[Webscreamer]

A friend wants to buy a Mac... badly..... but for what he does he NEEDS AutoCad or compatible software.

Does anyone know of any?

[Mac Guru]

http://www.nemetschek.net/

VectorWorks 11

My Dad uses it, and all his associates swear by it.

Mac Guru

[CheesePuff]

I did sign a survey from AutoCAD about porting it to the Mac... so hopefully they will soon.

[Webscreamer]

Thanks for the reply's

They DO have plans for porting?

And Vectorworks 11 is exactly like AutoCad?

[Timo]

1. I doubt AutoCad will be ported to the Mac.
2. VW isn't much like AutoCad, for better or for worse. It can read, with varying levels of success, native .dwg files.
3. It is possible to run, say AutoCad r.14 in Virtual PC.

[Webscreamer]

I guess he'll have to get a PC from the sounds of it

[cewade]

This is very depressing to hear

I mainly purchased my powerbook for the many classes I'm aking next year that will require m e to be at a computer as much as possible, one such class is my Engineering Drawing (AutoCAD) Class. I still have a Windows machine I can use to draw at home, but the convenience of a laptop would have been much, much better. Oh well, I still get to program and type the research aper that decides if I graduate

[Busemann]

The people I've talked to that has switched from AutoCad on PC to VW on Mac say they never would go back. From what it sounds like to me (no first hand knowledge though), it seems Autocad is losing popularity on the PC side.

Anyways, VW 11 is a lot better at working with dwg files with multiple classes than earlier versions, so working cross-platform shouldn't be a (big) problem.

[misc]

In my opinion VW is tons better than AutoCad. ArchiCad is also available for mac. Both can import .dwgs.

For my design major there is a draw between what design program is taught. Depending on what school you go to and what the teacher prefers will be what you learn. I've had friends who were turned down for jobs because they knew AutoCad and not VW and vice versa. As a side note, the school I plan to go to teaches us VW.

[JKT]

Originally posted by Webscreamer:
A friend wants to buy a Mac... badly..... but for what he does he NEEDS AutoCad or compatible software.

Does anyone know of any?

For more info, click the "Architosh" link at the very top of this page.

[jeffB]

before i drop a lot of money to see how VW handles .dwg drawn by my customers, how can i test it. VWviewer will not open .dwg for me.

[ratlater]

Originally posted by cewade:
This is very depressing to hear

I mainly purchased my powerbook for the many classes I'm aking next year that will require m e to be at a computer as much as possible, one such class is my Engineering Drawing (AutoCAD) Class. I still have a Windows machine I can use to draw at home, but the convenience of a laptop would have been much, much better. Oh well, I still get to program and type the research aper that decides if I graduate

My girlfriend did all of her AutoCAD classes and drawings on a powerbook 867 in virtual PC 5. It was slower than on a fast new PC, but it was very usable. I'm guessing with the new powerbooks and virtual pc 7 it will be even better.

-matt

[Millennium]

AutoCad is, unfortunately, one of those absolutely critical programs, in that if you really need it then nothing else will do. This is especially true if you need to work with AutoCad data, and many engineers need to do exactly this.

Many moons ago, a port of AutoCad existed for the Mac. However, they abandoned the platform so long ago that this port isn't likely to do you any good. Even finding it isn't going to be easy.

Your only hope, I'm afraid, is Virtual PC. I'm not sure that's a wise choice for a CAD package, though, to be honest. It's not likely to run fast enough.

[Gerrit Vanoppen]

Originally posted by jeffB:
before i drop a lot of money to see how VW handles .dwg drawn by my customers, how can i test it. VWviewer will not open .dwg for me.

You could try a VW dealer, a plot center, a user club...
Or drop a message here : [email protected]
It's an international VW mailing list with some helpfull people - perhaps you'll find someone in your neighbourhood.
As an everyday VW user myself, I export/import DWG quite often. VW11 has improved a lot compared to VW10. Depending on the Acad user pen width/line colour is about the only thing I need to check.

[Stuncle Eve]

Have a look at PowerCADD - we went from windows & AutoCAD to Mac & VW, to Mac & VPC & AutoCAD, finally to Mac & PowerCADD, & it's great.

http://www.engsw.com/

[Neo.cmg]

Originally posted by Millennium:
AutoCad is, unfortunately, one of those absolutely critical programs, in that if you really need it then nothing else will do. This is especially true if you need to work with AutoCad data, and many engineers need to do exactly this.

Many moons ago, a port of AutoCad existed for the Mac. However, they abandoned the platform so long ago that this port isn't likely to do you any good. Even finding it isn't going to be easy.

Your only hope, I'm afraid, is Virtual PC. I'm not sure that's a wise choice for a CAD package, though, to be honest. It's not likely to run fast enough.

If you are an engineer in this day and age, and engineering students should pay particular attention here, then AutoCAD is outdated. Very few engineering firms invest in AutoCAD, and many technical schools have yet to catch up due to the cost of software licensing fees. No one in industry uses AutoCAD, unless you are in some type of architecture/civil engineering discipline or you are a very small private firm. That being said, AutoCAD is still being taught in schools, because the basic principles of CAD drawings can still be taught through use of the program. However, industry has moved on to 3-D modeler programs such as Pro-E, Catia, and Unisys. Unfortunately, neither of these programs works with the Mac either. But for your CAD courses within school, use the computer lab computers there on campus, and forget buying a piece of CAD software for your Mac, or coupling AutoCAD with VirtualPC. You're wasting your time and money.

NASA has a lot of influence within the software community, and they have a list of software that they want ported to the Mac platform, because it has been their platform of choice for awhile now. Eventually, I imagine we'll see a nice 3-D modeler application ported to the Mac, but for now use the PCs available to you. Apps like VectorWorks are barely usable for engineering work, and they are geared towards Architects.

Neo.cmg

[BuonRotto]

AutoCAD is crap, the worst CAD platform out there. If all these enigneering firms really are changing their platforms, I can't imagine why architects continue to be suckered into using it. I've used half a dozen comparable platforms for architecture, and they're all better than AutoCAD, and that doesn't include the huge array of 3D modelers.

There are actually quite a few 3D apps on the Mac though, or you can run some under X11 in a worst-case scenario.

BOA
ArchiCAD
VectorWorks
FormZ
Cinema 4D
LightWave
Maya and
Graphite, Argon, Xenon and Cobalt (Ashlar-Vellum)
PowerCADD
SketchUp and Piranesi
SolidThinking Design
Universe

...and a few other small packages.

Anyway, I just wanted to vent about AutoCRAP a bit.

[nooon]

..now if they could only make 3D Studio Max for OS X, everything would be perfect.

[jeffB]

while i agree that autocad isnt good anymore, the problem is i use my powerbook for everything at work except opening .dwg files sent by customers. The drawings are always 2D, i dont need to actually draw anything save for a few missing dimension lines now and again. I don't know how or why but PowerCADD leaves off many dimesions, notes, lines, walls, etc if it renders the part at all. I've tried VWviewer (doesnt open .dwg) canvas9 (same problem as powercadd) and one other program (same thing). So like, yeah. I'm stuck with my nice powerbook and a HP Pavilion that's used for only one thing. Anybody have a similar problem.