Same. I don't know much about 3-D modeling, but I took a Maya class years ago and was annoyed at design flaws in its UI.
I didn't expect much from Blender, owing to the shitty UI offered by other widely-used open-source software like GIMP and Audacity. But I was pleasantly surprised by Blender, and I'm excited to learn it.
But the CAD space is dominated by pay-only rental-style solutions, and even most of those seem to be Web-based (Autodesk) or Windows-only (SolidWorks).
Not only has it moved to rental, but lots of the offerings have absolutely punishing license terms. For example, if you stop paying maintenance fees, when you upgrade you have to back pay all missed fees or purchase the software again for $10k to $40k.
And at some point you have to upgrade because the file formats change every year.
I always recommend Solidedge these days because it’s the only remaining capable option that has a simple monthly/yearly license.
I didn't expect much from Blender, owing to the shitty UI offered by other widely-used open-source software like GIMP and Audacity. But I was pleasantly surprised by Blender, and I'm excited to learn it.
But the CAD space is dominated by pay-only rental-style solutions, and even most of those seem to be Web-based (Autodesk) or Windows-only (SolidWorks).