AutoCAD was derived from a program begun in 1977 and released in 1979^[6] called Interact CAD, also referred to in early Autodesk documents as MicroCAD, which was written prior to Autodesk's (then Marinchip Software Partners) formation by Autodesk cofounder Mike Riddle.^[7][8]

The first version by the AutoDesk company was demonstrated at the 1982 Comdex and released that December.^[9] The 2015 release marked the 29th major release for the AutoCAD for Windows. The 2014 release marked the fourth consecutive year for AutoCAD for Mac.