I’ve been “playing” with it… very impressed… but don’t want to spend (more) hours and discover down the road that it has some major deal breaker.
Free. Open Source. Versions for Windows (I use it with XP), Linux, Mac. (A while ago, someone didn’t like the Mac version, but it is an evolving product. Anyone use the current KiCad happily on a Mac?)
Tutorials now include a “First session” tutorial (was there from start) and guidance on creating your own schematic symbols and PCB footprints… both of which you should master early on, whatever PCB CAD you want to use. And (work in progress at 6 Nov!): information on “invisible pins” (power ports) and multi-gate devices, e.g. 7400 quad NAND.
I use it and haven’t had any problems with it yet. I haven’t sent out any files yet, but gerber files are gerber files.
Since KiCad relies on common librarys, you may find yourself making some components. I’d suggest that you standardize (http://raronoff.wordpress.com/2011/03/1 … t-sharing/) the location of your librarys, so that you are sure to back it up.
I also use KiCAD and have not had any issues running on Win7 Pro x64. I find the interface very intuitive and easier than Eagle. If you decide to move over to Linux the board files work without any problems. To date no issues with the Gerber files when used by BatchPCB or other board houses, and the included Gerber viewer is also a nice to touch. I have found the 3D view very useful, it is very useful to see the how the finished assembly will look.
I also recommend creating your own custom library to store parts in. The stock libraries are good and there are lots of other download.
The Mac version seems to be very broken. Maybe it’s just my setup, but it’s not detecting mouse events except when the mouse leaves the window. It’s been this way for a long time.
I also recommend creating your own custom library to store parts in…
In another thread someone pointed out that besides the other good reasons for adopting this working practice there is the fact that from time to time, you will probably want to download the latest revisions to KiCad… and when you do, the stock libraries may well be over-written.