There are some that rely too much on Windows-centric code to work, such as support for Visual Basic (VBA). Then it was a question of user interface and deciding what commands are the most important to port. One of the core engines is the 3D ShapeManager kernel, which fortunately had been already ported by Autodesk Manufacturing team to assist with the company’s Alias products, which are already cross platform. Once DWG had been ported, other components were looked at. That idea was never acted upon until two years ago, when a small development team took 18 months to port the DWG library to the Mac to prove that the technology could be native and still be compatible with its Windows brother.

In talking with Rob Maguire, product manager for AutoCAD for the Mac, it seems the idea about doing a Mac port has been around for almost seven years. Since CEO, Carl Bass has taken the reigns, there has been a concerted effort to free its software products from being so Microsoft-centric and prepare the company for expected changes in the way software is purchased and consumed - namely the cloud/Internet. Autodesk then started incorporating lots of Microsoft technology in AutoCAD tying it in very closely to the Windows environment. There was a version of AutoCAD for the Macintosh almost two decades ago but this was dropped due to poor sales, along with other UNIX versions of AutoCAD. Whatever your opinion of the Mac as a platform, for Autodesk this is a significant move and a further step away from being just a Microsoft developer.

At the same time, Autodesk has announced a portable version called AutoCAD WS for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch - DWGs will be everywhere. With much hype and hoopla, Autodesk has just unveiled the software, although it is not due for release for a month or two. This requires Internet access on iPad, iPhone or iTouch and streams DWGs from the cloud to your Apple mobile device. While the Mac version was the big news, the surprise icing on the cake was the announcement of AutoCAD WorkSpace.

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