Switching with new Mac machines back to Windows.

[Anonymous]

I am sure not being alone and that someone did figure out this mess with mac not being 64 until version 14 or probably 15. I was mac user from 1987 till 1998; switched to wintel until this winter when I invested and switched back to macs (top of line mac pro, imac and book pro + software) and felt very good about it. Now maybe obvious dilemmas:

I know WHAT: plan B is now IN and I plan to abandon OS X for good; but have not clear crisp idea as HOW? (yes, I know boot camp)

Can anyone share his ideas or what they intend to do? (windows 7 or XP64; drivers compatibility or availability)

Suggestions as way to stay in Mac World are allowed.

Andy

[Karl Ottenstein]

Andy wrote:
Suggestions as way to stay in Mac World are allowed.

I'm baffled that you would abandon Mac because ArchiCAD 13 is not 64-bit yet. I'm equally baffled that you consider it a 'mess'.

ArchiCAD will take full advantage of 4 GB of memory - providing you have more than that (so that the system can get its share) - and each running copy of ArchiCAD can use its own 4 GB. According to Graphisoft technical support, 999 out of 1,000 ArchiCAD users on the Mac never even come close to using the 4 GB limit. (Amusingly, many of the users who have complained in these forums report that they only have 2 GB of RAM anyway!)

Maybe you can clarify what your concerns are?

Cheers,
Karl

[Rick Thompson]

There are very few task I think you would notice the difference on. AC13 is as fast as I am, for all practical purposes, but I'm old:) I don't do major renderings, so I can't imagine I really could/would know it if AC13 were 32 or 64. It's fast period.

[Anonymous]

I become skeptical that Graphisoft has resource to carry both systems despite honest commitments to Mac. As for the mess; that one is on me since I am moving back and forward.

My question is just technical.

Andy

[Rod Jurich]

Andy wrote:
/....My question is just technical.

Andy, stay with Mac. Just updated to Snow Leo and
I am truly amazed at the difference to Leo.
The ease and swiftness of this quite painless update is so sweet.
The difference between OS versions in AC is so quick now in both 12 and 13.
Will I notice a difference when  goes 64 bit, well I don't really know.

As someone else asked, how fast is fast?
SL is fast, and I do not have an 8 core box, yet.
I left the "dark side" many years back, and my best decision.

Many thanks 

[Anonymous]

Dear Karl, Rick and Rod,

I must admit; I am on vacations on beautiful dalmatian adriatic coast in Croatia under fragrant pine trees with plenty of time to philosophize between swimming in crystal blue see and choking myself with great food (vine really helps).

This preamble should help you to put my dilemma in context which is not high tech, super duper...., but rather bucolic. Really what I mostly enjoy in working with AC is ability to design to the last second of my working drawing phase and with greater elegance than with any other software I happened to know (22 Years of Architrion, Microstation Triforma and last 9 years with AC).

Now my dilemma: is it fair to expect from Graphisoft to split limited resources to develop AC on two platforms or simply make the best possible BIM on one, we all know which one, platform. The fact is that in previous version of AC we waited only few weeks for Mac releases, not few years like now, feeds my skepticism and I can imagine that all new tools and functions will be written in 64 environment and not so easily ported to OS X.

I guess, I do not need to rush into yet another switch but future intrigues me greatly even in this sun drunken, fragrances and aromas swollen
country. I gotta go back Canada to lament and make reasonable decision.

In deed I like AC and Mac and find hard to face this very dilemma.

Regards

[Ralph Wessel]

Andy wrote:
is it fair to expect from Graphisoft to split limited resources to develop AC on two platforms or simply make the best possible BIM on one, we all know which one, platform. The fact is that in previous version of AC we waited only few weeks for Mac releases, not few years like now, feeds my skepticism and I can imagine that all new tools and functions will be written in 64 environment and not so easily ported to OS X.

The reason for the delayed 64-bit version on the Mac has little to do with resources. The major reason is that moving to 64-bit on the Mac also necessitates embracing Cocoa (an Objective-C based framework used extensively on current Mac and iPhone development).

Applications older than Mac OS X have previously relied on a transitional technology called Carbon, which helped make the transition from OS 9 to OS X less painful. But Apple abruptly announced that 64-bit Carbon was unsupported, forcing all developers to move to Cocoa to make the leap to 64-bit apps. This means extensive reworking of the UI coding, and possibly for other sections (I/O, resources, etc). This should make ArchiCAD much better on the Mac in the long run, but is painful for developers in the interim.

Conversely, the move to 64-bit on Windows was purely a matter of ensuring data structures etc behaved consistently. Still a significant workload, but not entailing a platform shift as well.

[owen]

As one of the people who has whinged most about Graphisoft's adoption of/adaption to OS X developments I can still safely say hell would freeze over before i considered switching back to Windows

The issue i have had has really been based mostly the future of AC, not any performance issues to date - although on occasion i would be one of those 1 in 1000 Karl is refering to (i was working on an 8GB Mac Pro which is why the RAM limit was frustrating). I agree that the vast majority would see no benefit from a 64bit AC on Mac today (32bit Windows is different as the limit is 2GB/3GB).

The future is of course a different matter. Having no practical limit on necessary RAM for ArchiCAD models and functions would really open up some possibilities for AC IMO. This is where my concern lies - what does it mean if the Mac version is still 1-2 versions away from being 64bit.

But for the moment it is really not an issue.

As for other applications where 64bit would show benefits - rendering and image manipulation - most Mac applications are already there or will be soon. Maxon have done a great job with Cinema4D which has been only a half-step behind OS X in this process. It is now a fully 64bit Cocoa app and really, really benefits from as much RAM as you can throw at it. No more huge scenes crashing due to RAM limits. Adobe found themselves in a similar position to Graphisoft when Apple pulled the 64bit-Carbon rug out from under them. Faced with a huge pre-OSX codebase they had relied on Carbon and were never going to get a Cocoa rewrite for CS4 out the door. However they have said CS5 will be 64bit on the Mac - quite an achievement i think given the number of applications involved. If only Graphisoft had a fraction of the resources of Adobe.

Just (dont) do it!

P.S .. Dalmatian Coast is truly beautiful isn't it. I spent 3 weeks making my way down it last year and it really was one of the most relaxing places i have ever been to. The water .... Enjoy it and don't worry about this stuff

[henrypootel]

obviously no-one here will agree that you should change back to Windows so I won't even try to convince you(you should), but if you do, make it Windows 7 64-bit.

It's very fast, very stable, and very pretty. I've been using it for the last 4 months or so and I haven't had a single crash or freeze yet.

the interface is a joy to use and hardware compatibility is very good(the only thing I can't connect is my 8 year old Palm so I have to use the free XP Mode feature to sync it).

[Anonymous]

Forgive this newbie question:

I'm considering purchasing an Apple MacBook Pro as a personal laptop.
Will the Boot Camp allow me to use PC-based ArchiCad 10 that the rest of the office uses?