Named Project Leopard, the browser version of Fusion 360 is different from its client-based cousin that all Fusion 360 users have come to know. To what extent the versions differ is a bit of a mystery for now since Autodesk has made its first offering of Leopard an invite-only beta. Still, even in beta a number of things can be divined about Autodesk’s vision for a browser CAD platform.
First, Leopard isn’t going to look the same as its client cousin. The ribbon that sits atop Fusion 360’s modeling space has been truncated. Whether that means that the tools that lay underneath each icon have been slashed is still unknown, but one has to imagine that in an initial release not every feature will have been incorporated.
The second thing we can tell from Leopard’s release is that it looks like Autodesk’s first shot across the bow at Onshape, and it makes sense. All CAD users should be excited about browser-based CAD. Not only does it free CAD from the office bound workstation, it makes CAD systems agnostic. Essentially, browser-based CAD gives users more choice and greater freedom, and when you couple that with flexible subscription models you wind up in a place where contract designing becomes even more attractive.
While what Leopard’s pricing will look like and whether it will ever be a full-blown product development platform are still unknown, the fact that this piece of software has been let out into the wild could be a signal that the opening shots of a war for browser-based CAD supremacy have been heard.
In the near term, it looks like Onshape will have the jump on Autodesk when it comes to delivering a more mature browser based CAD app. But if Autodesk can move its product to market quickly, Fusion’s ability to accommodate CAM, surfacing and sub-D modeling could snuff out any advantage Onshape currently enjoys.