Cadalyst - April 2008 - (Page 40)

aecinsight By Jerry Laiserin AEC on Macs Macintosh supports the practice of design in the AEC world. A pple’s January 24, 1984, public announcement of the original Macintosh computer touted the system’s “extraordinary computing power with exceptional ease of use” — characteristics that remain true of Macs today and that help account for the system’s continuing appeal to creative professionals. That appeal, however, has not extended to the global mass market. Of the nearly 270 million personal computers sold worldwide in 2007, less than 3% were Macs. (In the U.S. market, which skews toward a more affluent, better-educated, and more creative demographic, Macs accounted for just more Figure 1. ArchiCAD 11 on the Mac combines the power of mainstream BIM authorthan 6% of new personal computer sales.) ing with the polish of the Mac interface, as in this visualization and contract docuDespite these demographic odds, dediment example for a 531-room Wyndham Hotel in Phoenix by Orcutt | Winslow. cated fans among AEC professionals remain (Courtesy Orcutt | Winslow Architecture, Planning, Interior Design) loyal to the Mac’s ideals, using Macs in far greater proportions than the general population. This loyalty is supported by a wide assortment of Mac-native software capable of any AEC practice task. In 2006, Apple changed its Macintosh hardware design to the Intel CPU family of chips (the central processing unit inside the computer) — which is the same CPU family used by Windows PCs. Apple’s Boot Camp software supports toggling an Intel-based Mac between the native Mac OS (operating system) and Windows XP or Vista. Thirdparty virtual-machine software, such as Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion, allows users to run Mac OS X and Windows concurrently on the same computer. This latter capability turns the global PC demographics equation on its head. Macs Figure 2. The Mac version of VectorWorks Architect from Nemetschek is a mainare the only PCs that can run essentially stream BIM application that can handle design projects even at large, urban scales. 100% of the software on the market, both (Designed in VectorWorks by Grüntuch Ernst Architekten, Berlin) Windows ware and Mac-native applications (the current Mac OS X 10.5 [A.K.A. Leopard] is certified as an implementation of the UNIX operMacs, Macs Everywhere ating system as well). Thus, Windows on a Mac can run Although Windows-on-Mac makes business sense for AEC software applications such as AutoCAD. Any browser- Apple, many Mac-using AEC professionals would question based application that requires the Windows-only Microthe rationale for running Windows software when Macsoft Internet Explorer browser, such as Autodesk Buzzsaw, native programs are available with equal or superior perforcan run on the latest Macs as well. mance and user experience. Counting software that started 40 www.cadalyst.com cadalyst April 2008 http://www.cadalyst.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cadalyst - April 2008

Cadalyst - April 2008 Contents Editor's Window Cad Central The Summer of BIM Thin Is In — Large LCD Monitors Caligari trueSpace 7.5 — 3D Modeling Software HP Compaq 8710w — Mobile Workstation Autodesk Design Review 2009 — Design Viewing and Collaboration Software Getting Better — What Should You Learn? Technical Uses for Nontechnical Software AEC on Macs Cad Cartoon Issue Indexes Tips Rain Down on Harry

Cadalyst - April 2008

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