2D DRAFTING SOFTWARE FOR MAC FOR MAC
2D DRAFTING SOFTWARE FOR MAC MAC OS X
2D DRAFTING SOFTWARE FOR MAC MAC OS

Alas, Hoffmann and other SolidWorks users may not see a Mac version anytime soon. Online discussions referencing Hoffmann’s petition undoubtedly contributed to the sudden increase of endorsements in the recent weeks). The total signatures collected now stands at 4,578. The 10-year-old petition has since been rediscovered.

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By porting SolidWorks to Mac OS X, SolidWorks could truly make their flagship ‘The Standard in 3D’ Modeling Software in eliminating its single-platform limitation.”

He wrote, “With Apple continuing to deliver screaming-fast hardware in their G4 line of computers and the new Mac OS X’s Unix underpinnings, the Macintosh would be an excellent platform for the SolidWorks 3D CAD system. In 1999, one SolidWorks user, Dominik Hoffmann, single-handedly launched a petition to get SolidWorks to develop a Mac version. “Everybody wants it! AutoCAD runs on OS X it’s so logical and obvious I don’t know what they are waiting for,” wrote another. “Please, release even a light version of AutoCAD for OS X,” pleaded one reader.

2D DRAFTING SOFTWARE FOR MAC FOR MAC

At Autodesk technology evangelist Shaan Hurley’s blog, many readers greeted the AutoCAD for Mac survey with enthusiasm. This year, Autodesk released the first version of Autodesk Alias, a 3D modeling and surfacing package, for the Mac platform, suggesting the design software maker is warming up to Mac again. The last version of AutoCAD for Mac dated back to the 1990s (Release 12). But its primary manufacturing software packages-AutoCAD and Autodesk Inventor-are available only for Windows. The company’s media and entertainment division houses dual-platform products like Autodesk Maya (animation and visual effects) and Autodesk Mudbox (3D sculpting and texturing). So, naturally, Autodesk’s inquiry into AutoCAD for Mac stirred up questions about the availability of other 3D programs for Mac.Īutodesk is no stranger to Mac. (In addition to the software you want to run, you’ll need to install the Windows OS in your Mac.) For others, running Windows apps in Bootcamp is less than ideal they want to be able to run CAD software directly from the Mac OS environment, as a Mac application. But the demand for storage space is a hindrance for some.

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Since Apple’s introduction of Bootcamp, those working in Mac OS X (Leopard) have been able to install and run Windows applications within Mac’s operating environment. Nearly all leading 3D MCAD programs-Autodesk Inventor, Pro/ENGINEER, SolidWorks, and Solid Edge-have been developed exclusively for PC. While architecture CAD users have been blessed with various dual-platform products (Graphisoft ArchiCAD and Nemetschek’s Vectorworks, to name but two), most mechanical CAD users are confined to Windows.

A recent survey Autodesk is conducting to gauge people’s interest in AutoCAD on Mac (see Autodesk blogger Shaan Hurley’s post here) revived the decade-old discussion that has been circulating in the bulletin boards and support forums for years: Would you like to run your favorite CAD software on Mac?

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