BLOG UPDATE 27-3-12 - AutoCAD LT for Mac 2013 Launches in the UK

 

So I woke up and arrived at work early reading my normal blogs and to my surprise: "AutoCAD LT 2012 for Mac arrives on the App Store". To be honest I am not surprised that this product has arrived but surprised it has arrived in the US only and on the App Store. So after many phone calls to my inside contacts I am non the wiser to a UK release date. I assume that it will not be on the App store to start as Autodesk do things slightly differently over here. I will let you all know as soon as I can when you can get it in the UK though ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

 

But this isn't the only exciting release for the Mac platform this week.

 

Quote:

"AutoCAD for Mac 2012 and AutoCAD WS for Mac will be available worldwide on August 19, 2011. AutoCAD LT for Mac will only be available in the U.S. and Canada on August 16, 2011."

 

So the excellent AutoCAD WS which I have been promoting on my iPad is now coming to my Mac. This brings together true integration between all Apple platforms making it a wise choice for a designer or architect or engineer.

 

It looks like Autodesk who abandoned the Mac platform for years are clawing they're way back into the lime-light! The Mac platform is 'trending', it is becoming the new choice for the business world. Creatives have been using it for decades especially in illustration and publishing. Does this mean the architectural industry will now make that leap into the Mac platform? I do hope so as I have many clients who already love the Mac. It is important though to note that there are already some amazing CAD programs on the Mac such as Vectorworks and ArchiCAD which have been long time supporters of the platform.

 

AutoCAD LT for Mac is another step for high-end business programs to appear on the Mac App Store, is this the future? I hope not, this is specialist software and should be sold by experts who understand how it works and how to use it.

 

Autodesk are not new to Apple's App store though, with Sketchbook Pro and AutoCAD WS for the iPad and iPhone having been on the store for sometime. Autodesk have also released a free game Tinkerbox which is a fun-to-play physics game and puzzle that puts you in the role of inventor, problem solver, and engineer extraordinaire.

 

So what does this mean for designers all over the world? AutoCAD for Mac was released late 2010 and as a CAD expert in the Apple world I always expected LT to arrive sooner or later but just didn't know when. So when can we get it? No idea! But I'll let you all know as soon I know. It now brings the industry standard dwg filetype to the Mac using the original dwg program.

 

Quote:

"Since the release of AutoCAD for Mac last year, customer feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, further validating the need for professional design and engineering software on the Mac platform," said Amar Hanspal, senior vice president, Autodesk Platform Solutions and Emerging Business. "Bringing AutoCAD LT and AutoCAD WS to the Mac shows our continued commitment to making design more accessible for an ever-greater number of people to shape the world around them."

 

"AutoCAD for Mac 2012 software includes familiar AutoCAD capabilities, such as 2D and 3D design tools, and includes 3D free-form modelling capabilities; 3D visualisation and rendering; network licensing; advanced customisation of the menus; support for LISP and ObjectARX and ObjectDBX applications; and more. AutoCAD LT for Mac follows common native Mac application user interface guidelines, with a familiar Apple menu bar together with a number of workflow-based palettes. AutoCAD LT for Mac also supports native Mac OS X behaviour, including Cover Flow navigation and Multi-Touch gestures.

 

AutoCAD LT for Mac is perfectly suited for designers, architects and engineers who prefer to work in a native Mac environment and need to create, edit or review designs, technical drawings and documentation.

 

Like the popular AutoCAD WS mobile app Autodesk released last September, AutoCAD WS for Mac is a simple, free* app providing basic, intuitive tools for viewing, editing and sharing designs. Through its synchronous coediting feature, users may also collaborate on designs across multiple platforms — desktop, mobile and web."

 

What's also notable about AutoCAD LT is that Autodesk is the one of the first major publishers to bring one of it's flagship products to the Mac App Store. The thing that stopped them from bringing the full version of AutoCAD for Mac to the Mac App Store was its price and also most likely the more complicated licensing and support which that product has. 

With Autodesk leaping into the Mac App Store it will be interesting to see if other major developers like Adobe, Nemetschek, Graphisoft and Microsoft follow suite with their flagship products. In my honest opinion I don't think this will happen, I don't think Microsoft fancy giving Apple 30% of their software revenue!

 

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