Some people say SolidWorks, others are with Pro-E, CATIA! Just curious....
I use Alibre Design for CAD.
https://www.alibre.com/
I have been a user since it was originally launched as a "secret" beta trial.
I also use SolidWorks at work, which is also good but I prefer Alibre (in part since I can (just about) afford my own personal license).
I can also recommend TurboCAD for 2D drawings, as it has lots of tools but most importantly it is very good at scaling and mixing metric and imperial. Not so good at 3D, particularly when one wants to do assemblies.
For schematic entry and PCB layout I use Mentor PADS Vx software.
https://www.pads.com/standard/
I have used PADS since the early '90s and ViewLogic WorkView, which is now xDX Designer, since the '80s. I am still using libraries from back then, and can still import designs from that time too!
Not sure teh question was answered. It really depends on what you use as a measure. If you are talking widely used, I'd recommend looking at the number of installed seats and the rate of new seats as measures for the widespread use of CAD software.
Affordability also come into the decision. As an individual or small small research group / business one might not be able to afford the top High End CAD licenses.
Alibre with the Pro version includes sheet metal, but if one doesn't need that then the base version is almost as good.
Alibre also have a more small scale / hobbiest version called Atom 3D
https://www.alibre.com/atom3d/
which is also worth a look.
For Product Development like machines, tools, automobiles - the best and ease platform is SolidWorks. If you to go further with multiple features then use CATIA. Both platforms provide enormous features and tools for designing such that it contains CAD/CAM/CAE. We can use those design files for ANSYS platform for analysis.
Solid Works used to be quite popular among Product Designers. My personal preference is CREO (Pro-Engineer).
Susan Parker are you familiar with Eagle PCB design software? What about Mentor PADS Vx ? Is that user friendly?
Md. Rayhan Afsar You are quite right, Eagle has a huge base of users both hobbyist and in professional/academic use.
Eagle may be low visibility in that it is a more basic software capability, but it is "good enough" for many users. I have used Eagle a couple of times, it's quite a different head-space from how PADS works - but that is a learning thing and what I am used to using for many years.
Mentor PADS VX is serious user level, has a lot more capability but is correspondingly more expensive to buy and maintain ( the year's price for a single maintenance seat is a lot more than the cost of buying Eagle!).
The other software for CAD/EDA is Altium Designer
https://www.altium.com/
... which is the software I would be looking at if I was needing high function design capability software and I didn't have PADS VX but did have a budget/some funding and a "mission critical" project (space satellite electronics, for example).
For free software, RS Components has DesignSpark with includes 3D Mechanical and Electrical packages in addition to Schematic and PCB.
https://www.rs-online.com/designspark/our-software
... or there is KiCAD EDA which is a bit like PADS/DxDesigner:
http://kicad-pcb.org/
Hope this helps :)
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