AutoCAD Arrives for the Mac

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
Joined
May 9, 2000
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In reality, AutoCAD is re-arriving for the MAC after a long 16 year absence. That is good news for the die hard Mac users and even better news since AutoCAD has a 30-day free trial. The bad news is the price is still up in the stratosphere.


Long-time users of AutoCAD on Windows-based systems will feel right at home with AutoCAD for Mac, using the same commands and tools with which they’re already familiar. The intuitive interface and context-sensitive help function makes the transition easier and, regardless of background, AutoCAD for Mac helps users to spend less time on the software and more time on their designs.
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AutoDesk really went weird with parts of the interface for AutoCAD 2011 (yay Student Edition) compared to 2009 and 2010.
 
Time for a ROFL and a sigh...

The preferred platform of the graphic artist (BS if you ask me and every single graphic artist I know), did not include AutoCAD for 16 years. Hilarious! And before you start flaming, realize that AutoCAD is a very nice tool for doing various preproduction for 3D environments and buildings. Not just an architect/engineer tool in the dry sense technical drawing and prototyping.
 
Wait, the Mac OS edition is sold at the same price as the Windows edition? AutoDesk fails at marketing!
 
Lol, there is an upgrade edition. Wonder if it is from a Win version, or the what? 16 year old Mac version?
 
well, as far as I know, autodesk is just using a virtual pc emulation to get autocad working on mac, its not a native program on the mac OS, I could be wrong but I don't think so.
 
Autodesk fails each and every year by bringing out half-assed "new versions" (incomplete upgrades that require patch after patch). The subscription approach is purely a money grab and not necessary in terms of actual production. I'd rather go back to R14 than the current versions that have stability and compatibility issues (between verticals).
 
We're still running 2004 & 2005 at work. There's no subscription, not tied to inventor etc. We use Solidworks for most stuff these days, and just use Autocad to maintain our old drawings.
 
nakedhand said:
And before you start flaming, realize that AutoCAD is a very nice tool for doing various preproduction for 3D environments and buildings. Not just an architect/engineer tool in the dry sense technical drawing and prototyping.
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um no its not. i've used it extensively and although it does have some 3d capabilities, they are utterly terrible. use some decent software and you'll change your opinion very quickly.

but honestly...what self respecting engineer/designer would use a mac to begin with? i don't care what you think of macs, there is no software support for that profession - most of autodesk's income! and autocad...great pick one of the worst software packages out there for engineering/design...not to mention WAY overpriced for what it does.

i smell an incredible fail coming on.
 
If 3D modeling (solidworks, pro-e) comes to the Mac, that might be a big deal, but until then. No.
 
So now that nobody uses autocad anymore, they might as well try to get some suckers on Macs to buy it. Mac users are good at buying useless stuff, so it fits in pretty well.
 
I wouldn't object to trying out Autocad on the Mac but just plain jane Autocad doesn't cut it. I've been using Land Development Desktop and Autodesk is forcing us into Civil 3D (the data management sucks gimme back LDD). As an engineering firm, we wouldn't be able to migrate to an OS X environment until the proper version of Autocad was made available.

The boss is a fanboi and would move in an instant if the above conditions were met. Hell, I'd support him just in terms of basic OS stability (we've gone from XP Pro to Vista - holy shit was that a disaster - and we're now setting up and testing a Win7 box and that's brought out a whole new batch of problems).

If I could get away with basic Autocad functionality, I'd move over to the Mac but not until Autodesk has at least one or two more releases to iron out the bugs (they never truly iron out the bugs). Technically, this is version 1 and Autodesk's odd numbered revisions (such as 9, 11 and 13 - my god 13 was awful) were always flakey.

Yes, I've developed a real liking for OS X over Windows (I built custom systems for years and have very few issues with my own windows machines) but I still have this inner hatred for Autodesk, their subscription model (read: the rape of the corporate pocket book) and their inability to actually release full (yearly) versions that are truly improvements over the last release.
 
Is this even news worthy?

AutoCAD is on life support with no hope of survival.

SolidWorks is working on a IOS supported version in the next year or so. Even though I dont understand why someone would toss money out the window buying a mac to run anything, its still coming.
 
I only see AutoCAD on Mac for architectural operations. Engineering and architectural fields over the years, have moved from 2D drawings to full 3D software systems. Reducing the need for the 2D part of AutoCAD. The Mac version will ether be highly-successful or just a flop, no partly-successful here.
 
I'd rather see Claris Cad come back. It was simply brilliant what they did with a program that installed from two floppies. By far my favorite drawing program ever.
 
Anyone saying AutoCAD is dead is mistaken. AutoCAD is still very much a part of the Engineering industry, particularly in Oil & Gas. A popular plant modeling package, Bentley's AutoPLANT, uses AutoCAD as a base. The actual plant is modeled in AutoCAD/AutoPLANT in 3D but 2D is still used as well for things such as plot plans, isometric drawings, orthographic general arrangements, standard drawings, process flow diagrams, process and instrumentation diagrams, etc, etc. Pretty much anything that requires drafting.
 
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