Installing Revit 2017

I have just downloaded and installed Revit 2017 - so I thought other people might like to know some of what is different to previous years, as there appear to be quite a few changes.
For a different experience, refer to  install v2017 from physical media (DVD)

• Firstly, I installed just Revit 2017 (not Building Design Suite).  In previous years it was called Revit Architecture, but now they have come full circle and it is just called Revit again.  This means I have full(?) access to Structure and MEP commands, which may or may not be useful.  It used to be the case that Revit Structure was much better at joining beams than Revit Architecture - so now I can take advantage of that.  I guess this is a good thing, except for the possibility of bloatware (see later).
• In previous years I ordered a physical copy of the media because I found it much more convenient to install from - particularly when you need to reinstall after a hardware failure or upgrading your computer.  This year Autodesk have had the temerity to start charging for this service, despite the fact that we pay a substantial annual subscription. In the email I received a few months back, their rational  was that most people prefer to download software these days - well, there is nothing to stop those downloaders from just not going to the hassle of ordering the physical media.  I would like the choice, particularly as I had already paid for the privilege before they told me.In fact I tried to order a copy just now, and not only is it very carefully hidden away on the website, but it just plain did not work - the website seems to be broken.
  I am wondering if this so called 'nominal' charge to order media is a desperate money-raising measure, or part of a cunning scheme to force everyone to download and install while being connected online (signed in), so that Autodesk can take more control of the process?
  [Edit:  I have since managed to order a physical copy, and done a second installation from this - the experience was dramatically better than the download install, even though I had to pay again for the software that I had already paid for]

• So I ended up downloading - which is a slow process in Australia, partly due to our slower broadband networks (compared to the USA), and possibly we do not have an Autodesk download server hosted in Australia (?).  A lot of other countries would find it considerably slower than here.  The whole download/install took about 5 hours.
• I am not sure when this changed, but now Autodesk have adopted the same horrible system as other vendors of just allowing you to downlad a small setup exe file, then running it so that the software install/download is all wrapped up in one process.  I much prefer being able to download the whole install file then running the install from the C drive, as it gives us more control about when and how it happens.
• As I was signed in to Autodesk, I guess it knew my language and location, as I do not recall being asked for that during the install?  It also did not give me many other options, and it ended up installing some strange bloatware like:
  - MEP Fabrication Imperial Content
  - MEP Fabrication Metric Content [Edit: it may be possible that I missed seeing the checkboxes to avoid installing these]
  I personally don't want either, but I guess MEP engineers would want just one, but very seldom both.  Luckily they seem to be separate programs that appear in my uninstall list.

Firewall

During the install process I had two problems where my anti-virus program took exception to something being installed, and would not allow them - so I skipped them:

• IDP.ALEXA.51
  My anti-virus program said this:  "IDP ALEXA is a potential threat. Threats, when malicious, can be used to interfere with the normal operation of a computer, gather personal information or allow a hacker to access the device remotely without the user's consent.  This kind of software usually arrives in the form of an unwanted download from a malicious website or as code illegally injected into a legitimate website without the webmaster's knowledge."
  Of course it is just being cautious, but I don't like to install anything like that.  We will see if Revit runs ok without it!
• DXSETUP.exe
  Even though I told the AV program to accept this one, it refused.  Then the whole install/download hung for quite a while until I cancelled and restarted.  Luckily it moved on to the next thing.

Installed programs

The final list of installed programs looks like this:

• 'Autodesk Desktop App' is a replacement for 'Autodesk Application Manager'.   I do not like having the application manager running as it prompts for upgrades at inopportune times, particularly for every user in the organisation where upgrades should normally be managed by the IT or BIM manager.
• I believe that Akamai Netsession Interface is part of that deal?  It is giving an error on startup - so I intend to uninstall both of those in due course. 

Autodesk License Service - 270Mb !! looks like more bloatware, but I suspect I won't be able to get away with uninstalling that one.

More Bloatware (and missing family templates)

There seems to be a lot of extra stuff installed this year - here is some more, related to different language versions.  I suspect that 'Revit' comes in a multi-language install whereas Building Design Suite allows you to choose the language (as did Revit Architecture in previous years).  The extra language family templates give me 270Mb of installed stuff that I don't need.

It is curious that each language has a different number of templates.  English Imperial has 82 rft files, while English Metric only has 73.  Some other languages had even fewer.  I noticed that the following seem to be missing from the Metric templates (for Australia at any rate):

• Casework wall-based
• Casework
• Door
• Door - curtain wall
• Entourage
• Generic Model (non-hosted)
• Plumbing Fixture
• Profile Mullion
• 3 extra imperial rebar templates added in for good measure

So none of those are particularly useful to architects (not true!).  Perhaps I'll use the Chinese or Czech templates for all my casework and doors?

[Edit]
In the Public Folders is a new Autodesk folder, with MEP fabrication 'stuff'

• I just don't want this stuff installed at all.  
• And even if I did want it, I would want it in the ProgramData folder along with the rest of the content.
• And if it went to the right location I would want either metric or Imperial, not both!

Foreign Project Templates

Oh, and here is another 40Mb of stuff I don't want (unless I get a project in Europe or Asia) - in a new 'Generic' folder under Project Templates

Temp Install Files

My last task will be to make a backup of the install files so i don't have to download them again.  And that looks different too.  There seem to be two different folders, with lots more language packs that I don't need.

• Revit_2017_G1.. .. . .    seems to be the setup files
• WI                                  seems to be the 4.7Gb install files

[Edit] It would have been nice if they were all contained in one folder, or else the 'WI' folder had '2017' in its name so that I can identify it later.
[Edit again:  I later tried to reuse these downloaded install files on another computer, and they did not work]

Conclusion

This process  was not much better or worse than previous years - just different problems!  There seems to be a lot more bloatware now that Architecture/MEP/Structure have been bundled together again.  There also seems to be a lot of sloppy work with things like languages and templates.  I have not looked at the libraries yet - I hope they are complete.  I will not be putting v2017 into production work for a while yet - I only installed it so I can use it for preparing my RTC presentations, which should be a good test-bed, and allow me to try out the new features.
[Edit:  I have since managed to order a physical copy, and done a second installation from that - the experience was dramatically better than the download install, even though I had to pay again for the software that I had already paid for.  Refer to  install v2017 from physical media (DVD)]