The Setup program asks for the default kernel. During my installation, I picked ACIS, due to the fact that this is the kernel the product originated on. As shown in Figure 1, the interface has not changed much since the initial release, introduced in the summer of 1998. Veterans of version 2.0 will have no trouble getting familiar with this upgrade and new users should find IronCAD's interface easy and uncluttered. Unlike most MCAD programs that rely exclusively on 2D sketches to create 3D models, IronCAD has always allowed the user to work with 3D shapes.
Every shape also has a hole counterpart, which subtracts material.
What is just as important is the ease with which these shapes can be manipulated by simply dragging handles located on every face. When accuracy is needed, users can right click on an element and key-in values to determine its exact size and orientation. It is also possible to build 3D shapes in IronCAD from 2D sketches, as shown in Figure 2. As a profile starts to take form, dimensions and constraints can then be placed just as easily on 2D geometry as they can on their 3D counterparts. Expressions can also be set up on any 2D or 3D shape that is dimensioned.