New iMac - Virtual PC - AutoCAD

[RBilRamZ]

I am looking into getting one of the new iMac's, mainly because of the G5. I do not want to get it however if I will not be able to run AutoCAD through VPC on it. Please let me know if I will be abel to do this, and what the best way to do it would be.
I also saw a rumor last week about a new way of running PC based programs on OSX, any new info? Lastly, there have been rumors in my office of AutoCAD 2006 being OSX compatible, does anybody have any info on that?
Any information regarding how to best run AutoCAD on an Apple would be most helpful. Thanks!

 

[jeremy.king]

If AutoCAD is your deciding factor for getting a mac, then you are better of with a Windows PC.

If a better computing environment is a must have, then get yourself the new iMac.

Bottom line is VPC won't run AutoCad at productive level, despite all of the promises from MS on the newest version.

 

[iMeowbot]

You might want to start with http://macwindows.com/VPCautocad.html

It's passable, but I certainly wouldn't want to spend all day using that combination.

A long, long time ago there was a Mac version, but that was long enough ago that I don't think there was ever a PowerPC version, let alone OS X.

If you're not married to the AutoCAD interface, you might do better to look for a native Mac package that suports DXF, DWG or whatever format you need for interchange.

 

[Studawg7]

autocad... FEA... CAE... etc etc

Its quite unfortunate that the companies that make CAD/CAE/CAM/FEA etc don't support the Mac community. Consider the economics of it however there isnt much of a market.... yet. Having been involved in this forum for awhile now I can tell that there is a niche market. I am currently in grad school for mech engr and I use CAD and FEA programs all the time in my research. I like my iBook and would love to use those programs on a Mac, say a powermac G5. i think apple has the platform and OS that would perfectly fit these types of programs. Heck, I learned all my CAD and FEA on Sparc stations aka Unix. Personally, I dont think it would be too difficult for those programs to be worked for OS X. Anyway, I have gone on about things that might already be known. Personally, I wouldnt get VPC and use CAD. I would rather work with some of the knowledgable minds here in the forums with engineering backgrounds and programming backgrounds to develop such products for the mac community. There is a need there and i think with the advent of so many virus/trojans many companies might look at such a solution if it was available. Anyway, thats my opinion for the day!