CAD: So A is for Apple After All ...
Mac users now have an AutoCAD all to themselves ...
Here at Kung Fu Drafter we are CAD professionals and geeks. That being said we are used to changes that come fast and furious. One day digitizers are the norm. The next day we are all pricing 3D mice. Records are in, and then they’re out. CD’s are the rage and then their coasters. It’s just the way of things. What we never thought we would see is a native version of AutoCAD for the Mac.
Naturally, we were wrong. AutoCAD is back in the Mac in a big way.
On Friday, October 15, 2010, Autodesk officially released a native version of AutoCAD for the Mac OS. Now, we aren’t talking about a limited AutoCAD. Or AutoCAD running on emulation software. We’re not even talking about regular AutoCAD running on a Windows installation on a dual booting Mac. Nope. We are talking about the real thing. The original. And by all accounts, it is pretty awesome.
For nearly two decades if you were a CAD professional and a Mac-head, you weren’t mentioning those two things at once. We believe it was way back in Release 13 that Autodesk stopped offering a version of AutoCAD for the Mac. Truth be told, it’s been so long we have forgotten. During that time Mac users were confined to a handful of CAD programs that tried to fill the void, but really didn’t. In fact, it’s our belief that the lack of a CAD powerhouse on the Mac is what opened the door to it being known as a creative’s platform. Take away the CAD and the CGI just sort of flowed into the void.
We’ve taken a look at the system requirements for AutoCAD 2011 for the Mac. However, since we don’t speak Macanese we really are not sure what they mean. Suffice it to say that if you have a current Mac running version 10.5.8 of the Mac OS X then you are probably good to go. It’s not that we are anti-Mac; we’ve just never had one around the dojo. In we are rather Mac-curious so if you read something in the specs that sparks some interest, leave us a comment. But write it in a way that a Windows person can read.
It’s an exciting time for CAD professionals everywhere. No longer do they have to exist on multiple platforms. Your Mac can come out of the home office and prepare to take its rightful place in the engineering office. Now we aren’t going to promise you that your large format plotter is going to be Johnny on the Spot with the drivers. Or that your favorite plug-in will have a Mac version tomorrow. But hey, it is just a matter of time now!
If we have you curious then you will be glad to know that Autodesk has a free 30-day trial for you to install and experience AutoCAD on Mac OS for yourself. Join the tens of thousands of Mac users who have already downloaded the free trial and see for yourself! Now if there was only a way that we could try out a Mac for 30 days to see if we want to buy one …
- KFD -
Kung Fu Drafter
If you are anything like us, then you spent part of your weekend being amazed at the reception AutoCAD for Mac has received. We knew that the return of the premier CAD application to the Mac would be big news, but we had no idea that it would be this big. Just take a look at these handful of articles covering the release:
- AutoCAD Software For Mac Is Back ~ UberGizmo
- AutoCAD makes its Mac return, after nearly two decades in the wildnernes ~ Boy Genius Report
- AutoCAD Released for Mac OS X ~ Macgasm
- AutoCAD Back on the Mac ~ Gerson Lehrman Group
- AutoCAD for the Mac arrives ~ TechWorld
- Autodesk Goes Back to Macs: Good Tidings for Apple in Corporate IT ~ Daily Finance
- AutoCAD for Mac Now Available ~ MacRumors
- AutoCAD returns to the Mac, mobile app offered ~ CNet News
But the excitement doesn't stop there. Even as we type, there are events, meetings and support plans being formed the CAD world over. Autodesk's own Shaan Hurley, evangelist and master blogger, will be in Toronto at an Apple store putting AutoCAD for Mac through its paces. We are sure that the demonstration will be a standing room only event.
Since we operate in a Mac-free environment we'll have to rely on the news from others as to how this release performs. If you are a Mac-head then leave us a comment and let us know what you think. If you are lucky enough to see Shaan in action say hi. Tell him Kung Fu Drafter sent you.
- KFD -
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