2024 Technology Preview Program:
Master powerful new features and shape the latest BIM-enabled innovations
2023-03-16
02:05 PM
- last edited on
2023-05-09
10:44 AM
by
Noemi Balogh
Dear Community Members,
We have started this topic, so you can reflect on the news we have shared on Graphisoft Insights: New Yearly Release Cycle. Please share your thoughts here, under this post.
Thank you.
2023-03-16 02:41 PM - edited 2023-03-16 06:40 PM
Could we have a clearer roadmap like that of Vectorworks for example?
Scheduled:
2023-03-16 02:47 PM
In Development:
Active research:
2023-03-16 02:49 PM
I think the roadmap will be released in April Martin. So this is not a roadmap but more a timeline.
2023-03-16 02:56 PM
@Emre Senoglu I hope to see the public roadmap as shown in the previous examples through the Graphisoft website on April.
2023-03-17 06:50 AM - edited 2023-03-17 06:56 AM
Hear, hear! It absolutely needs to be structured like this.
They also need a "write-in features" section by users and a voting system, so the devs know what features are "truly" wanted.
2023-03-24 05:52 PM - edited 2023-03-24 05:57 PM
What's so fascinating and intriguing looking at that Vectorworks roadmap is how a lot of those features and tool improvements/wishlist items seem to be taken either directly from ArchiCAD itself (as in the features it currently has) or from the Wishlist section here as features that some on here have asked for improvement in, or introduction to the program.
I've made a similar observation in the Revit Trello board/wishlist forum as well as in the feature set list in AutoCAD in recent years.
Having worked in Vectorworks over the last several years and seen the direction they're attempting to take the program in as well as the discussions held over there with their users and developers, it tells me that it's not so much that we have a whole bunch of Vectorworks/Revit/Autodesk users and developers lurking on the forums here and either cribbing off of the program and discussions here, but rather the opposite in that you have an increased proliferation of ArchiCAD or former ArchiCAD users in there boards driving the discussions and introducing ideas for features that come directly from their experience using ArchiCAD to be introduced in these other programs.
(In fact, I've actually observed this in real time with screen caps being shown how a particular feature works in ArchiCAD and why and how it would be useful in a Vectorworks BIM environment or in a Revit feature upgrade in the future.)
The overall and over-arching point here is that if you don't serve your users' needs and requests for program improvements in features and tools, your competition surely will, facilitated by some of those same disgruntled users (and more pointedly, former users) and refugees from your program who see their needs not having any priority or significance for developers here.
As you can see first-hand from some of those features in that roadmap.
I wonder for how much longer Graphisoft will be able to sustain this "brain drain" of user insight, knowledge and experience accumulated over years, with users opting for other market alternatives (or being forced to) and that they're now practically just gifting their rivals and competitors in the market.
I know for a fact that there a couple of users here who are still active on this board (for the moment,....and still users,....again for the moment...) bringing up issues and concerns, but who also show up in other program forums as well with the other programs they use or are forced to use for job-related reasons.
Some of those features in that Road map in the development and 'In Active Research' (i.e....'Wishes') are real nice, though...
Totally pie-in-the-sky as far as we're concerned over here, of course....
But would be great to have.
It must be nice.
2023-03-17 12:07 AM
those guys at vectorworks surely are working. Maybe eliminating perpetual licensing did motivate them
2023-03-17 03:32 AM
Nice to see an outline of the release cycle and the inclusion of more potential beta testers in Q2 & Q3 before the actual official release date.
Even with construction scheduling you need to allow for lead and lag times.
I think this will manage expectations with the identification of more bugs during the beta testing phase with more beta testers potentially being available.
Also having the official Windows and Mac versions released at the same time would be good too in managing expectations.
I look forward to it all unfolding this year.
2023-03-17 06:55 AM
We need MONTHLY live streaming and user interactive YouTube events like Twinmotion has. You cannot properly gauge what your users needs on a quarterly basis. Rotate a developer and an administrative (sales policy) member in the events also.
2023-03-17 07:17 AM
Excited about the changes! During the Technology Preview period, will there be any update to that Archicad Technology Preview build, or it would stay (without any updates) similar to an RC build for the whole period?
BIM Manager
DKO Architecture - HCMC
2023-03-25 01:41 AM
Maybe when the Technology Preview is released, there will be some event or some other way to ask these types of questions from GS HQ people directly.
2023-03-25 02:09 AM - edited 2023-03-25 02:09 AM
@Laszlo Nagy This is why I would like to see a monthly Graphisoft stream like Twinmotion has. They do theirs really well. Especially lately when they've been going over their "yet-to-be-released" preview versions. This would be a key ingredient in GS getting interactivity and feedback from users.
2023-03-17 10:58 PM
I'm not seeing anything in the timing of this yearly cycle that is different with regards to Apple's fall release of the new version of macOS.
So, I'm curious how "Following software industry standards in our yearly release calendar will enable us to support the upcoming new Mac and Windows operating systems more efficiently."
If by 'industry standards', Graphisoft means that they will test using Apple's beta macOS throughout the development cycle, then there is some hope that when the new macOS is released, the just-released Archicad might be usable. I guess the proof will be in the pudding this fall.
2023-03-18 08:28 AM
That's exactly what I'm hoping for. I mean, they need to have that legitimate reason for adding another 3 months to the release this year. That would be the only acceptable reason. Fingers crossed.
2023-03-25 03:23 PM
@Rex Maximilian This is something you could communicate to GS HQ guys in the Q & A session during the next event.
2023-06-06 11:56 AM
I plan to. 👍
2023-09-05 05:33 PM
I'm old enough to still remember 3-year release cycles of BIM and CAD software. And frankly, I preferred it this way. While I don't necessarily object to new and shiny features, stability and compatibility may be jeopardised this way. With a new release every single year and only one version to downgrade to, it may require you to have several versions running in parallel, having to decide on which version to start a project in and have a good strategy on library object development.
In a three-year release cycle, you would have one big upgrade with the new stuff and then 36 months of refinement, bug fixes, small workflow improvements, but in a stable data format. You can more easily plan upgrades etc...
That is also what I prefer in Rhinoceros: they are on a 3 to 4 year release cycle and release "when it's ready" (or that is the intention).
The reverse experience I have is with Unity: as I'm not using that platform on a frequent basis, every single time I open it, the software is updated and you have to decide on a newer install, on migrating projects (the only way is up) and hoping that the core features have not become deprecated.
That said... having a more public roadmap is a nice shift to how you address your users: you show more of an engagement, an ambition and people can be better informed in the evolution for the next few years...
2023-09-05 06:25 PM
I would only hope the Roadmap is flexible, so you can give priority to some features rather than others based of user feedback