First screenshots back upcoming AutoCAD for Mac
updated 11:10 am EDT, Mon May 24, 2010
App should support 64-bit, Magic Mouse
AutoCAD is indeed coming to the Mac, a report says. In April, code comments in ObjectARX 2011 SDK files were noted to be pointing to a Mac port. These have been backed up with new screenshots of an early beta, codenamed Sledgehammer Beta 1. The release is said to be 64-bit native, and already supporting multi-touch gestures via a Magic Mouse.
AutoCAD is considered one of the most important computer-aided design programs, a standard platform for architects, product designers and engineers. It has been Windows-only for some time however, in spite of the Mac's popularity in graphics work. Part of the blame may attributable to the difficult of porting a complex rendering engine with sufficient speed.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Sep 2008
coming 'back' to the Mac
From what I recall, Release 12 of AutoCad was indeed available for the Mac, as well as for Sun and SGI platforms. Afterward AutoDesk did a 180 turn, and released only for Windows NT. This is part of the reason why Release12 (DXF and DWG) file formats are still popular for backwards compatibility. Professionals sometimes use AutoCad for file format conversion, as a 'gold standard' before using whatever other package they work with. At any rate, I'm hoping that the Mac version will be reasonably priced, and this is indeed good news for the Mac Design/CAD crowd. Hopefully 3DS Max will be next for Mac.