Since the late 1990s, AutoCAD® Land Desktop software has been the design and documentation solution of choice for more than 100,000 civil engineering and surveying professionals around the world. We want to thank those customers who have made Land Desktop a critical part of their workflow over the years and we look forward to continuing to provide solutions that meet your challenges in the future. As technology has advanced and the challenges facing engineering organizations have become increasingly complex, we have decided it is time to look beyond Land Desktop to technology that better addresses the demands of today’s civil engineering organizations. As a result, AutoCAD Land Desktop 2009 will be the last release of Land Desktop. Depending on your needs, Autodesk has several options for moving to the next generation of civil engineering software: * AutoCAD Civil provides civil engineering technicians, drafters, and surveyors with a focused design and documentation solution. * AutoCAD Civil 3D provides a more comprehensive civil engineering solution, with analysis and simulation capabilities for the civil engineer and designer. * AutoCAD Map 3D provides engineers, drafters, surveyors, GIS technicians, and analysts with a planning, mapping, and infrastructure management solution. AutoCAD® Land Desktop is based on AutoCAD and some components of AutoCAD Map 3D. Using AutoCAD Land Desktop, you can create, maintain, output, and analyze all the data in your land development projects. This Getting Started guide contains information for both AutoCAD Land Desktop 2009 and AutoCAD Civil 3D Land Desktop Companion 2009. For both products, you can refer to chapters 1 through 7 of this guide for information on the basic Land Desktop product features. If you have AutoCAD Civil 3D Land Desktop Companion 2009 installed, then you automatically have the civil engineering and survey tool features built into your product. Chapters 8 through 19 of this guide contain information on the civil engineering and surveying tools that are available with the AutoCAD Civil 3D Land Desktop Companion 2009 product.