Others say...

"Not user-friendly and lots of quirks"
Being unfamiliar with home design software and architectural specifiactions in general, it was very hard to use this program. The user manual is 306 pages, and it is easier to go to the help index than to try to memorize the whole thing. It has several quirks I haven't figured out yet. I am not finding ways to put a washer and dryer, garage doors, or a fireplace into the floorplan. When I go to put outside materials on my house, it won't let me fill in some areas with blicks. I haven't figured out how to delete a roofline. The rooflines overlap each other rather than blend in when you do a complicated roofline. The stairs are extremely hard to figure out. It is difficult to get he right dimensions for everything, and you will have to change evrything to make it proportional. The walkthrough and fly around go way too fast for you to actually tell what the house will feel like--even on the slowest setting. I tried to get an octagonal shaped dining room in the center of a house for a luxury plan, but I could never get the angles right, and the software doesn't really like rooms that aren't squares or rectangles. Also I tried to create a polygon to see if I could make the shaped of the dining room, but the setting was set to 6 sides, and though I put 8, it still made me create a hexagon. I'd like to see the kitchen come with pre-existing layouts. It would be easier to visualize since you can't really see the layout when you try to do a walk-through. Also the photo rendering of the elevation does not match the other levels in terms of roof pitch.

The highlights, however is the range of features. You can create curved staricases and walls with some practice, there are a variety of styles of windows and cabinet finishes. You can create complex rooflines, and with some software you can't.

If I'd have had experience with this software before I bought it, I probably wouldn't have.

"Takes some getting used to"
but overall, i think this program does exactly what it is supposed to if you have the correct expectations in mind beforehand. like all drafting programs (autocad, microstation, etc), it takes a long time to learn how to use it properly. anyone with experience in those programs knows that they are not intuitive in the way microsoft programs are, for example. the directions are not very good at all, but within about 2 hours of opening the box, i had my entire house drawn fairly accurately. roof elements are the hardest, in my opinion, to get correct, and the directions regarding roofing are lacking to say the least. however, with some tinkering, i was able to get a couple of dormers in that looked basically how i wanted. as far as true software bugs in the program, i have not found any and have probably spent 20 hours or more on it. you need a farily good sized computer to run this program because it is a memory beast.

if you are using this to design a brand new house, keep in mind that residential building plans are more of a guide than the letter of the law. there is always a lot of onsite tweaking when it comes to framing and dimensioning. this program does an excellent job of getting you close enough to the level of plans needed to build a house. also remember, normal building plans don't have 3D drawings on them, they are merely plans and elevations, both of which this program can generate (even though the elevations are renderings, not dimensioned plans). overall, i think this program is best suited for remodel applications so that you can get a good idea of what the new space would look like. major remodels should involve an architect anyway.

bottom line, if you are expecting this program to do most of the work for you, you can forget it. there isn't a program out there that can do that. a person inexperienced in design software and building construction should shy away from a program this complicated and use something simpler - but don't expect a contractor to be able to build from it. for those with experience in design and construction, i think this program is great, though expect to spend some time figuring things out on your own because the directions are almost useless.

"Difficult to use"
A couple of years ago I bought a similar product from Punch software and gave up on it after a few days of trying to figure out how to use it. (And I'm very technical and generally good with new software). i would not recommend this software unless you have the time and patience to learn to use it properly.

Google recently released a FREE home design software. Much like other Google products, this one is very easy to use - although not as powerful as one you might purchase. Before buying, I strongly recommend you check out Google's offering. Visit sketchup.google.com to take a look.

"Does not live up to expectations"
Specifically I have these problems with this software:
1. Very very slow to "undo" last edit.
2. Very difficult to select an item for edit in an area with multiple objects.
3. Poor "memory" for previous customized object when adding multiple.
4. Bugginess when editing materials. Programmers attempted to build software that takes some of the decisions out of an edit, but poorly implemented them so that interior surfaces of walls get siding and cannot be edited without deleting entire wall including outlets, tubs, windows, etc. This is an example of the bugs that PERMEATE this software.

This is NOT a good package for anyone wanting to design a house to the blueprint level of detail. It has good visual features allowing one to "visualize" the design aspect of remodeling, but the structural power tools are weak and missing vital edit abilities. I can't figure out how to add a simple stairwell opening and get the lumber to work out right. I had to hand generate a bill of materials because I didn't trust the software and found many calculations were based on square footage rather than specific needs of load, headers, etc.

Doing a drawing by hand is easier than using this software, especially with joists and roofs. FYI I have 15 years of software development experience and have used many different software packages, and this falls below the 50% mark of all software I have ever used. I don't have experience with other "architect" software, so take my review at whatever value you wish based on my experience(s). I would NEVER call this architect software, but rather more of an "interior design" software package.

"Not user friendly"
I purchased punch platinum 8, at a local computer store. I worked with the program for 4-6 hours a day for a week. It is not very user friendly; I thought that I would up grade my current program 3D Home Design Suite V. 1 to the punch platinum, that was a mistake. The user guide has functions that the program does not have, the 3D view spins so fast it is hard to control, it takes a long time to draw kitchen cabinets, than when you place the cabinet, it places it at 8' elevation, so than you have to move it to the floor elevation, the deck wizard places exterior decks inside the house. After a week of frustration I called the store to see if I could return the program, because it has a money back guarantee. The store said no, that I would have to contact Punch. I emailed them with my complaint multiple times and got the run a round. The last email I was ready to contact the Better Business office, with that they gave me a return address, but I don't believe they will refund the state tax or the cost of shipping. Before you purchase from Punch look at the complaints on there web site. I would recommend not buying any Punch programs