---
title: "CAD gets less annoying, one small friction at a time"
locale: "en"
url: "https://irz.fr/en/articles/freecad-263-en"
markdown_url: "https://irz.fr/en/articles/freecad-263-en.md"
category: "tech"
tags: ["FreeCAD", "CAD", "open source", "fabrication"]
published_at: "2026-08-14T21:54:00.000Z"
author: "Zoé Caron"
translation: "https://irz.fr/fr/articles/freecad-263-friction-fr.md"
---

# CAD gets less annoying, one small friction at a time

Text directly inside Sketcher, finer recomputes, a responsive UI and multi-file editing make the next FreeCAD release look less like a feature demo and more like a hunt for everyday irritation.

The next FreeCAD release is not only the usual story about software gaining twenty new features. Much of Chris Hennes' talk sounds more like a list of tiny things that used to steal a few seconds, a few clicks or a little patience every time they happened.[1](https://blog.freecad.org/2026/08/14/freecad-26-3-top-20-new-features-talk/)[2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1fwOODNYZQ)

**FreeCAD 26.3 is planned for the fourth quarter of 2026.** Early in the presentation, Hennes notes that the current stable release is still 1.1.3 and explains the project's move to CalVer.[2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1fwOODNYZQ)

> 26.3, planned for Q4 2026
> **Four irritations being attacked directly**
> - Text directly inside Sketcher, using fonts installed on the system.: 05:53
> - Finer recomputes so small changes do not force as much unrelated work.: 06:36
> - Asynchronous recompute is intended to keep the interface responsive.: 07:42
> - An active task panel no longer prevents moving to another document.: 09:11
> Timestamps: Chris Hennes talk, FreeCAD Project Association.

At 5:53, Hennes shows the new Sketcher text tool. The detail sounds almost mundane: text using a system font can live directly in a sketch without taking a trip through the Draft workbench.[2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1fwOODNYZQ) It is the kind of missing feature that feels tiny until you make a labeled part, stencil or engraving.

Then come changes that are much less photogenic.

At 6:36, Hennes describes **fine-grained recomputes**: the program should recompute less unrelated work when one small part of a document changes. He specifically calls out spreadsheets as a painful case today.[2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1fwOODNYZQ)

At 7:42, he introduces asynchronous document recompute, intended to keep the interface responsive while recompute work happens in the background.[2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1fwOODNYZQ)

Around 9:11, multi-file editing means an active task panel in one document no longer prevents opening or working in another.[2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1fwOODNYZQ)

> The common thread
> **The software gets out of the gesture more often**
> - One value can trigger too much calculation, one task can block another file, and text needs a detour.: Before
> - Several of those interruptions move out of the main path without changing what a CAD model fundamentally is.: 26.3
> - FreeCAD plans three releases per year to reduce the pressure around giant annual release windows.: CalVer
> - 26.3 is upcoming. These are not all in the current stable release yet.: Limit
> Source: FreeCAD News + August 8, 2026 maintainer talk.

The versioning change follows the same logic. The project plans three releases per year to reduce giant freeze windows and the pressure to squeeze one more feature into an annual release.[2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1fwOODNYZQ)

None of this needs a magical benchmark. It tells a more believable story about a mature creative tool: after twenty-five years, a major improvement can simply be **interrupting the person trying to make something less often**.

## References

1. [FreeCAD News, 26.3 feature presentation](https://blog.freecad.org/2026/08/14/freecad-26-3-top-20-new-features-talk/)
2. [FreeCAD Project Association, Chris Hennes talk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1fwOODNYZQ)