AutoCAD Returning to Mac? [Archive]

MacRumors

Apr 8, 2009, 05:41 PM

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com/2009/04/08/autocad-returning-to-mac/)

Autodesk (http://www.autodesk.com), creator of the industry standard design and drafting software AutoCAD (http://www.autodesk.com/autocad), is apparently contemplating the return of a version of AutoCAD running natively on Macs. In a recent blog article (http://autodesk.blogs.com/between_the_lines/2009/04/i-need-your-input-on-autocad-for-the-apple-mac-os-x.html), Autodesk "Platform Technology Evangelist" Shaan Hurley points readers to a survey (http://myfeedback.autodesk.com/surveynet/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=l21M672) allowing them to "help shape the future of the next generation of AutoCAD products for the Apple Mac OS X Operating System and hardware."

The survey asks users a series of questions related to their use of Autodesk software, their use of Macs in the workplace, and their level of interest in an OS X version of AutoCAD. The survey also asks several questions about whether such features as command line interface and 3D modeling/editing are considered critical to a "first" version of AutoCAD for OS X, and specifically whether a product along the lines of Autodesk's more limited AutoCAD LT rather than a full version of AutoCAD would be sufficient for Mac users.

Autodesk's last Mac version of AutoCAD was released in 1992, although current Intel Mac users can run the latest Windows version of AutoCAD unsupported using Boot Camp or virtualization software such as Parallels Desktop or VMWare Fusion.

Article Link: AutoCAD Returning to Mac? (http://www.macrumors.com/2009/04/08/autocad-returning-to-mac/)

rhett7660

Apr 8, 2009, 05:44 PM

Hope they are serious and bring it to the Mac OS!

fleshman03

Apr 8, 2009, 05:46 PM

It would make sense since more and more college students/business are buying Macs. Not to mention I bet it would run smoother.

KingYaba

Apr 8, 2009, 05:49 PM

I bet it would run smoother.

How so?

adrianblaine

Apr 8, 2009, 05:49 PM

Enigmafan420

Apr 8, 2009, 06:09 PM

I am a semi-old fart and remember when Autocad first came to the PC. I believe it was available on the Mac before the PC.

Anyway, when it was released people were like "NOW the IBM PC is a 'real' business/design tool. It has arrived".

Anyone using a Mac knows it is a real business/design tool without Autocad. That being said, it would, I think, bring some additional credibility to the Mac-especially to those sitting on the fence and considering switching to OS-X.

twoodcc

Apr 8, 2009, 06:10 PM

i wonder if they will bring AutoCAD Land Development to the Mac?

azdude

Apr 8, 2009, 06:10 PM

Solidworks please. :)

nagromme

Apr 8, 2009, 06:10 PM

Unsupported if using Boot Camp? How odd.

adrianblaine

Apr 8, 2009, 06:11 PM

Unsupported if using Boot Camp? How odd.

I'm pretty sure they were referring to the fact that Boot Camp is unsupported by Apple.

fleshman03

Apr 8, 2009, 06:15 PM

How so?

GPU Acceleration + Grand Central?

I'm just taking stabs, since I don't know for sure. There are a lot of really great under the hood stuff in 10.6 that might enable a much better AutoCAD experience.

NewSc2

Apr 8, 2009, 06:15 PM

Not to mention I bet it would run smoother.

Doubt it. A lot of ported PC programs end up being a joke on OSX.

Genghis Khan

Apr 8, 2009, 06:20 PM

As an architecture student, this would be awesome.

All I need now is Rhino (in development) 3ds max, and 64-bit photoshop for mac :P

X38

Apr 8, 2009, 06:24 PM

rIver89

Apr 8, 2009, 06:34 PM

I am so happy that they are returning to the mac. For us civil engineering students with macs, this is just so exciting.

LeoFio

Apr 8, 2009, 06:42 PM

This would be awesome, as long as they don't cripple the mac version or make it a completely different interface than the windows version. If this turns out to be true, all I need is a 3D structural analysis/design program like Risa-3D for the mac, and I would never need windows again!

Scarlet Fever

Apr 8, 2009, 06:49 PM

Solidworks please. :)

+1, but it's more likely we'll see Inventor before SW. Either way, I'll be happy.

This would be awesome, as long as they don't cripple the mac version or make it a completely different interface than the windows version.

I hope they *do* give it a new interface. Have you used AutoCad 2009? It's horrible!

klaxamazoo

Apr 8, 2009, 06:49 PM

I wish they would port CoCreate's Modeling. That program is so much easier to use than Solidworks.

LeoFio

Apr 8, 2009, 07:01 PM

I hope they *do* give it a new interface. Have you used AutoCad 2009? It's horrible!

True, I have not upgraded to '09 for that very reason, so I will specify that I want the interface of AutoCAD 2008!

McShizzel

Apr 8, 2009, 07:02 PM

Hopefully this sees the light of day, I wish Autodesk would bring more of its software over to Mac OS.

I'm still hoping Autodesk Softimage (previously XSI) comes to Mac OS even though it probably won't happen anytime soon if ever.

One can always dream.

Cabbit

Apr 8, 2009, 07:04 PM

As an architecture student, this would be awesome.

All I need now is Rhino (in development) 3ds max, and 64-bit photoshop for mac :P

Oh yes please give 3ds max

fleshman03

Apr 8, 2009, 07:12 PM

Doubt it. A lot of ported PC programs end up being a joke on OSX.

Very true. But with the prominence of this program and the rate of Macs now, I don't think they just port it. Maybe actually rewrite it..

sadarryl

Apr 8, 2009, 07:22 PM

The only real innovation would be Revit for Mac...autoCAD, despite its so-called 3D features, is quickly becoming obsolete.

adrianblaine

Apr 8, 2009, 07:27 PM

The only real innovation would be Revit for Mac...autoCAD, despite its so-called 3D features, is quickly becoming obsolete.

There isn't always a need for 3D. I would like to see Revit become more advanced and AutoCAD get a little cheaper.

dongmin

Apr 8, 2009, 07:33 PM

Wouldn't get your hopes up. I believe they ran a similar survey a few years back, to no results.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=37895

Plus, AutoCAD is becoming a legacy CAD app. By the time AutoCAD actually becomes a shipping product for OS X (which will take a few years), Revit will have become the standard CAD app in most studios.

It'd be better if they bring Revit and 3ds Max to OS X. But I'm not getting my hopes on that either. These apps are just too massive and complex to make it worth the effort and $$$. Especially now with BootCamp and Fusion/Parallels, there's not a huge reason to port them.

On Revit on OS X possibilities...

http://cadinsider.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/12/aec-round-table-w-jay-bhatt-and-jim-lynch.html

Edit: sadarryl beat me to it

Mackilroy

Apr 8, 2009, 07:36 PM

As X38 said, I'd rather have ProE and CATIA. AutoCAD is… ugh, don't get me started.

yourfan

Apr 8, 2009, 07:36 PM

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It would make sense if they did. All my co-workers use PCs at work and Macs at home. I know all would rather use macs at work.

GGGUUUYYY

Apr 8, 2009, 07:38 PM

Inventor for mac.

There would be no point to bring AutoCad back to mac. when you can use it on windows on a mac.

John-S

Apr 8, 2009, 07:40 PM

John-S

Apr 8, 2009, 07:43 PM

There would be no point to bring AutoCad back to mac. when you can use it on windows on a mac.
Not true at all for several reasons. A TINY example of this is the fact that they just ported Mudbox over to the mac ; )

iZac

Apr 8, 2009, 07:49 PM

Holy Hell, yes PLEASE

Im not fussed over BIM packages like Revit, since the last time i used it, it was an absolute pile of crap. But AutoCAD or Microstation, come hither, i dont want to be forced to run parallels to use them anymore.

3DS would also be welcome. So many industry standard packages are lacking on the mac, its infuriating to admit to co workers that yes i can use this software, but it has to be either in an emu, or rebooted into windows.

At least its better than a few years ago. To think i made-do with vectorworks for so long!

xnu

Apr 8, 2009, 08:54 PM

I am not sure that AutoCad would thrive on the Mac platform. I actually used AutoCad on a Mac back in the early 90's. Most of the architecture design firms that are Mac based have done without for so long, I don't see a reason to go back.
AutoCad's price per seat is outrageous, and the advantages are not as critical anymore. ArchiCad and VectorWorks have a pretty good hold on firms that use Macs. It would be advantage for engineering firms in some ways but they have so much other legacy PC software that is utilized.
I have been using VectorWorks, well since MiniCad, and translate my drawings back and forth to AutoCad for my engineers without any problems. I welcome having AutoCad, but I would think they would just bring a light version to the Mac, and that is useless.

11800506

Apr 8, 2009, 08:58 PM

As student looking in getting into the architecture field, this looks promising. Hopefully the go through with their promise and actually create a Mac version.

robinp

Apr 8, 2009, 09:16 PM

in all honesty, I couldn't give a monkey's about BIM. However good an idea it seems on the face of it, it really just isn't flexible enough to design top-notch bespoke buildings. Frankly, I'm not interested in anything else. There is a good reason that most top practices in London use either Autocad or Microstation: it's because 95% of drawings that need to be produced have to be 2D and very clear. I honestly don't believe that REVIT or anything similar could ever get good enough to be a realistic proposition. Drawing details requires a fair amount of adjusting *where* you draw the line so that they remain clear... this is an art not a mechanical/mathematical process. These drawings are dimensioned 'diagrams' of how to build parts of the building and indeed even Microstation or Autocad can be too restrictive in this regard often leading to these details being drawn by hand.

I'm not even interested in the 3D aspects of Autocad or Microstation because generally there are Apps which are better for modelling and rendering. As a digital drawing board they are about as good as they get. I happen to prefer microstation but either on the mac would be good.

Autocad LT on the mac running really well would be excellent. Bring it on.

Hot Snowboarder

Apr 8, 2009, 09:16 PM

YES! YES! YES!

Please, please, please bring CAD and Revit over to mac. I would actually pay the extraordinary license fees if they did!

Mac Kiwi

Apr 8, 2009, 09:34 PM

XSI for the Mac,hell yes.

Autodesk maybe being genuine in their growing Mac investigation.

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=12263820&linkID=10706974

hugodrax

Apr 8, 2009, 09:47 PM

For these apps the price of a Mac Pro should not be too much of an issue considering how much the apps cost.

I mean it would make more sense for a shop to buy a bunch of boxes from Apple where you have a qualified hardware platform running a unix type OS designed and tested for the hardware.

No fingerpointing etc.. Technically you can call the Mac Pro a Unix workstation ala SGI etc..

Ropedartman

Apr 8, 2009, 09:48 PM

I personally can't stand AutoCAD, however, as a student, many of my classes require AutoCAD and Solidworks. On my Mac I have been using SolidThinking for my 3D work, but it has limitations with regard to manufacturing.:(

igmolinav

Apr 8, 2009, 10:25 PM

Hi,

Yes, it would be convenient for both Apple and Autodesk. In countries like Mexico, Autocad is the main architectural software used !!!

Kind regards, all the best,

igmolinav.

QuantumLo0p

Apr 8, 2009, 10:32 PM

...But what about Unigraphics, Pro Engineer, Catia, and Solidworks? Macs won't be able to make a serious move back into engineering offices until at least most of those are available.
In fact, last I read about it, Apple uses Unigraphics to do their mechanical design work, which means that all Apples are probably designed using Windows. Sad that Apple hasn't done more to lure the CAD industry.

Here is an answer for you...

Siemens PLM Software, a business unit of the Siemens Industry Automation Division, supports their Team Center application on OS-X and I believe their NX CAD/CAM/CAE applications are at least in beta. I use currently use NX6.

This is great news! NX, formerly Unigraphics, is a world class CAD/CAM/CAE platform and is on a very short A-list. Perhaps only PTC's Pro-E and Dassault Systemes' Catia are the only other players on that list.

Snow Leopard's Grand Central and OpenCL technology should lend itself quite well to CAD/CAM/CAE. I can't wait to see what is going happen!

http://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/legacy/flash/NX6/nx_design_br_W3.pdf

http://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/legacy/flash/NX6/nx_lifecycle_simulation_br_W3.pdf

TMay

Apr 8, 2009, 10:45 PM

Good. But what about Unigraphics, Pro Engineer, Catia, and Solidworks? Macs won't be able to make a serious move back into engineering offices until at least most of those are available.
In fact, last I read about it, Apple uses Unigraphics to do their mechanical design work, which means that all Apples are probably designed using Windows. Sad that Apple hasn't done more to lure the CAD industry.

UG NX 6 is using a Motif interface on the Mac under OS X. Not exactly what I imagined when I heard that there was going to be a mac version.

I have WF 4 and SW 2009, and the best I can imagine is running them under Parallels on a Mac Pro with an as yet unavailable Quadro card when Snow Leopard arrives early this fall.

Which brings me to an excellent MCAD Light and Conceptual Design package called Shark (Shark LT, Shark, SharkFX) from Punch! Software. Give it a demo and see what it can do for you. Nice thing is that I can create in SharkFX if I want, import it into SW and let Featureworks recreate the feature tree for a native SW model. Pro/e has a less sophisticated package that requires manual feature selection to accomplish the same functionality.

X38

Apr 8, 2009, 11:00 PM

Here is an answer for you...

Siemens PLM Software, a business unit of the Siemens Industry Automation Division, supports their Team Center application on OS-X and I believe their NX CAD/CAM/CAE applications are at least in beta. I use currently use NX6.

This is great news! NX, formerly Unigraphics, is a world class CAD/CAM/CAE platform and is on a very short A-list. Perhaps only PTC's Pro-E and Dassault Systemes' Catia are the only other players on that list.

Snow Leopard's Grand Central and OpenCL technology should lend itself quite well to CAD/CAM/CAE. I can't wait to see what is going happen!
]

Thanks for the updates Quantum & TMay. You are right that NX (Unigraphics), CATIA, & Pro/E are the A list of CAD systems and I agree with you that my personal choice would be for NX if there were only one. I had not heard they ported Team Center. Very good news! I sort of expected it though ever since Oracle recommitted to the Mac since Team Center is based on Oracle. They also ported the Parasolid graphics kernel of NX (UG) to the mac a few years ago, but never seemed to follow-up with a port of the full system. I've always wondered if it was possible to run it on a Mac under X11, so thanks for the tip TMay, but you are right a native port would be better.
Most of these systems are only certified to run on FireGL or Quadro graphics cards, so I think that is Apple's last missing piece. Too bad they dropped the Quadro, but the problem was they only ever had the top of the line card. They really need to get drivers ported for the low & mid range Quadro's and FireGL's to attract the high end CAD market I think.
Anybody know what kind of systems Apple does their own design work on these days?

Grand Central and OpenCL look promising, but I think would require significant rewrites. I'd be happy just to see OSX versions for now. OpenCL might do some really interesting things for FEA though. Maybe that will drive NX to look more seriously at the Mac given their fold-in of the IDEAS market...

SkippyThorson

Apr 8, 2009, 11:58 PM

Thank the Lawd. I would love this. I took many classes centered around it, and have an interest in a business here that uses it in day to day use. I have Inventor 5.1 on my PC and I haven't used it in so long only because I simply get angry looking at my PC. I don't know why. It boils my blood.

I want a Mac version just as much as anyone else, I hope they do this. :D

Maoltuile

Apr 8, 2009, 11:58 PM

Im not fussed over BIM packages like Revit, since the last time i used it, it was an absolute pile of crap. But AutoCAD or Microstation, come hither, i dont want to be forced to run parallels to use them anymore.

Amen to that. MicroStation may be the easier of the two:

(i) it originated on Unix (unlike AutoCAD) and has until recently reflected its cross-platform heritage - it's never been quite Windows-like
(ii) it was possible to run MicroStation SE in Classic, which isn't that long ago
(iii) they've only dropped OpenGL one version back (XM), and the move to DirectX has been a pain for CAD users with more than a single monitor on their workstation.
(iv) The latest version (V8i) uses Luxology's cross-platform Modo technology to do its rendering. So there's the sliver of a hope that we could go back to OpenGL and ease porting back to the Mac.

p.s. 3DStudio Max is, indeed, unsupported by Autodesk on Bootcamp.

Sehnsucht

Apr 9, 2009, 01:23 AM

It would make sense since more and more college students/business are buying Macs. Not to mention I bet it would run smoother.

LOL...well I guess it would compared to the last time it was available...gotta love those blazingly-fast Motorola 68040's. :D :D

talkingfuture

Apr 9, 2009, 03:14 AM

This would be great news if they do the full Inventor suite not just AutoCAD. I suppose the only stumbling block then is the need to buy new hardware, so it may need to wait until my current machine is due for a change.

I wonder if they would let you change your subscription from PC to Mac or whether you would have to buy a new seat?

Spanky Deluxe

Apr 9, 2009, 04:35 AM

This could be good news for Apple if they do release AutoCAD for OS X. Simply because it'll check more potential switcher's boxes. It'll be one less hurdle for a potential engineering student to overcome if they're considering switching. Same goes for professionals. My girlfriend's father uses AutoCAD all the time, he could possibly be swayed to go to Mac if this came true.

seamus26

Apr 9, 2009, 05:20 AM

Good. But what about Unigraphics, Pro Engineer, Catia, and Solidworks? Macs won't be able to make a serious move back into engineering offices until at least most of those are available.
In fact, last I read about it, Apple uses Unigraphics to do their mechanical design work, which means that all Apples are probably designed using Windows. Sad that Apple hasn't done more to lure the CAD industry.

I agree, although I don't believe that it's entirely Apple's fault. I think developers are unwilling to sink the money into software that they know is targeted for such a small demographic. I love my little Clamshell (still) and use it every day at work, but there's a lot that I have to rely on the PCs for. Nobody is going to develop coordinate measuring machine software for Mac just because I think it would be cool. Although, it would be nice. :D

jgbhardy

Apr 9, 2009, 05:20 AM

All of the architects and engineers that I know are using Macs, Not quite sure what program they are using now. But I'm sure an Auto-Cad for Mac would be very welcome!

ibjoshua

Apr 9, 2009, 05:41 AM

The only real innovation would be Revit for Mac...autoCAD, despite its so-called 3D features, is quickly becoming obsolete.

I'll second that.
My CAD lecturer said exactly the same thing. He reckoned that was why there wasn't a free student version of AutoCAD - AutoDesk wanted people to use newer suites.

Ashmanspice

Apr 9, 2009, 06:19 AM

stridemat

Apr 9, 2009, 06:22 AM

AutoCAD is available to students for free, Im pretty sure its the full version too. AutoCAD is the only reason I have windows on this thing, so this would make me happy. I haven't really used any other CAD programs so I can't compare...

How do you go about getting it free? I currently have to treck into uni everytime I need to use it. Would be handy if I had it

Ashmanspice

Apr 9, 2009, 06:32 AM

I can't remember fully, but i'm pretty sure you sign up to the student community, and there are a number of products you can download for free, including many flavours of autocad.

http://students2.autodesk.com/?lbon=1

RichardI

Apr 9, 2009, 07:21 AM

Winni

Apr 9, 2009, 07:42 AM

I'm pretty sure they were referring to the fact that Boot Camp is unsupported by Apple.

Boot Camp is a supported feature of Leopard and the main reason why the Intel Macs sell so well. Apple just does not support Windows (which is rather problematic, because without Windows there cannot be Boot Camp).

slinky0390

Apr 9, 2009, 08:09 AM

I'm pretty sure they were referring to the fact that Boot Camp is unsupported by Apple.

no they mean that autodesk does not support any of their products, besides the ones for mac, that are run under a bootcamp or virtualization environment. In addition to autocad, i would like to see them put out an osx version of 3d studio max

TMay

Apr 9, 2009, 09:03 AM

Sadly, I think AutoCad is the software of the past. They are likely trying to save themselves from becoming the amateur CAD software, which is really what they are now. Most people who use or used CAD drafting software, learned it on AutoCad. But now almost all professional CAD drafting is done automatically by the 3D design software after the modeling is done. And it's done very poorly, I might add. Too bad, but I see no niche left for AutoCad other than the one it occupies now - amateur 3D and drafting for home.

Rich :cool:

Seems like AutoCAD has a continuing foothold in Civil Engineering/Land Development. Architecture looks to be going to packages more in line with Revit(which, if my recollection is right, was started by some ex PTC folks).

For those of us in the manufacturing world, NX 6 looks to have the first manufacturing package on the mac since GibbsCAM ceased development of Virtual Gibbs years ago. That in itself is quite a feat. Analysis and such is planned for NX 7.

BornAgainMac

Apr 9, 2009, 09:03 AM

It is really odd that AutoCAD is for Windows and not Macs anyways. Windows is for playing/viewing content and not creating it.

galstaph

Apr 9, 2009, 09:17 AM

well I guess i wasn't the only one to hear about this then. i posted about this survey at 10:44 yesterday (http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=7429457&postcount=15) in the windows on mac forum and no-one noticed...
but it sounds good to me

guzhogi

Apr 9, 2009, 09:38 AM

I had a CAD class in high school that used AutoCAD. I didn't do anything after that, but it was fun. It would be really good if AutoCAD were ported, and ported WELL, to Macs. And not just the basic, "amateur"/"Lite" version (I don't know too much about the versions), but ALL versions or else it'll be a joke. It also needs to be ported well to Macs. I've used too many apps where the developers did the bare minimum to make it run and they were awful!

kornyboy

Apr 9, 2009, 09:40 AM

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Bring it on. This would make me very happy.

Pika

Apr 9, 2009, 09:40 AM

I want Softimage for Mac.

jessica.

Apr 9, 2009, 09:52 AM

Not to mention I bet it would run smoother.I seriously doubt it will run any smoother. Have you used AutoCAD?

As an architect I'm very excited about this, but this has been a rumor for a very, very long time now. Though now that Macs have made more inroads into architecture offices, I can see how they'd want to sell a native version.

I've tried using other programs like ArchiCAD for Mac, but nothing seems quite as good as AutoCAD.

Very true. Autodesk claimed they were working on it when Architectural Desktop first launched. That was many moons ago.

Photek

Apr 9, 2009, 10:04 AM

I would buy 11 licenses for our design studio the day its released...

Its not that I like AutoCad... but the rest of the Architecture world uses it... and I have to integrate with them (rightly or wrongly)

I bet Mac sales would get a massive boost from AutoCad coming back to Mac.... I know no end of Architects that hate using a PC... but have to due to AutoCad being PeeCee only...

jeffy.dee-lux

Apr 9, 2009, 10:14 AM

this is awesome news. I really thought development of OS X native programs like this would completely halt with the advent of Intel macs.

Pika

Apr 9, 2009, 11:14 AM

The other problem is Windows 7 x64, which is going to be a polished, solid OS when it is released. It's Vista Fixed, and should stem the tide of XP frustration and compare well to OS X in terms of performance and capability.

relativist

Apr 9, 2009, 11:16 AM

I'm looking forward to this, they really should make a Mac version.

dr.palmer

Apr 9, 2009, 11:21 AM

Doubt it. A lot of ported PC programs end up being a joke on OSX.

Please name a couple of well known peecee programs that have been ported to Mac that are jokes. Please don't include games.

It would be easier currently to port Acad to Macs since they use the same intel designed processor. This would be one less hump to overcome.

I believe that Acad 2009 allows the user to choose the new interface or the legacy interface.

ps this is my first post here.

edenwaith

Apr 9, 2009, 11:34 AM

I recall a similar survey that was done about 7 years ago. It appears that there wasn't enough interest in bringing AutoCAD to the Mac back then. Hopefully with Apple's success in the past few years, that might be enough to help encourage Autodesk to bring AutoCAD.

Considering that they own Cleaner, that does mean there is at least some Mac influence within the company already, so that might be an encouraging sign.

RogueWarrior65

Apr 9, 2009, 11:40 AM

Hopefully this will have the potential to convince the powers-that-be to port Solidworks to the Mac. There's a CAD tool that rules.

talkingfuture

Apr 9, 2009, 11:49 AM

Hopefully this will have the potential to convince the powers-that-be to port Solidworks to the Mac. There's a CAD tool that rules.

Thats why Autodesk should get the full Inventor suite ported over so they can get a head start on Solidworks with Mac users. I use Inventor and prefer it to Solidworks because it does include AutoCAD for a bit of old fashioned 2d drafting

bigjohn

Apr 9, 2009, 12:03 PM

The only real innovation would be Revit for Mac...autoCAD, despite its so-called 3D features, is quickly becoming obsolete.

here here, autocad is what you install "just to have" after you've put revit on your machine which is what you use everyday

iainr

Apr 9, 2009, 12:35 PM

put my name on the 'i want solidworks' list, i'd be all over that like a rash!

gmcalpin

Apr 9, 2009, 02:18 PM

In fact, last I read about it, Apple uses Unigraphics to do their mechanical design work, which means that all Apples are probably designed using Windows. Sad that Apple hasn't done more to lure the CAD industry.
More likely UNIX, I think, but that's just a guess. Designing Macs on a Windows machine just seems... wrong.

mikeinternet

Apr 9, 2009, 02:33 PM

Blast from the past. I remember taking 'computer aiding drafting' in highschool, and using autocad on the Macintosh SE.

If this happens I hope they don't change a thing from the System 7 version.

cswiger1

Apr 9, 2009, 02:51 PM

I would love to use my computer in my field for more than just word processing. Mac tends to do a better job of 3D graphic stuff anyways so I'd assume it would be pretty nice. The real seller would be to build in muti touch support.

k'five

Apr 9, 2009, 03:44 PM

Sweet. As the designer & house IT guy in an architecture firm, I'm looking foarward to the day we don't have to run Acad through VMWare. Parallels never allowed enough ram for it to run well, and Boot camp fudged some internal system clock which would snap acad licenses with every restart. Inventor absolutely cruises on our 24in imacs, and looks great on the big clear glossy screens.

If Adesk is going to dink around with LT, they might as well not do it at all. You can get mac dwg viewers already. You can't get decent modeling or BIM software. Since the ADT plague is finally dying, they need to focus on [clean] UI's for native revit & inventor.

But whatever they do, they are going to have to do it without a gig of license management junk being strewn all over your OS. That's the PC way, not the Mac way. Get it right, keep it simple & clean, Adesk...

Blythyvxr

Apr 9, 2009, 04:07 PM

speedbumpnv

Apr 9, 2009, 05:00 PM

looks like the blog was posted on April 1st. could this just be a really mean joke? :(

Full of Win

Apr 9, 2009, 05:48 PM

Don't know if this has been mentioned, but what about the OS X version of Maya, also from Autodesk? If memory serves me right, has been notoriously buggy compared to the Windows version. I don't use it, but that is what I've read.

synth3tik

Apr 9, 2009, 05:52 PM

-SD-

Apr 9, 2009, 06:44 PM

I see the whole pro software/pro GPU situation on the Mac as a vicious circle.

I'd love to see Softimage XSI, ProE etc. on the Mac. But without a decent professional graphics card solution for the Mac Pro we're a little limited. But until there's more people buying Mac Pros and using software that needs a professional graphics solution, ATI and Nvidia aren't going to bother with Mac compatible FirePro or Quadro FX/CX cards.

Apple should really sort the situation out. I don't care what favours they have offer Autodesk, ATI and Nvidia to get more OS X native software and GPUs, I just wish they'd do it.

Currently, a Mac Pro doesn't seem to be very 'Pro' at all when running OS X. It's a beautifully designed beast of a machine that is severely limited in a very important area.

:apple:

617arg

Apr 9, 2009, 07:55 PM

I am so happy that they are returning to the mac. For us civil engineering students with macs, this is just so exciting.

I thought it was tough being an architect with a mac. I can't think of any structural programs for the Mac!

I hope that they do decide to bring AutoCAD back to the Mac. I'm tired of using Fusion just to use AutoCAD.......with all the associated headaches of trying to plot and file share in a virtual environment. I'm actually thinking of moving back to a Windows machine because it has gotten so inconvenient for me to do things this way.

Of course Revit would be great too, but AutoCAD would do just fine right now. I also agree with others who have stated that this would legitimize OS X as a real professional platform. It's a bit frustrating having such a beautiful, powerful, machine that I can only be productive with after booting into Windows.............. kind of silly even...............

CorvusCamenarum

Apr 9, 2009, 09:01 PM

I thought it was tough being an architect with a mac. I can't think of any structural programs for the Mac!

The missus (interior design almost-graduate) uses ArchiCAD for all her projects. I'm not entirely sure if that's what you mean by "structural programs", but there you go.

You can get a 30-day demo here. (http://www.graphisoft.com/products/archicad/ac12/)

Pika

Apr 9, 2009, 10:47 PM

I'm wondering if there isn't something larger going on with Autodesk. They've recently ported Alias Studio to the Mac OS. Both Alias and AutoCAD had either Unix or Irix versions at some point. With the Mac OS now related to Unix, might Autodesk be looking at future Linux versions for at least some of their applications?

Not being an AutoCAD user, this news isn't a big deal to me, but as a user of Alias products my curiosity is piqued.

iMacoo7

Apr 9, 2009, 11:19 PM

And it just gets better;)

yoshinatsu

Apr 9, 2009, 11:50 PM

GOSH, why don't they just bring 3DS Max to Mac?!?!?!?!?!?:mad:

Mac Kiwi

Apr 10, 2009, 12:20 AM

I'd love to see Softimage XSI, ProE etc. on the Mac. But without a decent professional graphics card solution for the Mac Pro we're a little limited. But until there's more people buying Mac Pros and using software that needs a professional graphics solution, ATI and Nvidia aren't going to bother with Mac compatible FirePro or Quadro FX/CX cards.

:apple:

The "full" range of Fire GL and Quadro cards would sell heaps more.The one Quadro,and high end at that is just dumb.It really makes me wonder if it was ever taken seriously at all.

I suppose because of buying Alias that Adesk now have a lot of Mac savvy engineers.It could be a great time for them to look at Macs again.I have to wonder how much pull,MS still has with Adesk though,they would not be happy about this at all.

Def one to watch.

Snowy_River

Apr 10, 2009, 01:32 AM

Word is that Apple use a tailor made version of UGS NX on os x. And UGS are developing a version of NX6 for osx and plan to have nx7 fully supported on osx.

Of course, they've been saying this for about three years but still.

want a little... proof?

http://www.architosh.com/features/2007/chatside/ugs/images/nx_on_mac.gif

From what I've read, there is an issue with the need for an internal database. I don't remember the details, but as I recall NX6 utilizes Excel as its database engine for some key feature. Unfortunately, this can't be done on the Mac (incompatibility with the Mac version of Excel, or something like that). So, until this issue is resolved, as I understand it, the Mac development ground to a halt.

Pika

Apr 10, 2009, 05:53 AM

They already showed invetor on the mac a while ago
http://vimeo.com/2419011

fluidedge

Apr 10, 2009, 10:52 AM

I notice that this article was written on April Fools Day. Do we know for sure that this wasn't an attempt of a fools day joke?

Autodesk did just just announce some new ports to mac earlier this year so I wouldn't be surprised if they give us some more mac love but still... April 1'st is an odd choice of days to post this article. If any hears any additional info that was posted to this story after that date then please let us know!

In regards to 3DS Max being ported. From what I have been told that is an impossible port because of the way Max was created. They would have to completely rewrite Max (different then porting) and thats not likely. Plus with Autodesk now owning Max, Maya, XSI and Mud.... I'm thinking we will see a super program in the near future anyways because as it stands, these programs are so old and bloated they are like a sinking ship full of holes. Everytime they plug one hole another pops out. I'm thinking that they are waiting for all their nucleus pieces to be in place for Maya etc then they will plug those into a different shell (super program) : )

NEVER EVER EVER going to happen. Sorry but there is just so many things wrong with a fusion of the above apps i can't begin to name them. Pipelines for maya are very well established within the animation/VFX post houses that discontinuing maya would have serious reprocusions on the whole industry, similarly for Max within the games industry. It would literally grind to a halt for 12 months while everyone got their heads round the new systems.

And if you think 3 individual apps are bloated (they're not btw) how do you imagine combining them would streamline? Having to support 3 file types, 3 shader types, supporting multiple renderers.

There seems to be a misconception that Maya, Max and XSI are essentially the same program - they're really quite different. Murging them is jsut not an option.

I could see XSI being slowly shrunk down and people picking up Maya, but Autodesk would have to announce something like a 5 year plan to wind up XSI so people would have time to migrate to Maya but I really can't even see that happening.

Autodesk have a huge portfolio of software now, whilst i agree some consolidation is necessary and indeed happening (Flint, Inferno, Flame are becoming one app slowly) murging of 3 huge apps that are used in different ways is unlikely.

With regard to the OP I don't know much about AutoCAD but if the Mac version of Maya is anything to go by, i'd stay in windows. Doesn't BootCamp make this kind of development unnecessary?

QuantumLo0p

Apr 10, 2009, 10:53 AM

Word is that Apple use a tailor made version of UGS NX on os x. And UGS are developing a version of NX6 for osx and plan to have nx7 fully supported on osx. Of course, they've been saying this for about three years but still.

BTW, UGS is no longer the name of the company. Siemens AG Automation owns NX, under Siemens PLM. http://www.plm.automation.siemens.com

The last time I checked the Siemens PLM support forum, there were users still testing NX CAD and CAM (CAE too?) as a X11 application running in OS-X, not virtualized nor under bootcamp. This makes a lot of sense because NX(Unigraphics) has been ported to UNIX for years including SUSE 64bit.
:)

MikeTheC

Apr 10, 2009, 11:27 AM

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com/2009/04/08/autocad-returning-to-mac/)

The survey also asks several questions about whether such features as command line interface and 3D modeling/editing are considered critical to a "first" version of AutoCAD for OS X, and specifically whether a product along the lines of Autodesk's more limited AutoCAD LT rather than a full version of AutoCAD would be sufficient for Mac users.
Yeah, we just want AutoCAD LT. We don't really want to be on an equal footing with the Windows platform. Microsoft doesn't give us equal versions of their applications, so why should AutoDesk?

</sarcasm>

What a stupid question to ask.

617arg

Apr 10, 2009, 01:30 PM

The missus (interior design almost-graduate) uses ArchiCAD for all her projects. I'm not entirely sure if that's what you mean by "structural programs", but there you go.

You can get a 30-day demo here. (http://www.graphisoft.com/products/archicad/ac12/)

I was responding to a post by a civil engineering student using a Mac apparently. By "structural programs" I mean structural engineering analysis (like Risa). I don't think a single program exists for the Mac.

This brings us back to a fundamental problem. If Apple wants to be taken seriously by professionals in the design/construction industry they need to do whatever it takes to bring us what we need. While architects can use Archicad or Vectorworks it is a huge hassle in the professional world. In the US the vast, vast, vast majority use Autocad. Most of those who aren't are using Revit. I was going to actually use Archicad but the idea of not being able to freely communicate with consultants is a major turn-off, regardless of how great the program is. I hate getting a file from someone using some other programs and then wasting time getting them to actually work/read in Autocad, and I would not want to do that to my consultants. It may be different, but it's not professional

MikeTheC

Apr 10, 2009, 06:32 PM

They killed it in 92, I think it might be a little late to do it profitably. I mean if Adobe took photoshop off the Mac, people would either find a different program to use, or a different OS. I have a feeling that quite a few of the people using AUTOCAD have already switched away from macs, before OS X
Yeah, well, if for the sake of argument Adobe decided to bail on Apple (because it would be retarded beyond words for them to stop making just one app out of their whole toolkit for the Mac) then the graphics and multimedia industries would have no choice but to leave the Mac platform as well.

Sure, you'd have some who'd buy a Mac and then add Windows and run whatever Adobe apps they needed, but I think most shops would just buy PCs with Windows.

spaceaged

Apr 11, 2009, 03:23 PM

In the medical device industry SolidWorks is the de facto standard part and assembly design application. I think half of the engineers I work with already use Macs at home and run XP via BootCamp only so they can run Solidworks at home. Ashlar Vellum's Cobalt is a great solid modeling application for OSX. I run both on my new 13" MacBook.

kennycheng93

Apr 12, 2009, 01:27 AM

There is TurboCAD for Mac:

http://www.turbocad.com/TurboCAD/TurboCADforMac/tabid/556/Default.aspx

Has anyone used it?

Plymouthbreezer

Apr 12, 2009, 01:38 AM

As an architecture student, this would be awesome.

All I need now is Rhino (in development) 3ds max, and 64-bit photoshop for mac :P
Ditto! Hope this is indeed true!

macaliseme

Apr 12, 2009, 06:09 AM

Solidworks please. :)

The day when Solidworks arrives on the Mac will be the day when the mythical xMac will make its appearance.

I remember when I was an admin at a school - we used Archicad. It wasn't (no software is) perfect but for the majority of students they were happy with it.

erratikmind

Apr 12, 2009, 10:33 AM

AutoCad on this platform would be excellent and highly anticipated. I trust that this really happens at some point. Our Dells would be in the dumpster in a flash.

IronRoses

Apr 12, 2009, 11:40 AM

I have recently gone to the pc, well, to be more precise have put widnows 7 on my mac full time because of the apps i need.

I'd like to see 2D S Max running on the mac. As it supports Direct 3D and Open GL it shouldn't be too hard to build a native version.

If this ever happen i would instantly order an 8 core mac pro and sell my imac and throw windows out forever. I hate dual booting, ehnce why i amrunning windows full time and lets face it, the replacement for os x apps are normally better on the windows side than in os x.

goonerman

Apr 14, 2009, 07:47 PM

Here it is, everyone do the survey if you're interested. I'm a student so they probably wouldn't care what I have to say. :p But it looks like its gonna happen. Just don't know when.

http://myfeedback.autodesk.com/surveynet/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=l21M672

617arg

Apr 14, 2009, 09:59 PM

thanks for the link to the survey!

hopefully they will be surprised to see how many people are interested in this.......

Markduce

Apr 15, 2009, 01:58 PM

Didn't see any make the statment on why AutoCAD left Apple to begin with. They told Apple they would drop them if they kept Power PC processors. Since that is no longer the problem. I think AutoCAD would like a fresh survey to see if the drive is still there. And this is not just a maybe return of AutoCAD to apple but, if true it would be all of Autodesk Software to Apple.

arkitect

Apr 15, 2009, 02:07 PM

Thanks for the link… let's hope it gets us somewhere.
:)

if true it would be all of Autodesk Software to Apple.Interesting, but unlikely. Would be great though.

ravenvii

Apr 15, 2009, 02:27 PM

Fuzzy14

Apr 16, 2009, 05:28 PM

Solidworks please. :)

+1 on the vote for SolidWorks.... or ProEngineer.

applecultvictim

Apr 16, 2009, 05:45 PM

Guys and gals just go over and do the survey wont take more than 10', so we can mobilize to get the great autocad back to our macs natively. Follow the link above.

Can someone please add the link to the article itself so people can visit:apple:

klueck

Apr 17, 2009, 04:28 PM

Forget about Autocad! Add dimension to Illustrator and there you go!
Buy Vectorworks and get a really handy tool. And spare a lot of $.
With AC I always have the feeling that I achieved something great - beeing proud of myself - but in the end you just manage to use the app or you've found a handy work around! Not mac at all!

nüb

Apr 17, 2009, 05:32 PM

Ohh no! America is already looking like it was built in AutoCAD...I hope this doesn't completely kill the (my) profession...:eek::eek::confused::confused:

bigreded

Apr 18, 2009, 04:58 AM

+1 on the vote for SolidWorks.... or ProEngineer.

SolidWorks is good too, but I hope this means we'll see Inventor soon. Inventor has really caught up with and passed SolidWorks, plus it comes with AutoCAD to boot.

dokein

Apr 20, 2009, 09:51 AM

AutoDesk put out a survey like this 5 or 6 years ago, and that didn't amount to anything, so I wouldn't hold my breath. And even if they did come out with Mac version, I wouldn't shell out the kind of cash they want for personal licenses knowing they might just drop support again next time Mac's market share drops a point.

It seems a bit arrogant that AutoDesk thinks so many designers will come crawling back. They've been bullying users for decades into using their software not because it's superior but because it became a de facto industry standard. I wouldn't expect that strategy to go over so well with Mac users. If it did, we'd be using Windows.

3D-Troll

Apr 20, 2009, 10:47 AM

Autodesk seems to be getting serious with the OS X platform. After seeing Sketchbook Pro last year and all the recent announcements like Mudbox, today I received my maintenance upgrade for Autodesk Alias. To my surprise it now includes a Mac version, too.

Steffen

H&Kie

Apr 22, 2009, 12:52 PM

Today I joined a launch meeting for AutoCAD Inventor suite 2010. One of the speakers was the Northern European Technical Manager, who was open to questions. He told me that Autodesk is taking surveys to bring ACAD back to the Mac since a while. There might be a good chance this will happen on not to long notice.

Inventor (and corresponding apps like Vault), however, is too much depending on parts and resources of Windows and for the moment the chance to have a Mac version of this suite isn't really big .

Last part of his story was better: Autodesk is busy to certify Mac hardware to work with the entire Inventor suite (using BootCamp) officially. The certified hardware will appear in their "cert. hardware list", so finally BootCamp users will finally get full support :).

ArchiMark

May 17, 2009, 04:40 PM

As an architect I'm very excited about this, but this has been a rumor for a very, very long time now. Though now that Macs have made more inroads into architecture offices, I can see how they'd want to sell a native version.

I've tried using other programs like ArchiCAD for Mac, but nothing seems quite as good as AutoCAD.

Are you serious? Why do you think that?

ArchiCAD is a much better program than AutoBAD for architects...designed from the ground up by architects (along with software developers...) for architects....

Michaelgtrusa

May 18, 2009, 12:49 AM

This could lead to them offering some of their other dreamy 3d ware for the mac.

Saladinos

May 18, 2009, 03:04 PM

Any software returning to the Mac is good news. It shows the boom the platform is experiencing.

Platform management is very difficult, and Apple have done it really well. By having the iPhone run OSX, Apple have ensured that when companies put together teams to work on iPhone applications, they're also hiring people with the skill set required to build OSX applications. This opens up the Mac as a platform for software companies to achieve growth through, and makes Cocoa development an important skill for developers.

The recession has helped in some respects. iPhone revenue comes from micro-transactions, which work well in a recession. This makes more companies look to the iPhone as a platform to derive revenues from, which requires more Cocoa developers. It's becoming very difficult for software developers to find jobs (as it is for everyone right now), and those with Cocoa experience are at an advantage for the aforementioned reasons. That's great news for the platform.

However, the recession should also decrease Mac sales, which is bad for the platform. Apple could counter this by drawing attention to the Mac Mini as an affordable Mac and introducing a low-cost portable.

HerbyGunther

May 18, 2009, 03:39 PM

This would be great if AutoCad comes out on the Mac!

celtikmind

May 19, 2009, 02:43 PM

Are you serious? Why do you think that?

ArchiCAD is a much better program than AutoBAD for architects...designed from the ground up by architects (along with software developers...) for architects....

Please, leave out the commerical slogans...

I used to be like you, all for ArchiCAD etc. That was until I started using ArchiCAD fulltime which resulted in me being late handing in 2D drawings and documentation for my assignments. Why, you might ask? The drawings ArchiCAD made, always required so many touch-ups before they would look good anyway so I might just as well draw them correctly from the start. Most of these were about fields autohealing together when they shouldn't making beams disappear and other things. Then there is also the thing about not being able to rotate in all three axes in 3D... no go there. And patching weird bugs with hotfixes, only being able to save to the previous version and not any older etc. etc.

While I'm no big fan of AutoCAD I have grown tired of spending all that extra time converting DWGs and cleaning them up. Most of the market in my part of the world uses the DWG format and most of the time AutoCAD as well.

ArchiCAD is getting there but it's not there yet. Perhaps they should hire some 'tech's so they could get it stable enough and with features one could expect from any 3D-capable software today. It's also amazing that while architects are the ones designing it, ArchiCAD's interface is so messy and old-looking.

In meantime, I rather use more time focusing on my architecture than patching bugs and making workarounds for bad software! AutoCAD might not be good but it's at least a de-facto standard, so please.

Lone Deranger

Jun 23, 2009, 09:56 AM

Reading through this thread again I noticed a lot of people like AutoDesk's seemingly renewed interest in OSX, but at the same time would love to see additional products being ported over to the Mac.
I myself would absolutely love to see SoftImage/XSI appear on OSX. Over the years I've asked several SoftImage/AutoDesk employees about this possibility and they always said the same thing. Along the lines of: "you aren't the only one who would love to see that. Keep asking is all I can recommend.".
I intend to do just that. First and foremost by speaking to AD representatives that are responsible for dealings with my employer. But if necessary by emailing/writing customer service, sales, corporate services, heck even the CEO when I find out his/her email address. :D Starting here... (http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=1109794)
I would suggest all of you to do the same. Let them know what you want rather than just posting about it on a forum.

If enough people keep asking eventually their $en$itive ears will get the idea. :)

OdduWon

Jun 24, 2009, 04:48 AM

Forget about Autocad! Add dimension to Illustrator and there you go!
Agreed. Adobe Illustrator is a powerful tool, more so with improvements in snapping and dimensioning/scaling. The only downside to a non AutoDesk work environment is the lack of compatability with Digital Fabrication Equipment (laser cutters and multi axis milling). Most use .DWG I believe, though it's not impossible to do it with AI's file formats. Also, Rhino would be great along AI. The export to AI is excellent for layering presentation art. Though you still need AutoCad/RhinoCam to do multi axis milling for complex physical models.

Buy Vectorworks and get a really handy tool. And spare a lot of $.
I use AI to draw plans for SketchUp models. It is slower than AutoCad, but at least I'm closer to my creative suite. Talk about >$ Google SU is free and you can trick it to do alot of things that are very difficult to do in AutoCad's 3d. The only down side is presentation quality of line work (no weight control), renderings a fine using Podium @ high res. With help from AI/PS of course.

Rhinoceros is the wave of the future though, once it gets to the Mac OS, the Other CADs will be calling for bail outs. :eek:

celtikmind

Jun 26, 2009, 08:02 AM

Illustrator can never replace AutoCad, especially not in speed and precision. Having the same precision in Illustrator as in AutoCad takes at least twice the time if not more than that.

Then again, you can always move your pile of gravel with a wheelbarrow as well. It will just take a lot longer than using a truck with the added 'feature' of being green! :p

gescom

Jun 28, 2009, 05:31 PM

I think the survey is just Autodesk trying to see if it is worth spending time/$ on. They have a few products out there now on mac. The movie/entertainment industry relies a lot on macs and with the mac surge in the consumer market going on it has but peaked their interest to raise the question.

I would suspect if they invest time into it the start will be in the rendering/animation realm with offshoots leading to support CAD/BIM over time. It is a good sign though, however long it may take to complete is another thing....
:)

ProwlingTiger

Jun 28, 2009, 11:38 PM

This is the ONLY thing keeping me from switching 100% to Apple. As soon as AutoCAD is on Mac, I'll ditch Windows for good!

rgarjr

Jun 29, 2009, 12:14 AM

This is the ONLY thing keeping me from switching 100% to Apple. As soon as AutoCAD is on Mac, I'll ditch Windows for good!

Dude, just run BootCamp on the Mac. No reason for a hold up here.

jdechko

Jun 29, 2009, 07:22 PM

I remember taking this survey. I don't remember where I got the link though. One of the big problems that I can think of with a direct port, though, is how tightly it has been integrated with the .net framework on Windows. Replacing that functionality isn't important for me, as I never got much into the collaboration and online sharing aspects in AutoCAD, but I would love to see it.

R14 was my first time, after cutting teeth w/ Microstation J (**shudders**), and 2002 was my first love (I think 2002 was OS X.1 to 2000's OS X.0). But I think 2008 was the best. Oh, and I loved using AutoCAD 2009 (with the classic workspace ;))

Unfortunately, I'm stuck using Microstation V8. At least the FAA just upgraded to XM, so it's marginally tolerable because of the keyboard mapping and being able to use the mouse wheel button for pan (come on, seriously). But I'm just glad to have a job in this economy, so I keep my rantings online or under my breath.

gescom

Jul 1, 2009, 09:17 PM

(MicroStation tangent) XM? No chance of V8i for you in the near future? It is definitely better than XM!

jdechko

Jul 2, 2009, 12:20 PM

(MicroStation tangent) XM? No chance of V8i for you in the near future? It is definitely better than XM!

Nope, unfortunately not. :( It's not under my control whatsoever. Like I said, we just got the upgrade about 3 weeks ago to XM. US Government bureaucracy at it's finest. :rolleyes: Even still, some of the custom menus we have break stuff so I've had to do some of my own tweaks to get it (somewhat more) functional, and there are things, like batch plotting, that still don't work.

Course, there are several of us who are crossing our fingers that we move back to AutoCAD, but we're not holding our collective breath. I would do a happy dance if we did.

puppypuppy

Jul 12, 2009, 08:44 AM

I am using AutoCAD and lots of CAD apps on Window everyday, I found most of the CAD apps commands in Windows are still using one core of CPU. Only rendering is really using multi-core. I see Revit running so slow in a very latest multi-core computer. ArchiCAD is saying it work with multi core, but I tried it. It is bull-****, it is still very slow, and not really using every brain in a CPU.

It is just too hard for the App vendors to rewrite their software to multi core, I believe. There is no hope for CAD apps to stay with the unstable and slow Platform (Window), but on the other hand, the best OS today for CAD is possibly OSX, which support much better graphic, and the Grand Central idea is awesome for CAD Vendors to turn their apps to multicore.

I think Apple should take a gamble. just sell their OSX to work with PC hard ware . it might killing their hard ware sales, but why worry so much, Steven Job, you have the best OS on the market. Window is just a piece of ****. This way, all the apps will move to OSX because they know their competitor will move for much better performance. it is going to take many years for Window to catch up OSX's perfomance and stability. that time, all the apps have moved to OSX. and say good bye to Window and no more MicroSoft. hahaha :>

Steven Job, everybody saying you have vision. Well, sorry, I dont really think so. you set apple computers too expensive in 1980's and Apple computer cannot reach to the cheap market, on the other hand, all the Apps run away from Apple OS. You might be making good money on hardware that time. but this was so killing Apple, Today, many people are locked up to Window, because all the Apps stay with the popular Window. not OSX. like all the games and CADs.

I think Apple should take a gamble. just sell their OSX to work with PC hard ware . it might killing their hard ware sales, but why worry so much, Steven Job, you have the best OS on the market. Window is just a piece of ****. This way, all the apps will move to OSX because they know their competitor will move for much better performance. it is going to take many years for Window to catch up OSX's perfomance and stability. that time, all the apps have moved to OSX. and say good bye to Window and no more MicroSoft. hahaha :>

It is possibly the best timing for OSX go to PC while window is doing pretty **** with multi core CPU. come on. Steven Job. do it, just do it. We know you want to do it.

Justinf79

Jul 12, 2009, 06:12 PM

I would like to see something for electrical engineers come to the mac. I'm going into a EET program this Fall.

pablos93

Nov 20, 2009, 11:28 AM

I received the other day an email from Autodesk asking me to take a survey and there are a couple of questions about Mac.

Survey
(http://vovici.com/l.dll/JGs9461F950C8lHD9YU166990J.htm)

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/166/capturadepantalla200911p.png (http://img204.imageshack.us/i/capturadepantalla200911p.png/)

knucles

Feb 2, 2010, 09:09 AM

any news about this lately?

it is coming in 2010?

gskidmark

Feb 2, 2010, 11:13 AM

The webs went quiet on this. Nothing much even on the AutoDesk forums. If anything, they're being hush about it.

picasso_41

Feb 2, 2010, 02:13 PM

In my experience with AutoCad I found it to be very fast for 2-D linework, but very difficult to make attractive looking drawings with it.
For more attractive drawings, I would recommend one of the more modern apps like Vectorworks.

Ljohnson72

Feb 2, 2010, 11:50 PM

Old thread is old.

ThunderSkunk

Feb 7, 2010, 02:50 PM

TMay

Feb 7, 2010, 04:14 PM

Fizzzzzle...

AutoDesk partnered with Parallels. That is their solution. Virtualization, so they don't have to spend any of their money on a mac version. Instead, we all get to spend hundreds more per install, as every seat of acad requires it's very own resource-sucking operating system and virtualization environment.

And parallels? We try parallels and vmware with every new release, and VMware blows parallels away every time. Just what I've come to expect from them. Talk about devoting a sliver of that mountain of resources to doing something great, and then halfarse it in the end and give your customers the dry shove.

Nice.

Autodesk is too cheap, Solidworks is too lazy, ProE & Catia are too high-end, archicad, vectorworks etc are toys...

Siemens NX is the only decent cad program for the mac, and no one's ever heard of it. Apple should buy it, and incorporate it in their Pro Applications lineup.

...The first company that writes a decent cad app for the ipad is going to change everything.

If I was Apple, I would buy SpaceClaim, which is an ACIS based modeller so the kernel already supports OSX, and it is a direct modeller which would be more applicable to Apple's philosophy. I suspect that the company could be had pretty inexpensively. Unfortunately, there isn't any modeling kernels available for the iPad, yet anyway.

NX is a high end package like Pro/e and Catia. Solidedge is Siemen's midrange package competing with Solidworks and Inventor.

dongmin

Feb 8, 2010, 03:50 AM

...The first company that writes a decent cad app for the ipad is going to change everything.

That's a joke, right? You're gonna do precision CAD on a 1024x768 screen using your fingers???

Actually, the iPad would make it's way into every architect's workflow if someone developed a decent sketching program and some kind of pen input. A 5-megapixel camera would also be nice for any kind of field work.

Genghis Khan

Feb 8, 2010, 06:14 AM

Actually, the iPad would make it's way into every architect's workflow if someone developed a decent sketching program and some kind of pen input. A 5-megapixel camera would also be nice for any kind of field work.

Hmm...unfortunately, i see the only use of the iPad for Architects will be for presentations (and maybe creating them if Adobe brings Photoshop/Illustrator to the iPad)

I'm hanging out for a 3D modelling program of some sort (even sketchup)...but i doubt it

0ld-knight

Feb 8, 2010, 07:27 AM

autocad works in parallels quite well (maybe just as it was on a slower PC, but it works!) so if it is going to take you time to offer this new osx version, maybe you just could try to make flash a little less buggy and resource eater. And i'm not even talking about an ipad or iphone, its about how a core2duo can get so hot just playing a small flash video!

OllyW

Feb 8, 2010, 07:45 AM

auhlixer

Feb 8, 2010, 05:55 PM

BTW I'm soo sick of Inventor 2010 it's soo buggy even at with it's service pack 2.

Has anyone here spent time with NX6? it's non existent on the net

That's a joke, right? You're gonna do precision CAD on a 1024x768 screen using your fingers???

Actually, the iPad would make it's way into every architect's workflow if someone developed a decent sketching program and some kind of pen input. A 5-megapixel camera would also be nice for any kind of field work.

ThunderSkunk

Feb 8, 2010, 09:05 PM

That's a joke, right? You're gonna do precision CAD on a 1024x768 screen using your fingers???

Actually, the iPad would make it's way into every architect's workflow if someone developed a decent sketching program and some kind of pen input. A 5-megapixel camera would also be nice for any kind of field work.

Nope, no joke. As for sketching or freehand drawing, a stylus is 100% necessary. I've been using tablets since Motion Computing got started, and I still send our Architects and Production engineers at both my companies out into the field with tablets.

However, our senior architect pointed out that he'd really like an iPad so he could "field measure, draw a quick floor plan while he measured, and show the client right on the spot what he has in mind"... my first thought was o roll my eyes as you did, until I gave it another few minutes of thought, and realized, there's probably a lot more potential here than it seems.

Overlay menus like the ones we used on the early tablet digitizer days of CAD... the ability to sketch & even model pretty much anything with just a handful of commands as in Inventor, with no command line... all you'd need is a pop-up keyboard overlay like what was possible in Tablet XP before SP3 screwed up the Input Panel.

If Acad were able to put this all together, and make it available on a device that starts out at $500, is presentation-capable, and has a battery that lasts for a day of working... PLUS has an option for a constant 3G connection for collaboration, we would replace every motion tablet, and every notebook running cad in our offices with an iPad. Possibly even workstations, and just assign every designer one with a docking station.

But hopefully, Apple will someday lose the bug up its butt about a proper wacom penabled digitizer option for its macbook pros, and Autodesk will actually find a way to effectively incorporate pen input. Maybe when I'm dead & gone. I don't know.

pablos93

Apr 17, 2010, 01:47 PM

Great news!

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/2797/capturadepantalla201004j.png (http://img515.imageshack.us/my.php?image=capturadepantalla201004j.png)
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/6885/capturadepantalla201004g.png (http://img13.imageshack.us/my.php?image=capturadepantalla201004g.png)
http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/6223/capturadepantalla201004c.png (http://img515.imageshack.us/my.php?image=capturadepantalla201004c.png)

This has been found in the ObjectARX 2011 SDK.

Source: http://www.hardmac.com/news/2010/04/15/autocad-on-mac-coming-sometime

stridemat

Apr 17, 2010, 01:52 PM

Its about time!!!! Lets hope Adobe do it justice! I will finally be able to remove my windows partition.

ArchiMark

Apr 17, 2010, 09:46 PM

Fizzzzzle...

[Snip...]

Autodesk is too cheap, Solidworks is too lazy, ProE & Catia are too high-end, archicad, vectorworks etc are toys...

"archicad, vectorworks are toys"???

Guess I didn't get that memo..... :rolleyes:

As I used both archicad and vectorworks professionally in the past as an architect on real world projects....both allowed me to be extremely productive in turning out high quality design and construction documents...

Siemens NX is the only decent cad program for the mac, and no one's ever heard of it. Apple should buy it, and incorporate it in their Pro Applications lineup.

You're right, never heard of it..... ;)

:)

AV8TOR

Apr 17, 2010, 10:00 PM

AutoCad is so old school in today's CAD world. Rhino OSX is in the works and will be way better for the MAC

MorphingDragon

Apr 18, 2010, 02:34 AM

I've completely given up on AutoCAD and started recommending other products.

RasmusJensen

Apr 18, 2010, 05:44 PM

My experience is that more and more architects are turning towards Autodesk's Revit Architecture instead of AutoCAD and ADT.

HarryPot

Apr 18, 2010, 07:37 PM

Its about time!!!! Lets hope Adobe do it justice! I will finally be able to remove my windows partition.

Adobe?:confused:

I sometimes get frustrated by how complicated AutoCAD can be some times. But I agree with some posters above: there's nothing near to AutoCAD. I tried out VectorWorks, and even tho it is a very well done program, it just didn't make it for me.

The one thing I disliked the most about VW is that their support for importing AutoCAD files wasn't very good. And at least for me, this breaks the deal completely.