topic In Which Decade will OSX Archicad get Modernized? in Modeling

In Which Decade will OSX Archicad get Modernized?

archislave — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 03:09:38 GMT

I am beginning to doubt that it could happen this decade. I bought Archicad in 2005 and with each never version I was hoping that the GUI would be updated to OSX standards released in 2001. Well it never happened in that decade and now no compliance with Lion and I suspect it is impossible without a major rewrite to have unified and full screen mode.

You see, I have a Macbook with I sometimes attach to a 23" LCD. If I close the lid to my Macbook with a saved Archicad file still open, hoping to pick up where I left off on the bigger screen. When I do get back on the larger screen I have to go to the saved environment setting for each monitor which by the way has too many dialog boxes to invoke. Sometimes even this is not enough to prevent window borders from getting hidden and tucked under the top icon menu bar of the gui frame. The problem is that is all of these separate magnetic menu bars and toolboxes. This is an old pre-OSX convention and is now very counterproductive. OSX has long had unified app windows and now with Lion it is being put to full use with full screen mode.

I just don't understand why they continue to ignore this in Budapest. It is like they just don't care and do not intend to get with the modern Mac. We need to set up some protest to show we are serious as users.

Re: In Which Decade will OSX Archicad get Modernized?

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 09:41:28 GMT

+1, I think that fullscreen feature is very insteresting... Win version now looks better and more organizated.

Re: In Which Decade will OSX Archicad get Modernized?

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 12:47:24 GMT

archislave wrote:
When I do get back on the larger screen I have to go to the saved environment setting for each monitor which by the way has too many dialog boxes to invoke.

You can:
1- Create a work environment for each monitor setting.
2- Create a keyboard shortcut to access the work environment dialog box.(mine is Fn+1).
3- Choose the environment you need at any time.

This is very useful if you not only use different monitor setups, but also need to make presentations with different data-show resolutions. It is not something that takes that long to set up, and is a real time saver.

Re: In Which Decade will OSX Archicad get Modernized?

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 13:03:27 GMT

+1 The one regret I have after switching to Mac a year ago is that the Archicad interface is so painful. It doesn't matter how often I shift tool bars and palettes around there always seems to be a window header sitting under a tool bar or tool bars overlapping. Just wastes my time to have to rearrange with every file I open. Switching between 1200 high and 1080 high monitors is not fun either. Windows handled these issues with ease but I know the problems aren't Steve's fault. I love my MacBook Pro - but not Archicad on it. These problems make Archicad virtually unusable without an external monitor on a laptop after unplugging from a monitor. Surely this has well past the "fix by" date.

Re: In Which Decade will OSX Archicad get Modernized?

archislave — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:36:23 GMT

When you consider that when I first paid that exorbitant amount to buy Archicad in 2005 and then discovered that the GUI was very dated like the old Mac OS from the 90's. It has never improved one bit since then. THey have never done anything to make the GUI any different from the 90's. They have just made sure it runs on the latest OSX and processors but in no way is it a modern Mac app.

I actually bought Archicad over Revit because I wanted to use a Mac. Now Revit is becoming the standard if you want a job in a firm here in the US.

Yes there are the shortcuts and named schemes which I have set up, but the document windows still get tucked up under the toolbars. There are also that stupid redundant dialog box that pops up after choosing your named scheme. You have to pick it from the list, dismiss the warning box clicking ok and then ok again. Just cumbersome and archaic.

We should not be making excuses for them and be appalled. The bad thing is there is no good way to talk to anyone in Budapest. We rant our hearts out here and you never see one person from Graphisoft comment. It's like they really are behind an Iron Curtain! Maybe some new leaders will have different attitude one day.

Re: In Which Decade will OSX Archicad get Modernized?

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 15:28:31 GMT

archislave wrote:
There are also that stupid redundant dialog box that pops up after choosing your named scheme. You have to pick it from the list, dismiss the warning box clicking ok and then ok again. Just cumbersome and archaic.

It takes me all of 6 seconds to change the profile. I do not consider this to have a significant impact on my productivity, as it is not something you have to do more than once or twice during a working day. There are so many important things that need to be fixed/improved that have real impact, that I would hate GS to put their limited resources into such a minor thing.

Re: In Which Decade will OSX Archicad get Modernized?

archislave — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 15:49:52 GMT

I think the big question is why they can only fix three things per release when the list is growing by the year of hundreds of needed fixes. Imagine how Windows users would feel if it kind of worked with Windows 7 but was based on Windows 3.1. GUI.

Re: In Which Decade will OSX Archicad get Modernized?

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 15:55:50 GMT

I respect your opinion about the usability of the GUI. I just point out that not all users share that opinion, and that you can not infer that they are less serious because of that.

Re: In Which Decade will OSX Archicad get Modernized?

archislave — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 16:30:58 GMT

OK, but if it were not a drain on fulfilling other wish list items - would you not be delighted if they made the OSX Archicad work as well as it does on Windows? It would just automatically fit what ever screen on which you are running it. This would be in compliance with the modern OSX and especially the new full screen mode of Lion.

I realize Graphisoft must have a very small staff and they just can't keep up. I would imagine they lost a lot of money during the European and US recession. It makes one wonder what the future will be if they just keep patching a leaking ship. If I were them I would create a new app that combined their All Plan, Vectorworks and Archicad in one new futuristic app.

Re: In Which Decade will OSX Archicad get Modernized?

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 16:39:28 GMT

archislave wrote:
OK, but if it were not a drain on fulfilling other wish list items - would you not be delighted if they made the OSX Archicad work as well as it does on Windows?

Yes.

And if it served expressos it would also be great

Re: In Which Decade will OSX Archicad get Modernized?

archislave — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 16:45:22 GMT

and Churros and Tapas!

Funny we have to beg daddy like a family of starving children. I would choose Revit if I wanted to give up the Mac but I can't bear to do it. Here is a customer using stale software just so he can use a Mac. Why would anyone use Archicad over Revit if they are on Windows - just to be marketable. There are some nice things about Archicad but fighting the Revit tide does not seem worth it. Alas, I have no choice...

Re: In Which Decade will OSX Archicad get Modernized?

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 17:04:28 GMT

archislave wrote:
Alas, I have no choice...

Yes, your nickname says it all really.

Re: In Which Decade will OSX Archicad get Modernized?

archislave — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 17:18:48 GMT

I do imagine soon I will have a choice to run Revit in the cloud on a Mac. I have also heard that Autodesk are making their products platform agnostic and will run in the browser of sorts.

I have a nice workflow in Archicad and not really wanting to switch. I would rather Archicad get better... and more capable in the marketplace.

Re: In Which Decade will OSX Archicad get Modernized?

archislave — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 18:16:54 GMT

Maybe the expresso would get you agitated and more demanding

Re: In Which Decade will OSX Archicad get Modernized?

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 22:15:06 GMT

Archislave:
The way GS codes AC it is clear it is ported to each platform from base code, so os specific optimizations are unlikely.
Also re Revit for your money get a Win7 pc for that and a MacBook air for everything else! Best of all worlds....

Re: In Which Decade will OSX Archicad get Modernized?

archislave — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 02:56:59 GMT

I think they are just using some old shell to export the base into like the carbonized version of OS9 maybe. Anyway, there are plenty of modern OSX apps that are concurrently developed in windows. All of these are suited to their OS's and appear to use the latest api's. Look at how fine the OSX Autocad GUI appears.

Re: In Which Decade will OSX Archicad get Modernized?

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 06:31:33 GMT

I run Revit 2011 on my MacBook pro using Windows and VM Ware. Works fine but would still rather use Archicad on Mac OS. Yes there are short comings but try Revit using Workshare and you'll realise the speed benefits of Teamwork 2. The Save to Central in Revit is veeerrrryyyy sloooowwww

Re: In Which Decade will OSX Archicad get Modernized?

archislave — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 20:38:41 GMT

I starting to think that Graphisoft just does not have the staff and resources to compete. Not sure they will ever be able to fix these things and are in denial. It is sad as they loose market share. I do care because I would hope for a competition with Autodesk and so far they do not make a Mac BIM product. Maybe this reprogramming to cloud based tools will solve it. Just like Autocad WS maybe we will have a future Revit WS or some other cross platform BIM.

Re: In Which Decade will OSX Archicad get Modernized?

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 08:09:17 GMT

archislave wrote:
It is sad as they loose market share.

This is a very interesting statement. Do you have any data to support it, or is it just anecdotical evidence?

Re: In Which Decade will OSX Archicad get Modernized?

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 08:25:02 GMT

There is a large architectural firm in my home town that the software of choice for any project is the decision of the project director, be it AutoCAD, Revit or Archicad. One project director gave a presentation at a recent Archicad 15 launch. Their use of Archicad is on the increase finding it more efficient for large complex projects for a number of reasons but mainly, I suspect, because of the efficiencies gained with Teamwork2. This is interesting for someone who uses Revit in my ‘day job’.