Microsoft Surface Pro

[Bricklyne Clarence]

Considering the fact that Microsoft's soon to be released Surface Pro tablet will essentially be running a full Operating system (unlike other tablets) and running on an Intel Core I5 chip, I was wondering if Graphisoft were doing any work on porting BimX for the Surface (actually including the Surface RT) as well as possibly seeing if something like ArchiCAD START, for example might be able to run on Surface Pro (Which is essentially the same hardware-wise as a Macbook Air sans touchscreen interface) and possibly even be optimized for Touch-screen interface.

Obviously BimX for Surface RT should be a no-brainer, given that a version exists for the Kindle, Android and IPad.
But Surface Pro seems like it will be a completely different beast from other regular tablets and is planned to run essentially the same programs as a full Windows computer can run (within reason, obviously) including, I would assume, programs like ArchiCAD and I was just wondering if there are any pans by GS to take advantage of this.

[Dennis Lee]

I was recently looking at dell xps 12 and lenovo yoga, and was pretty impressed by both of them. I think the surface pro should be pretty good too, but I think the weakest link for all three of these machines is the graphic card, the intel hd 4000, which is not recommended by GS.

[Anonymous]

For anyone finding this thread looking for how to run the BIMx Desktop Viewer on a Microsoft Surface Pro:

We tried to run the BIMx viewer on a Microsoft Surface Pro 3. The viewer software installed without problem, but would not run. The cursor would change to indicate activity but the viewer nor the model ever appeared on screen. Graphisoft Tech Support provided the following solution of putting BIMx Viewer in Windowed mode which fixed the problem for us, and allowed us to bring up the model and navigate it normally, with a mouse and keyboard. The model is not setup fro the Surface touch screen, and while it responds, it's impossible to navigate effectively.

To put BIMx in Windowed Mode:

• * Please start regedit.exe (you can search for that http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/search-apps-files-settings) and inside the registry editor please follow the settings in the attachment.
  
  * HKEY Current User > Software > Graphisoft > BIMx
  
  * Edit the Windowed entry Value, and change from 0 to 1.
  
  * Close regedit. Restart BIMx viewer or open an BIMx model. The viewer should come up in a window which can be full screened or minimized just like any other windowed application.

Hope this helps someone else with this problem.

[shtarkel]

Thanks for the tip

[GSButler]

Is anyone out there running Archicad 18 on a Surface Pro 3 and can report whether it works or not?

[Anonymous]

I run Archicad 18 on a Surface Pro 2 with 8GB ram. It works fine for simple tasks but doesn't have the minimum recommended system requirements for serious production work. You need to connect to a keyboard and mouse to use Archicad effectively. I did set up a "tablet mode" where a pen tip down would be equivalent to a left mouse click and a pin tip down with the button pressed would be equivalent to a third mouse button pan operation, but it is frustrating to use in a tablet configuration.

I wouldn't want to use Archicad on it for an extended period of time, but I use mine for everything else I would need a laptop or tablet for. It is great for marking up PDFs using the pen.

[Anonymous]

It's not interesting before it gets intel iris pro, and a new way to work with the drivers from microsoft. I don't understand why Windows doesn't copy the OS X way of communicating with the graphics driver.

[Anonymous]

Anyone using 19, on one of these.

I was considering a Tab Pro 3, for a site tablet. The tablet is great to use in the truck and on site, but my partner, also has his own AC 19 license and would like access to Archicad when need be instead of firing up a laptop.

I see there is an i7 Version with a full Size USB for the protection key.

Thoughts?