The CAD Environment: Easy and Powerful Drafting This is what it's all about folks, and Nemetschek has delivered one of the first true native OS X CAD programs that allows CAD users to move over to OS X and finally reap the benefits of a easy to use, modern UNIX-based operating system. Most palettes in OS X resemble their old Mac and Windows counter parts. While the total rendering time increased, I was able to switch over and watch the QuickTime movies and even check my email while the RenderWorks rendering proceeded smoothly in the background. To make it harder, I added two QuickTime movie trailers to the very same task. Everything proceeded in the rendering smoothly. To really test this out I put up a simple lighted architectural model and rendered it at "Final RenderWorks" quality while I quickly Command-Tab'd over to Dreamweaver running in the Classic Mac OS 9 environment to continue writing this review. UNIX Strength: The Preemptive Multitasking Challengeįor many Mac VectorWorks users the ultimate benefit of moving to version 9.5 on Mac OS X is to take advantage of the powerful UNIX-based OS. Mac OS X menu palettes drop down and provide both transparency and shadow over your open files (see graphics below) producing a very nice effect with clear legibility of menu items however, the application does not yet take advantage of the new drop down "Sheets" function in OS X, a particularly nice and useful feature. Time will tell and OS X users will likely relay this information to Nemetschek. Though I would not be surprised if Nemetschek, eventually, did redesign their icons in response to Apple's new OS. The combined look is very satisfactory there is really no need to shadow your zoom icon's magnifying glass. While the new OS X Interface Guidelines entice developers to explore more realistic and 3D versions of icons, Nemetschek wisely left their existing icons alone. All of their tool palettes, dialogs and menus look gorgeous in Mac OS X's Aqua interface. Nemetschek North America has done a wonderful job of taking advantages of the Aqua interface system. Combine this with the fact that this version appears to be one of the more stable releases in years and longtime Mac-based users are likely to wonder how they ever got by with anything less. With this Mac OS X version, if the application has a fit or two in the course of a week, OS X will politely force quit the application without so much as a scratch on the rest of the systemor other applications for that matter. However the company has worked hard to speed up the overall performance of the productsomething that is really important for all usersincluding OS X adopters.įor veteran VectorWorks (formerly MiniCAD) users the charm of this program has always been weighed against Apple's often finicky "classic" Mac OS. Outside of some minor tweaks, many bug fixes and native OS X support, version 9.5 differs little from the previous 9.x release. In this review I will be looking at the general application and specific ARCHITECT features. With the release of version 9.5, VectorWorks ARCHITECT has been completely transformed into a native Mac OS X application. With the latest VectorWorks ARCHITECT 9.5 product, Architosh finally had the chance to put a true "carbonized" VectorWorks product to the test and see how well it did in the UNIX-based Mac OS X environment. The longtime Macintosh product has been a popular CAD application with architects, engineers and other CAD professionals for well over a decade, but the company's current trend has been to target specific industries with a series of 'vertical' CAD and rendering products built around a centralized CAD engine. N emetschek North America's venerable VectorWorks (formerly MiniCAD) product line has been one of the most anticipated products to reach native Mac OS X status, having its development process discussed numerous times here in this publication and ruminations of its eventual outcome talked about in our forums. Support: Runs equally well on Windows, Mac and Mac OS X. Autocad users should give program a serious test run (on Mac and Windows). Pros: Excellent OS X support, extensive timesaving drawing features, architecture-specific document creation and management tools, standards support, solid Autocad import/export, built-in scripting support, 1/3 the cost of Autocad.Ĭons: No multiple windows, no docking tool palettes in Mac version, 'Saved Sheets' functions need refinements.Īdvice:For existing users OS X version a must upgrade.
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