visit www.autodesk.com/subscription. For more information on Autodesk Inventor Series, visit www.autodesk.com/inventor.

About Autodesk

Autodesk is the world's leading design software and digital content company, offering customers progressive business solutions through powerful technology products and services. Autodesk helps customers in the building, manufacturing, infrastructure, digital media, and wireless data services fields increase the value of their digital design data and improve efficiencies across their entire project lifecycle management processes. For more information about the company, see www.autodesk.com.

NOTE: Autodesk, AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, and Autodesk Streamline are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

Contact: Cindi Goodsell, 415-507-8452

EMAIL: cindi.goodsell@autodesk.com

SOURCE  Autodesk, Inc.
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    /CONTACT:  Cindi Goodsell of Autodesk, Inc., +1-415-507-8452, or
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CO:  Autodesk, Inc.
ST:  California
IN:  CPR STW
SU:






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