Solidworks is basically the same as Inventor only its not a product of Autodesk. But that program they use is Solidworks. If you want 3D design software, go to this link students5.autodesk.com/?nd=home You can get the full profesional version of Inventor FREE for 18 months. You can also get AutoCad, AutoCad Civil... Basically and Autodesk product! Im running Inventor 2010 and AutoCad Mechanical 2010 right now and i love them! You just need a school e-mail. And if you dont then just ask a staff member from your school to sign you up. Its all on the website... ENJOY!!!
sorry for the bad information, i cant'find the link on their website, it seems you have to buy it now. you can always torrent it (my favourite is the 2007 version, i haven't found a good 08 or 09 yet)
Solid works is all that is used at the Oregon State University College of Engineering. I like Solid Works more because you can use connected programs to test and simulate from it. Otherwise, Both are great. Ron Paul.
tru, cause i've used autocad alot, and then like crappy 3 works programs like google sketchup but this stuff is probably more complex but would love to be able to do that kinda stuff