my only hope that both CM and CS to be like Altium full version, so one can upgrade for the next version without re-learning every tool and shortcut. No money at all to even think about CS for the time being. then I guess CS will have more than enough features for most if not all people, given that it might have a license of say 1.5k. As they said, even CM will have all basic features even more than the existing tools for the range (EAGLE for example), and it will be fully working. After running the tool, a crosshair with a power port is attached to the cursor, indicating that the tool is ready for use. You can easily access it in the Active Bar or select Place > Power Port from the main menus.
But let's ask this: If CS is professional tools with lower cost (just like they are saying at their website), who will buy that +9k version? you could say that depends on what features does CS provide and If they are enough to give up the full version or not. In Altium Designer, the power ports are placed using the Power Port tool ( ). So, I expect most of the companies to buy CS. CM is free, CS is a professional lower cost software. Having a free and lower cost tool is the best that could ever happen if done properly. Released: Version: 16.1.7 (build 188) This new Altium Designer release continues to deliver new features as well as enhancements to the softwares core technologies, while also addressing many issues raised by customers through the AltiumLive Communitys BugCrunch system. I mean, maybe you won't make enough profit from the boards that you designed using it to cover the 9000$. Well, regardless of any opinion, it is still very pricey. Plus, it is quite quick & easy to make your own components, both Schematic & PCB. Silicon Valley Garage on this forum also has a good array of extra components which he has kindly offered to forum members for free. I want to create a 16x16 LED array in KiCad and I would like to minimize any. I'm assuming from your comments that you have Altium ver 10, in which case you have a copy of the "frozen libraries". Start With Kicad - Assign PCB Footprints to Schematics Symbols: Continuing. The problem is that the procedures & menus change with each version bump, so often their answer sheds little light on the "easiest way to do something".
The Altium support team generally try & find your question in the manuals & they will quote you that verbatim. At least you are communicating with people who use Altium everyday. Dave gets more visitors to his EEVBlog website everyday than Altium do, so ask for help here instead of the Altium Forum. I'm sure there are other ways of doing this too (as it is an industry standard).
If you want 3D STEP, export your existing Altium board into PCAD format & then import that into DipTrace which is pretty inexpensive. Version 13 & 14 don't offer a lot more over say version 6.9 unless you are into flex boards/high speed tuning/3D STEP design. Then simply don't upgrade your Altium licence.