Revit Running on Intel Mac

[sultarc]

Then all we will need is for xerox to provide print drivers for the wide format printers which are now non-existant.

[Steve_Stafford]

I like Macs, had two before I ever had a PC. I read Ralph Grabowski's posts about his experiences using a Mac now. I have to admit he's got some valid points about the Mac experience compared with PC's, if we can turn off "blinders".

What I like about the Macbook
Apple Hardware and Software, How Dreadful They Are
Experiencing CAD on the Mac

[iru69]

What do you think his "valid" points are?

I like Macs, had two before I ever had a PC. I read Ralph Grabowski's posts about his experiences using a Mac now. I have to admit he's got some valid points about the Mac experience compared with PC's, if we can turn off "blinders".

[Steve_Stafford]

What do you think his "valid" points are?

His first impression reactions...nearly all of them. I've felt the same disorientation he expresses. The comments that follow his post are also interesting. I think it is interesting because we have the same sort of issues transition from something to Revit. Why doesn't Revit do xyz this way instead, like... The reactions are valid and as we say about Revit...you have to forget or let go of what you "know".

[ron.sanpedro]

Ralph's Mac review translated to AutoWeek...

A Dodge Caravan owner test drives the new Ferrari 358 Italia
I let my trusty Caravan take a well earned break today and gave this new Italian thing a whirl. I gotta say, the thing UNCOMFORTABLE! The seats are too low, the suspension is just way too stiff, nothing like the plush comfortable ride of the Caravan. And the accelerator is way too sensitive, you hardly touch it and you are already doing way over 55 mph. It isn't an automatic, and the shifter isn't where it belongs; you shift with crazy paddles on the steering wheel! And by the way, any "modern" car puts the engine in the front where it belongs!
And eating fast food on the road? Forget about it, there is no cup holder!

But in reference to the zine, anyone who still complains about the number of buttons on the Mac is ignorant, and about 10 years behind in their information. For that matter, how many people use Revit or AutoCAD with the lousy track pad on a Dell? You want to do CAD, just use a mouse! Any $15 POS windows mouse will work. And more to the point, why would anyone use or expect Windows UI and user input motifs on a Mac? The entire system is intentionally designed differently. It's like complaining that Revit doesn't have eTransmit.
I fully expected Autodesk to be incompetent enough to try to force a Windows approach on the Mac, and was very happily surprised to find that there are enough actual fans of the Mac at Autodesk that they could make a real Mac app, that is still very familiar to an AutoCAD user. Some people might balk, but I suspect that the vast majority of people will pick it up quite easily. And maybe even wonder why Windows isn't smart enough to have the Close button graphically tell you that your file hasn't been saved. Or allow you to scroll any window without actually clicking in the window.

And please, explain to me how moving a finger to the vertical scroll bar for a bit, then to the horizontal, then to the vertical again, then back to the pad to move the pointer, then cranking the thumb over to get to the "real" right click is somehow superior to putting another finger down and scrolling in any direction, then simply tapping with both fingers to right click? Yeah, it's different, but come on, make some effort at a real evaluation, rather than complaining that it isn't exactly like what you are used to. We hear enough of that from AutoCAD users moving to Revit.

Lastly, I love the list of things that a Mac app won't do. OLE? WTF, really? That technology has never worked well on Windows, no $hit Sherlock it isn't on the Mac. But how about a little fairness. Mention the FREE export to PDF that is available to every single app. Or the FREE PDF editing tools. Or the nifty real time text replacement tools that will work with any native app (don't know if Acad for Mac uses Cocoa text classes or not, I sure hope so). Or the global spell checker for all apps (see caveat above vis-a-vis AutoCAD). Or the Automator that makes scripting app control MUCH easier than WSH/PowerShell, and actually works with the majority of apps.
And .NET? OK, sure, but no mention that Windows doesn't do Objective-C/Cocoa, which arguably allowed Autodesk to port AutoCAD in record time with likely a small team? Oh, and any Revit user would love to hear if every new build of a Mac CAD application requires testing every graphics card in the office with 5 different drivers to see what actually works now.

All in all, a rather simplistic, one sided, unhelpful article. UNLESS you are an IT guy looking for a way to shoot down a designer's idea of moving to the Mac. Then I guess this stuff was just what the Luddite ordered.

Gordon

[Steve_Stafford]

Apparently it is a pretty simple equation:
Mac = Smart, Creative, Fun to be Around, +$$
Mac = Aging, simple minded, dull, -$$

[ron.sanpedro]

Close. It's
Mac = Smart, Creative, Fun to be Around, BEAUTUFUL +$$
Windows = Aging, simple minded, dull, UGLY & CHEAP looking -$$
You've seen the commercials right?

But in all seriousness, some of his comments are so far off the mark I start to wonder if it was a hit job. There is simply nothing there but someone with an agenda going about it. There are some very real issues to address before switching an office to Mac, but nothing in those "zines" touches on them, just complaints about things not being exactly like someone is used to. Anyone who has already turned their back on CAD as a dead workflow probably understands that, but anyone who sees a future in glorified drafting maybe doesn't.
And yes, I am someone with an agenda going about it. The difference is I don't get paid. If someone paid for my opinion, I would think I should at least provide them an informed one. Getting paid to spout willful ignorance should be limited to FOX talking heads.

Gordon

[Steve_Stafford]

My reaction to his post when I read it was that I felt some of the same things when I first spent some time with a Mac Book. Not that I felt they were necessarily accurate about being able to work with the equipment long term. The lack of Home and End keys for me, for example, since I do a lot of writing is annoying. Other key combos to get the same end result just denies the notion that people who have done a lot of writing actually use them. It's just perspective rather than "better"...more different for different sake than "better"... and the pc better go "ding" when I hit the END key.

[iru69]

But in all seriousness, some of his comments are so far off the mark I start to wonder if it was a hit job.

That's what struck me as well. I don't think there was any agenda beyond he doesn't like Apple products and wanted to make a point of it while trying to come off as impartial.

Most of his observations seem to go out of the way to be ignorant and misleading while trying to suggest he's being fair and balanced. Fox "News" indeed.

Regarding Steve's comments, very true, but Ralph's observations are not very insightful even in that capacity. His post title is "The Apple hardware & OS X software: How dreadful they are (part i)", based on what?... that he didn't know that you can just click on the "Grab" app to get a screen shot. Or that a Cmd+Arrow Key does Home/End. Or that a solidly constructed aluminum 13" laptop is going to be larger and heavier than a 9" flimsy plastic netbook? That's not insightful, that's just being a *******. (for the record, the 13" aluminum macbook pro is nearly identical weight to similar sized models from Dell, HP, etc.). If he had titled it "Things I'm having a hard time getting used to", or "Things that I wish were more like PC/Windows", I'd give him a break.

His sole praise is that it's "quiet", then immediately slaps that away as no big deal - his Windows computers are quiet as well. He couldn't think of a single thing that he liked about OS X? Those wacky Mac folks are insane!

His "insights" into CAD on the Mac are just plain moronic.

His posts didn't deserve the time I spent writing this, so I guess that makes me a ******* as well.

p.s. - there are lots of things in OS X and Apple hardware that I do think are poorly designed.

[BomberAIA]

Windows is similar to AutoCad and Mac is similar to Revit. Windows and AutoCad is a want-to-be Mac OSX and doesn't work well. I always had problems with my PC on Win. AutoCad was always a 2D program that want-to-be 3D program. The program does not work for architects.