AutoCAD Coming to Mac, First Beta Screenshots

[MacRumors]

In April, there had been some rumors that AutoCAD may finally be returning to the Macintosh platform. The Apple Lounge has posted some screenshots from the private beta that were found on Italiamac's forums.

AutoCAD is a 2D and 3D design and drafting application that was first released in the 1980s. AutoCAD for the Mac was discontinued in the early 90s. According to the tester that posted the images, this beta runs pretty poorly, but, obviously, there is much time for improvement as this is the first seeding. No word on when the final is expected.

Article Link: AutoCAD Coming to Mac, First Beta Screenshots

 

[Otaviano]

Going to make Boot Camp disappear on a lot of Macs.

 

[Spock]

Glad to see a company return to the Macintosh, now if we can only get Adobe..

 

[stridemat]

YES! I have been waiting for this. I need full compatibility with AutoCAD and currently the mac alternatives leave a little to be desired. This may be sad, but I think this has made my day

 

[DPH]

YES! bye bye bootcamp i cant wait to get it!

 

[stylez23]

FINALLY! This will let my father finally switch over our last PC to a Mac... Hope it comes out soon!

 

[CubusX]

Awesome

I wonder if his would push some drafting and design companies to buy Macs.

 

[jeznav]

It uses multitouch gestures. Sweet! This will look great on the iMac 27"

 

[guzhogi]

I took a CAD class in high school & used AutoCAD (PC version). Pretty cool. That was the only time I ever used it, but it's a cool app.

Hopefully it'll use OpenCL/GL & Grand Central. Also, let's hope Mac Pros get better graphics cards. I've heard AutoCAD can be pretty graphic intensive.

It wouldn't surprise me if there a lot of posts about "Why is this Page 1 news? Who uses it?" Um, a lot of designers, architects, etc. It's a big deal in that world.

 

[KnightWRX]

Now if Apple would only ship a Pro computer to run this on that wasn't a year a late and a dollar short.

 

[StuBeck]

I wonder if his would push some drafting and design companies to buy Macs.

I doubt it. I worked at an architecture firm and there are a ton of things stopping them from upgrading to Macs...the biggest being that autocad licenses are so expensive that it stops them from purchasing new machines. I would also hope that they would be swapping over Revit as well.

The lack of inexpensive video cards which will run autocad are also pretty big. I'm not saying no one will switch over, but there are a lot of issues in the way.

 

[biggrim]

I really hope this paves the way for an iPad application for basic site drawings and checking plans on site. Might also mean that my office might get some Mac's when it comes upgrade time.

 

[MrMcLargeHuge]

Please tell me that's not Carbon. It needs to be Cocoa, 64-bit, and support OpenCL and Grand Central Terminal. Programs like this beg for features like that, let's hope the developers are wise enough to take the extra time to implement them.

 

[blitzkrieg79]

FINALLY!!! This was the only major application that had me stuck on Windows (although I gotta say that Windows 7 is actually good). I just hope it will be a native version and there will not be a lot of compatibility issues between cross-platforms.

 

[costabunny]

Glad to see a company return to the Macintosh, now if we can only get Adobe..

and where the heck are Corel? grrrrr

Oh - good news tho - now an iMac 27" would make a lovely CAD station indeed

 

[Tanglewood]

This will be great for my ME dad. He was still using the last AutoCAD for Mac into the early 2000s.

 

[brewno]

Mac's the platform of the future, it seems.

 

[Sky Blue]

It's funny that all these companies are coming to or back to Mac just as Apple are abandoning it.

 

[Warbrain]

It's funny that all these companies are coming to or back to Mac just as Apple are abandoning it.

I don't know how you get to the idea that Apple is abandoning the Mac but sure, believe it...

 

[Marx55]

GREAT!!!

Next one: ACD Canvas.
http://www.acdsee.com

 

[jhvander]

This must mean an iPad app is coming with. Great news, get the iPad/iPhone app on the go to make edits/add data onsite. We will draft with fingers within the year I hope.

 

[PsykX]

OMG. NICE!!!!

It was one of my engineering applications that I wanted on the Mac.

Next, I need CATIA, but that’s way too big, I know it ain’t going to happen soon

Now, if only Numbers could get a little better, and if only Apple made a bigger iWork with more apps. We need a Project Equivalent, Access Equivalent and Visio Equivalent, either by Microsoft or by Apple.

Until now, engineers are not going to look forward to Macs because I know there ARE solutions out there, but they’re not publicized enough. Office, on the other hand, is known by everybody.

 

[Object-X]

Esri

Here's hoping ESRI gets religion and ports ArcGIS. ArcGIS and AutoCAD have a symbiotic relationship.

 

[G4DP]

I don't know how you get to the idea that Apple is abandoning the Mac but sure, believe it...

Well from your signature, it seems your nothing more than an iFan. When people refer to Apple abandoning the Mac, they mean the proper machines, the Mac Pro and MacBook Pro, not the consumer crap that Steve Jobs dreams about.

 

[kapps]

I agree with Psykx. AutoCAD is nice but completely outdated for anything but simple 2D drawing and architectural design. Now if something like Solidworks, Catia, or Pro/E were ported to Mac (preferably Solidworks), that'd be something I'd be ecstatic about.