Running a virtual PC on a Mac for AutoCAD use

[raggedyandy3478]

I am fixing to buy a computer, preferably a MacIntosh, and AutoCAD and possibly Autodesk are necessities. I want to know how good/bad Virtual PC's are with supporting any version of AutoCAD or any other Autodesk program. I would appreciate hearing back from anyone and everyone that has had experience with this matter at hand.

[richardtt33978]

I'm not a big fan of MACs

And I'm sure this can be it's own thread and a monster discusion would soon follow but anyway ....

I know someone here who loves MACs and owns like 3 of them. He put that "Virtual PC" on his machine to run AutoCAD and he said it runs fine. UNTIL he had to work in it .... .... then the MAC had an attack. Heart attack that is ... it started to choke. He says the MAC ran at "HALF" speed.

He, inturn, installed a bunch of patches to his machine to increase speed. But in the end nothing worked. His MAC ran at half its speed once the file began to grow in size which was minimal.



HTH

[jaberwok]

This illustrates why you need to pick your software first and your hardware last (and OS in between). I've seen lots of people pick the hardware first, then wonder what software will run on it.

[rgcnykolaishen75922]

You let your hatred for mac's stop you from answering the question fully. What version of Virtual PC did your friend use, and what kind of mac did he put it on? Did he use Virtual PC 7 or a previous version? If he ran too high a version like 2005 on an older machine, well ya it would slow down. Like running 2005 on a P3 533! I would like to run AutoCAD on a more stable platform like a mac. I have both PC and mac and would rather run it on the better hardware (mac)

[robert.1.hall72202]

This illustrates why you need to pick your software first and your hardware last (and OS in between). I've seen lots of people pick the hardware first, then wonder what software will run on it.

I completely agree, especially when purchasing a PDA.........now why is it that my PDA does not have very many software applications? Hmmmm.

[raggedyandy3478]

This is the original poster of this thread again. I have yet to buy a single thing, I am doing my research ahead of time. It seems that many people are biased against macs. I was hoping to get the Virtual PC 7 and probably run it with AutoCAD 2004, only because that is what GaTech is using with their college of architecture/engineering, and that is where I will be attending school. I am wondering if you, the people that already use AutoCAD think that it is a good idea to do such.

[jaberwok]

I have no hatred of MACs.

Running any emulator on any computer introduces an extra layer of processing.
Extra processing will slow operation.
AutoCAD is a demanding application for any computer - very processor-intensive.
Combining the two will give slow operation.

My tuppence worth.

[richardtt33978]

Not to be picky here .... but I didn't say "hate" ... read my post ... it says "Not a big fan" ...
Anyway ...
He bought a MAC in 2004 sometime in MAY so whatever "NEW thing" the market had at that time ... is what he bought ... both MAC machine and Virtual PC .... and he installed AutoCAD 2002.

Hope that helps.
Good luck with your efforts.

[Glenn Pope]

Mac hardware really isn't any better then PC hardware. They are pretty much the same. The difference is the OS. The MAC OS is, in many ways, better then Windows. The problem here is when you run an emulator, you are still running Windows. So your not going to get a more stable system then just running a PC. If anything it will be less stable. You are running a program that has to translate everything Windows does. One little hiccup and thats it. The whole system crashes. I wouldn't recommend going this route. If you need to use AutoCAD, you need a PC.

[scwegner]

Mac hardware really isn't any better then PC hardware. They are pretty much the same. The difference is the OS. The MAC OS is, in many ways, better then Windows. The problem here is when you run an emulator, you are still running Windows. So your not going to get a more stable system then just running a PC. If anything it will be less stable. You are running a program that has to translate everything Windows does. One little hiccup and thats it. The whole system crashes. I wouldn't recommend going this route. If you need to use AutoCAD, you need a PC.

I'll second that. No matter how much better Macs may be (I've been struggling with the same decision), AutoCAD is a Windows program and it will act like one.
Basically, you've got three choices:
1. Suck it up and buy a Windows PC
2. Suck it up and buy a Windows PC but use Linux for everything else
3. (At the risk of blasphemy) Buy a wicked G5 with that even more wicked new Tiger OS and don't buy AutoCAD