I need a new computer and the new mac mini looks like the perfect solution for my needs. I will be using the mac mini to do production on some small side jobs. My question is how do i use autocad on a mac? i have heard of running vertual pc on the mac and then running autocad through that, but does that slow it down to much? Should i even bother trying to use autocad anymore and just bite the bullet and learn a new program to do cd's that is mac compatible?
damn you autocad, damn you
i prefer macs. my office uses autocad. i use peecees.
virtual PC is not a viable solution for autocad IMO. its very slow, problematic to set up, and doesn't run autocad all that well. my advice, buy your mac mini, and buy a cheap-ass dell peecee for $350.
I haven't heard any positive experiences running autocad through virtual pc. You should probably decide which is more important, mac or autocad, and let that decide which you go with.
There are lots of other discussions on good cad programs for mac, if you decide to go that way. Just realize they are different, and you will have a learning curve.
i do not like autocad at all, i have toyed around with archicad and find it to make alot more sense the way it is set up for architects and i know they have a version for mac's. you are right though pencrush, do i want to deal with the learning curve. you would think autocad would have a mac version.
Jan 31, 05 1:23 pm ·
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Autocad will not kill you. Take 3ifs' advice and build a cheap PC. It never hurts to know both platforms.
Autocad was on Mac up through release 12, but that was long ago. There are always rumors that autodesk will eventually port to OSX, but these are always rumors, nothing more. Virtual PC will allow you to view the files, however for actual drawing it's useless. I still use the mac for everything except acad and rhino.
i have heard rumors that autodesk is planning on porting acad to OS X but i wouldn't hold my breath. the decision not to sell a mac version of acad is clearly a business decision rather than a technical one. there are just not enough mac-only offices in our field to justify it, and the offices that are mac-only have probably chosen that platform largely out of the desire to avoid all things acad.
as for the original topic of this post, i would say a mac mini only makes sense if you have an existing monitor you're planning to use with it. if you don't have the monitor, it starts making a lot more sense to buy an emac or an imac. i agree with pencrush concerning the learning curve, though i would say if you're comfortable using acad it's not all that hard to learn other vector based drafting software. i picked up microstation quickly and feel just as comfortable using it now as i do acad.
Jan 31, 05 2:08 pm ·
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Using Autocad with Macs
I need a new computer and the new mac mini looks like the perfect solution for my needs. I will be using the mac mini to do production on some small side jobs. My question is how do i use autocad on a mac? i have heard of running vertual pc on the mac and then running autocad through that, but does that slow it down to much? Should i even bother trying to use autocad anymore and just bite the bullet and learn a new program to do cd's that is mac compatible?
damn you autocad, damn you
i prefer macs. my office uses autocad. i use peecees.
virtual PC is not a viable solution for autocad IMO. its very slow, problematic to set up, and doesn't run autocad all that well. my advice, buy your mac mini, and buy a cheap-ass dell peecee for $350.
I haven't heard any positive experiences running autocad through virtual pc. You should probably decide which is more important, mac or autocad, and let that decide which you go with.
There are lots of other discussions on good cad programs for mac, if you decide to go that way. Just realize they are different, and you will have a learning curve.
i do not like autocad at all, i have toyed around with archicad and find it to make alot more sense the way it is set up for architects and i know they have a version for mac's. you are right though pencrush, do i want to deal with the learning curve. you would think autocad would have a mac version.
Autocad will not kill you. Take 3ifs' advice and build a cheap PC. It never hurts to know both platforms.
Autocad was on Mac up through release 12, but that was long ago. There are always rumors that autodesk will eventually port to OSX, but these are always rumors, nothing more. Virtual PC will allow you to view the files, however for actual drawing it's useless. I still use the mac for everything except acad and rhino.
i have heard rumors that autodesk is planning on porting acad to OS X but i wouldn't hold my breath. the decision not to sell a mac version of acad is clearly a business decision rather than a technical one. there are just not enough mac-only offices in our field to justify it, and the offices that are mac-only have probably chosen that platform largely out of the desire to avoid all things acad.
as for the original topic of this post, i would say a mac mini only makes sense if you have an existing monitor you're planning to use with it. if you don't have the monitor, it starts making a lot more sense to buy an emac or an imac. i agree with pencrush concerning the learning curve, though i would say if you're comfortable using acad it's not all that hard to learn other vector based drafting software. i picked up microstation quickly and feel just as comfortable using it now as i do acad.
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