Hi DICKEYBIRD,
yes its for real. I used it for some months and it does a pretty good job.
I think this is Autodesks way of enticing potential customers to try their wares. Once you become accustomed to
their interface and way of doing things then you will want to try their other products as well. Having said that Fusion 360
is pretty damn good.
In the event I found the CAD part not so good. I think its meant to be easy and intuitive for newcomers and to be fair it is that.
Also the freehand drawing and 3D modelling is meant to encourage almost artistic creation and again to be fair it does that.
What I found frustrating is that flexibility/intuitive thing prevented me from setting the properties and behaviour that I wanted
for engineering parts and I went back to my regular CAD/CAM which while is very cussed to use given the level of setup and determination
required it can thereafter produce VERY good CAD and excellent toolpaths optimised for the job at hand.
Try Fusion 360, I think you will be impressed. You may not hang with it forever but the again you may....its good.
Craig