Training before upgrading to 2009 and beyond

Our office is currently using Autocad Mechanical 2008. Our next upgrade will probably be later this year upgrading to 2010. I've had limited looks at 2009 LT, and I know this will be a dramatic change for us (all of us are over 40 and don't respond well to new things!).

My question is this...do you recommend a professional training class or do you think us old men can catch on through trial and error?

First thing to do is get rid of the ribbon.

After that, things are not that much different between 2008 and 2009. I've not had chance to get my hands as dirty as I would like with 2010 as yet, however.

A half-day or one full day of covering the differences and any new features would not hurt. At least everyone would get the same information at the same time. And it is a day away from the grind. Hey, throw in an extended lunch and it might even seem like a holiday.

The Ribbon does take a little getting used to.

Yeah I have had a go with 2009 it is not that hard to get used to it. As said you can get it to switch back with no ribbon. And it looks much like it used to. I am nagging my work to get 2010 as it looks awsome.

I second ReMarks comment (especially the lunch) - that would be best way to get to know the new featuers and use the program to if not the fullest potential (who can do that...) then at least to some potential. Every new release has new tricks that might come in handy.

I am sitting right now with a colleuge that I have realise still draws like the first version he learnt - the first version being the board. It's beautiful drawings, but it's all Lines. Terrible to revise.

First thing to do is get rid of the ribbon.

After that, things are not that much different between 2008 and 2009. I've not had chance to get my hands as dirty as I would like with 2010 as yet, however.

This is a little funny, I joined a webinar from a Swedish dealer today. First he told us that the Ribbon is good for productivity, then he started showing us new stuff in plain AutoCAD, and guess what, he typed all his commands

Thanks for the input guys. I do think we will set up some training (maybe even including lunch!). Funding for training is tight right now, but I think that the increased productivity with some basic "what's new" type training will pay off pretty quickly. We definitely need some insight into the new, mysterious ribbon that we've all heard about! Thanks again.

If lunch is out of the question then ask if you can take the first hour or two of the day for training and provide coffee, juice, donuts and bagels.

Ill tell you once you get used to the ribbon its kinda cool. I get used to how autocad changes things, i figure its never going to go back to the way it was... so might as well use it the way they are making it... ex. dynamic input, no command line.. ribbon.... that way when you install a new version you can almost use it right away with little set up time. And everyone knows thats like every year.