AutoCADderFriday, September 24, 2010
DraftSight and other DWG incompatible clones
It is an interesting phenomenon this autumn. Even respectable software vendors jumps to be the first ones who release an AutoCAD clone for Mac, and better AutoCAD clone for Windows.
There is the Dassault's DraftSight, CAD Schroer's STHENO/LX, Graebert's ARES, ProgeCAD is said to be in the works, and maybe others.
The first strange thing in these feverish activities is the Mac platform. I don't know if the US market is so different but there are simply no Mac users in the technical/engineering industry in Europe. Someone should divulge that to these vendors.
The second thing is the lack of innovation. Are all these software vendors so short-sighted and non-creative that they are able only to copy (steal if you wish) an existing software - AutoCAD - and bring no own idea into their development?
And the third thing - the most important for us, users. When they happen to copy AutoCAD, they should do it right. I had a chance to try DraftSight which is said to read/write DWG files "almost like AutoCAD" and I can say that this is simply not true. DraftSight reads most of the DWG contents but not all! Some drawing objects are missing, some objects are interpreted differently that in the genuine AutoCAD. So you definitely cannot trust the DWG drawings you open or even modify in DraftSight. It does not support DWG, it does support only a clone of the DWG format (a subtle but important difference).
Maybe your business does not depend on the precision and fidelity of the technical drawings but our business does.
So if there happens to be some Mac users longing to process DWG files on their apple-boxes, they will need to use the official "AutoCAD for Mac" by Autodesk.
There is the Dassault's DraftSight, CAD Schroer's STHENO/LX, Graebert's ARES, ProgeCAD is said to be in the works, and maybe others.
The first strange thing in these feverish activities is the Mac platform. I don't know if the US market is so different but there are simply no Mac users in the technical/engineering industry in Europe. Someone should divulge that to these vendors.
The second thing is the lack of innovation. Are all these software vendors so short-sighted and non-creative that they are able only to copy (steal if you wish) an existing software - AutoCAD - and bring no own idea into their development?
And the third thing - the most important for us, users. When they happen to copy AutoCAD, they should do it right. I had a chance to try DraftSight which is said to read/write DWG files "almost like AutoCAD" and I can say that this is simply not true. DraftSight reads most of the DWG contents but not all! Some drawing objects are missing, some objects are interpreted differently that in the genuine AutoCAD. So you definitely cannot trust the DWG drawings you open or even modify in DraftSight. It does not support DWG, it does support only a clone of the DWG format (a subtle but important difference).
Maybe your business does not depend on the precision and fidelity of the technical drawings but our business does.
So if there happens to be some Mac users longing to process DWG files on their apple-boxes, they will need to use the official "AutoCAD for Mac" by Autodesk.
Labels: AutoCAD, clone, Draftsight, DWG, Mac
Monday, May 24, 2010
First sightings of AutoCAD for Mac
Monday, January 11, 2010
AutoCAD 2011 natively on Mac?
After performing the MacOS survey (see AutoCAD for Apple Mac - please no) it looks like Autodesk really means to release a native version of AutoCAD for Mac.
This is a blurry leaked screen capture of possible AutoCAD Mac version:
It doesn't look like a fake but you never know with these leaked pictures...
When they really detach the platform user interface from the core functionality, it shouldn't be difficult to make also an AutoCAD for Linux, or AutoCAD for Google Chrome.
This is a blurry leaked screen capture of possible AutoCAD Mac version:
It doesn't look like a fake but you never know with these leaked pictures...
When they really detach the platform user interface from the core functionality, it shouldn't be difficult to make also an AutoCAD for Linux, or AutoCAD for Google Chrome.
Labels: Apple, AutoCAD, Linux, Mac
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
AutoCAD runs on Apple Mac
I was (and I still am) against developing a separate Mac version of AutoCAD.
It seems that the risk of developing a Mac version is now over. Autodesk has found a painless method of having a "Mac version" of AutoCAD and not having to invest in the development - running it in the Windows dual-boot tool "Apple Boot Camp" shipped with Mac OS X. See the Autodesk Labs posting: Autodesk announces expanded support for Mac users.
We have a nice proverb for this in German: "wasch mir den Pelz, aber mach mich nicht nass" (roughly: wash my fur but don't make me wet - meaning - have a cake and eat it too).
But proverbs aside - IMHO this is more than enough to make the small group of CAD-Mac users happy. And when Autodesk adds an official support for Windows virtualization tools in Mac OS X, AutoCAD (and Revit and Inventor) will simply "run on Macs".
It seems that the risk of developing a Mac version is now over. Autodesk has found a painless method of having a "Mac version" of AutoCAD and not having to invest in the development - running it in the Windows dual-boot tool "Apple Boot Camp" shipped with Mac OS X. See the Autodesk Labs posting: Autodesk announces expanded support for Mac users.
We have a nice proverb for this in German: "wasch mir den Pelz, aber mach mich nicht nass" (roughly: wash my fur but don't make me wet - meaning - have a cake and eat it too).
But proverbs aside - IMHO this is more than enough to make the small group of CAD-Mac users happy. And when Autodesk adds an official support for Windows virtualization tools in Mac OS X, AutoCAD (and Revit and Inventor) will simply "run on Macs".
