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AutoCAD for Mac Now Available

dmm219 said:
Chances are, if you Mac is 2 years or older, you won't have an acceptable video card to run it.

It won't run on my 2008 top of the line Macbook...
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Works fine on my 2008 bottom of the line iMac ;) It is a high end graphics heavy program after all so the old integrated Intel video accelerator won't be able to run it. Don't feel bad I have a 2008 MacBook too but I bought it knowing it would never be capable of performing high end graphical tasks.
 
I should add the more competition the better! We have been using VectorWorks at my institution and while it works fine, sometimes I get frustrated dealing with their volume licensing and various attempts at using dongles, network dongles, license servers, etc.

Having true competition will definitely make things better. Much like having Quark and Adobe fight for the designer market has resulted in much better management by both sides (although both sides still need a lot of work!)
 
iBagwan said:
CAUTION all you Mac people. Autocad has a horrible history with the fairer platform, or at least one user. Years ago we purchased 2 seats for our office worth thousands of dollars. 3 months after that Autodesk abandoned the Mac platform without a whimper. I called and complained and they said, sorry, you're out of luck. Plus, Autocad on the Mac was always substantially behind the windows version, the ignored step child. I have since moved on to Vectorworks on my Macs and we love it! Vectorworks has also been adopted by a lot of architects and engineers in our area and I would never go back to Autocrap. Just be careful, if it looks like a snake and rattles like a snake....

You had your chance and you made your choice AutoCrap, now sleep in it
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I have used this for the last XX months! :p believe me! WELL WORTH the wait! :D

and with the iPad App! the icing on the cake! they have really pulled there finger out with this one! try it and you will see!!! with a 30 trail you have nothing to lose!
 
No Civil 3d?

As a long time Autocad user, I have mixed feelings about this. I personally would not use the Mac version of Autocad in a production environment until version 2.0 comes out. Autodesk is very bad about releasing half baked versions of their software. I used to cringe every time I was told at work that they were rolling out a new version, because it never worked correctly out of the box.

However, I would love to get rid of the need for parrelles and windows Xp on my MacPro. Autocad is the only thing I use it for.
 
manowarwi said:
Works fine on my 2008 bottom of the line iMac ;) It is a high end graphics heavy program after all so the old integrated Intel video accelerator won't be able to run it. Don't feel bad I have a 2008 MacBook too but I bought it knowing it would never be capable of performing high end graphical tasks.
Click to expand...

The annoying thing is, is that its supported via Bootcamp :( even on older Macbooks.


22Hertz said:
This is great news!

Is there a list of supported macs?
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http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?siteID=123112&id=15435044
 
This is really great, I am a student in Architecture and I can download it for free. Though, I've a first gen MacBook Pro (yes, an Intel Core Duo, without the '2', yes the first gen Intel Mac ever). The ID of my machine is MacBookPro1,1

Minimum requirement is MacBookPro5,1 – MacBookPro6,1 recommened!!!

I can believe my system isn't supported, but the Mac you have is not allowed to be older than one year! That's frikkin' ridiculous! My 2006 machine will help my graduate in a few years, but without AutoCAD for Mac... crazy...

System Requirements
  • Apple® Mac® Pro 4,1 or later; MacBook® Pro 5,1 or later (MacBook Pro 6,1 or later recommended); iMac® 8,1 or later (iMac 11,1 or later recommended); Mac® mini 3,1 or later (Mac mini 4,1 or later recommended); MacBook Air® 2,1 or later; MacBook® 5,1 or later (MacBook 7,1 or later recommended)
  • Mac OS® X v10.6.4 or later; Mac OS X v10.5.8 or later
  • 64-bit Intel® processor
  • 3 GB of RAM (4 GB recommended)
  • 2.5 GB free disk space for download and installation (3 GB recommended)
  • All graphics cards on supported hardware
  • 1,280 x 800 display with true color (1,600 x 1,200 with true color recommended)
  • U.S., U.K., or France keyboard layout
  • Apple® Mouse, Apple Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad, MacBook® Pro trackpad, or Microsoft®-compliant mouse.
  • Mac OS X-compliant printer
source: http://outboundlink.us/anxo/dr_ta_1/goto.php?DR_id=20&SID=44nvyvvksi&linkout=http%3A//usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index%3FsiteID%3D123112%26id%3D15435044
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I'm really surprised...

that under system requirements they say you need a MacPro 4,1 or later. :eek:

Are you telling me my MP 3,1 8-core machine with 12GB of RAM and an 8800GT is incapable of running this?

They listed MBPs and other lower spec machines that can run this. What exactly do those machines have over mine?

Here are the specs listed from the website:

• Apple® Mac® Pro 4,1 or later; MacBook® Pro 5,1 or later (MacBook Pro 6,1 or later recommended); iMac® 8,1 or later (iMac 11,1 or later recommended); Mac® mini 3,1
or later (Mac mini 4,1 or later recommended); MacBook Air® 2,1 or later;
• MacBook® 5,1 or later (MacBook 7,1 or later recommended) Mac OS® X v10.6.4 or later; Mac OS X v10.5.8 or later
• 64-bit Intel® processor
• 2 GB of RAM (4 GB recommended)
• 1 GB free disk space for installation
• All graphics cards on supported hardware
• 1,024 x 768 display with true color (1,600 x 1,200 with true color recommended)
• U.S., U.K., or France keyboard layout
• Apple® Mouse, Apple Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad, MacBook® Pro trackpad, or Microsoft®-compliant mouse
• Mac OS X-compliant printer
Click to expand...
 
urtext said:
This is really great, I am a student in Architecture and I can download it for free. THOUGH, I've a first gen MacBook Pro (yes, an Intel Core Duo, without the '2', yes the first gen Intel Mac ever). The ID of my machine is MacBookPro1,1

Minimum requirement is MacBookPro5,1 – MacBookPro6,1 recommend!!!

I can believe my system isn't supported, but the Mac you have is not allowed to be older than one year! That's frikkin' ridiculous! My 2006 machine will help my graduate in a few years, but without AutoCAD for Mac... crazy...
Click to expand...

Im in the same position. I have a Macbook 4.1, slightly miffed. Not much we can do though.
 
dmm219 said:
Chances are, if you Mac is 2 years or older, you won't have an acceptable video card to run it.

It won't run on my 2008 top of the line Macbook...
Click to expand...

Chances are if your Mac is 2 years or older the next operating system from Apple won't run on it either. :eek: :rolleyes: :apple:
 
I need a printer to run Autodesk?

I am downloading the demo on my 1,1 Mac Pro (Woodcrest) to see what happens when I try to install it. It's got a 4870 graphics card, so it's not a complete antique.

Edit: it installs fine and it runs too.
 
No dynamic block editing or creation or express tools. Sure its a drafting program and its similar to windows but it is a step child. I won't be moving over.
 
Michael73 said:
that under system requirements they say you need a MacPro 4,1 or later. :eek:

Are you telling me my MP 3,1 8-core machine with 12GB of RAM and an 8800GT is incapable of running this?

They listed MBPs and other lower spec machines that can run this. What exactly do those machines have over mine?

Here are the specs listed from the website:
Click to expand...
I think the system requirements make no sense either. How is it that the Mac Pro 3,1 with up to 2 quad core 3.2GHz processors and a 8800GT is not supported while a MacBook Air 2,1 with a 1.6Ghz Dual Core and a 9400M is?

From the system requirements it looks like they need a Penryn based core probably because they are using SSE4.1 and a DX10 class GPU which are the ones Apple is actively optimizing drivers for which is all reasonable. But they should apply this evenly across all product families particularly the Mac Pro. Namely the Mac Pro 3,1 should be supported along with the MacBook Pro 4,1. The existing baseline of iMac 8,1, Mac Mini 3,1, and MacBook Air 2,1 follow the SSE4.1 and DX10 class GPU requirement.
 
Glideslope said:
This will be a huge sales boost for all Macs that can run it. It will be interesting to see what the Oct 20th event holds for iMac Horsepower. :cool:
Click to expand...

I bet it will be very little if any sales change for Macs because of this.

Reason being is the company already running Autocad have everything else windows based in the office and they are not going to invest in the change to get everything changed over. It would take to much time just get it done much less the cost of any software and new hardware.

Students still are limited by the schools. They tell you the hardware and OS you will run or are required to have.

It will hurt vector works market share that much I am willing to bet will happen
 
Rodimus Prime said:
the company already running Autocad have everything else windows based in the office and they are not going to invest in the change
Click to expand...

Other than just talking for the sake of talking, you base this assumption on what?



100% of our remaining PC's will now be replaced with Macs.

This news today was like the ewok party in the original Return of the Jedi. I ran into three of our local competitors at the bar at lunch, and everyone was giddy as hell, installing the rudimentary Acad WS stuff on their iphones & pads.

Pretty big deal.

When they pull Inventor, Revit, & 3DsMax over, I'll not care one bit about Adobe's Microsoft fetish.
 
ThunderSkunk said:
Other than just talking for the sake of talking, you base this assumption on what?



100% of our remaining PC's will now be replaced with Macs.

This news today was like the ewok party in the original Return of the Jedi. I ran into three of our local competitors at the bar at lunch, and everyone was giddy as hell, installing the rudimentary Acad WS stuff on their iphones & pads.

Pretty big deal.

When they pull Inventor, Revit, & 3DsMax over, I'll not care one bit about Adobe's Microsoft fetish.
Click to expand...


Base that on assumption of the raw cost of the number of computers in the office. The cost to switch them over.

Take engineering companies. Most of them that run Autocad are Civil and they do a lot more that just structural design. They will be doing stuff in hydrology and some of the critical software for that stuff is Windows only. Since some of the critical software is windows only and nothing on the horizon of it being made for any other OS. They are not going to flip.

Do not forget that you have a lot of other software that would be windows running system that changing over would be a lot of work.
The some small firms might make the change but I do not see larger ones that already are Autocad only making the changed.

I know there is some other CAD programs out there beside Vector works and Autocad. One of the other big ones is Microstation which is windows only. Several stated DOT required all work to be turned in on Microstation (I know for a fact TXDOT does) and so those companies will not changed. I know many of them will run both Autocad and Microstation since different clients want different things.

Just pointed out just because Autocad goes OSX it will have little effect on Mac sells. It is great news I give you that. It shows OSX is finally large enough to get the attention of one of the biggest CAD players but that is about it.
 
Finally.

As an architecture major, I can get a free 3 year student license; very happy about that. Now I have no reason to run Windows (aside from Revit, which I can use on my school's lab computers), and that's a great thing.
 
4k?

....
glad i don't use autocad software for anything I do. Heck I'm struggling to save for a full copy of logic pro studio.
 
Been watching for this for awhile. After seeing it I think I will go ahead and pull the trigger on VectorWerks. I an an LT user and I am sick of Autodesk's yearly upgrades adding minimal added functionality for my use and their constantly changing file format forcing people to upgrade whether they want to or not.
 
Still AutoCad

As a long time Vectorworks user and instructor, I have had to spend time with various firms using AutoCAD. The last time was years ago, but I found it such a backward environment coming from VW. The simple tasks seamed really more trouble than they should be. After downloading this MAc version and playing with it for the day, I can safely say that Vectorworks has no reason to worry about losing my business. I export files regularly to AutoCad for some of the engineering consultants and have to import .dwg files often, and VW does a great job (at half the price, no less). Not to be championing VW, but when I see this Autodesk crap that people insist is superior, it reminds me of the windows / mac debate. Ahh, c'est la vie.

Oh and to the comment about yearly upgrades to ACAD, same applies to VectorWorks, which is my one big piss off. New app every fall, moderate changes... sometimes they even find a way to mess with tools that work just fine. I go on the two year cycle....
 
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