Sketchup:

[Don Selke]

I have the free version of Sketchup version 8. There is apparently a up dated version of the software available. Is there any advantage to updating? I do not want to loose my plugins in the current version. I use it on all my projects for woodworking only.

[Larry Browning]

Sketchup is continually being updated. They are always adding features, fixing bugs, and tweeking it. In general I always keep mine up to date. I usually read the version history notes to be sure the update doesn't make my plugins incompatible. My experience has been that these little updates do not mess with the plugins. But you never know until you install it. I think you have about a 95% or higher chance that things will be just fine.

[Thomas Bank]

There have been three maintenance releases to SketchUp8. None of them will "break" any plugins or anything that works with SketchUp8 in the way that you could have potential conflicts going from a previous version (say SketchUp7 or SketchUp6).

You can see what was fixed in the maintenance releases here: http://support.google.com/sketchup/bin/static.py?hl=en&page=release_notes.cs&rd=1

Really no reason not to keep current with the maintenance releases as they continue to fix things.

[dave martini]

One little thing I do that saves me a little frustration is take a screen shot of my existing sketchup version. Just to remember where I've put everything as far as tools. [ctrl/printscreen].
It seems like once in a while, and it might be between version numbers, my tool buttons will either not be there or be scrambled. A small thing but helpful.

[Don Selke]

Thanks Guys, I will download the updated features.