ArchiCAD 11

[Anonymous]

ArchiCAD 11 will come soon (as much as I suspect..)
What can AC 11 do better than AC10?

[Rick Thompson]

Such a dilemma.. how to sell a product as it matures. While I support Karl in his statements, I personally find very little I expect to benefit for my particular work with AC11. I have AC11, and I have still been using AC10. I qualified for an upgrade vis testing AC11, but don't use it. Maybe I will start today, but I thought I would wait for the final release. With AC10 I couldn't stand to wait, it was such a great release.

Except for the fact you get hit later ($) if you miss an upgrade, I doubt I would upgrade to AC11. However, I think for many users this is a worthwhile upgrade. I feel for the people who need to upgrade many seats. That's a hard thing to see doing. But what do you do when your product is mature? AC10 is an incredible work. For me a rework of the calc functions is about the only thing I can foresee that I would benefit from (in a significant way), but very few other users would benefit from it.. therefore it is ignored.

Personally, I think the subscription concept is flawed and dangerous, potentially leading to bad management decisions and poor user satisfaction. It is designed for greed. However, this release might be a huge selling point to expand AC's base and compete in the CAD market.. but for the old users... say what??.. how much $ do you want for this?

[Anonymous]

Chazz wrote

Clearly, I have my own issues with the software and it's development trajectory but let's not forget that Karl has actually been using the latest release, while the rest of us have just read a few PDFs and seen some Quicktime files.

I personally attended a live two hour demonstration of this Release in the hands of a sophisticated user-my reseller who demonstrated the current release. This is not a few PDF's or a Quicktime movie. It left me unimpressed and disappointed.

To me upgrading to AC11 only makes sense if you are coming from AC9 or before. I intend to stay with AC10 until the next version in another year knowing that there will likely not be any more hotfix support for AC10. What we have is what we live with for the next year.

I also agree that given the fact that most of the enhancements are 2d oriented that we are going backwards.

Gary Bley
Portland, Oregon USA

[Anonymous]

The problem with AC is that there are MANY BASIC features missing.

Just think about material handling for example. To simple change material A to material B you loose so much time!!!

How do you handle the outer building skin? (stucko for example?).
As a part of a composite fill? But then you cannot turn it off and how about columns? You cannot have the venner where you want it....Mess. For such simple things

[Anonymous]

March, wrote:

My wishlist is so long in terms of BASIC enhancements such as:
- trim slab to roof & vice versa tool options (asking since v4.12)

Solid Element Operation? Even more it is Dynamic link. You will raise a roof and trim will adjust.

- discrete slab & roof edge material changes (asking since v4.12)

That I don't have.

- return of legacy NATIVE pmk & 2d layout editing support

You still can bring pmk files as drawings. Once plased on the sheet, can be exploded and from now on you can edit them. It is just linework.

- consolidate missing, duplicate or subset library objects

Nothing here. Sorry.

- restore seemingly needless & illogical menu & shortcut changes which actually increased rather than reduced keystrokes (for the growing camp of laptop users) while making legacy version/file use even more complicated & inefficient

I find menus more logical now, but if you don't like them why not customize it? It is fairly simple, and you can even make AC looking like Revit if you like .

I find the list of new features troubling in the abscence of such basics...

As a more peripheral example Intel Mac users STILL don't have a sketchup import option as neither in 9 under emulation nor even in parallels with the windows version seem to work.

Please FIX THE BASICS OF THE SOFTWARE WE PAID FOR before asking for another upgrade fee...

I am also told my subscription upgrade must be renewed in order to receive v11 after June 1st even though it has been announced prior & I suffered the Intel beta version & severe bugs for 4 months into my subscription period...

This upgrade has been an expensive, exasperating experience & so I am looking elsewhere...

I agree in a lot of places here, but make sure you are not moving from the rain under downspout.

[Brad Elliott]

However, this release might be a huge selling point to expand AC's base and compete in the CAD market.. but for the old users... say what??.. how much $ do you want for this?

And there it is. I don't mind living with 10 for another year if this increases the user base for newbies. The future isn't in getting your user base to keep renewing it's in getting 80% still in flatland to sign up. If this release throws them a rope and gets them on board then it is a good thing. Even if I never use it.

The fact is as long as they don't get predatory about upgrades like Autodesk does and let their user base skip the occasional upgrade without penalties then it is hard to complain too much. I'll just look at it as a two year upgrade cycle instead of eighteen months.

[Link]

Brad wrote:
The future isn't in getting your user base to keep renewing it's in getting 80% still in flatland to sign up. If this release throws them a rope and gets them on board then it is a good thing. Even if I never use it.

You've hit the nail on the head right there!

If you don't want to upgrade, don't, but let ArchiCAD grow. I do think that GS needs to play their own game and not get sucked into this yearly upgrade cycle.

Just my 2 cents from a hotel room in Sydney.

Cheers,
Link.

[March_ Bruce]

Are we CAD missionaries...?
Why do we care to 'convert' the 80% of 'flatliners'...?

This software on the Intel Mac has been a real disappointment - it simply hasn't worked... Aside from that many of the most basic core aspects such as library objects are still simply a mess - if it was 'great' then everyone would use likely use it - I'd personally keep something like that my own little secret....

I partially moved off the mac a few years ago after many years because OS-X 10.1/2 was terribly problematic - now I'm back - next stop Vectorwerks? - I've worked in a 2d office & it was very efficient at production - 3d requires so much more input - I'm drawing more & more by hand now at the early stages because it's fast & easy - I can focus on the design - I really enjoyed working with sketchup - intuitive - remember that word Graphisoft? I found more useful library objects in the free sketchup in 5 minutes than I did in my expensive vertical application - things like dinner table, chaise lounge, cedar shingle material - it was really helpful 'out of the box'... Solid element operations workaround for slab material changes is a preposterous solution acknowledged for several versions... Clumsy, unintuitive & simply bad design in my opinion...

[Jefferson]

Are we CAD missionaries...?
Why do we care to 'convert' the 80% of 'flatliners'...?

Simple answer. Economics. A stronger user-financial base should-could ensure economic stability. We want and expect more from Graphisoft, and if they're around and fiscally solvent we stand abetter chance of getting it. Let the new guys pay for it while you and I wait for 12, or, or.........simple.

[Laura Yanoviak]

Brad wrote:
The fact is as long as they don't get predatory about upgrades like Autodesk does and let their user base skip the occasional upgrade without penalties then it is hard to complain too much. I'll just look at it as a two year upgrade cycle instead of eighteen months.

Well put, Brad. (How's the weather up there, I heard you got quite a bit of snow???)

[Karl Ottenstein]

March, wrote:
Are we CAD missionaries...?
Why do we care to 'convert' the 80% of 'flatliners'...?

...because an increase in GS sales, revenue and net income results in more resources to improve the product. Pretty simple, really. Somebody has to pay the bills.

This software on the Intel Mac has been a real disappointment - it simply hasn't worked...

Dude, you keep pushing this point without itemizing the problems (beyond the MacIntel version being later than hoped for - which was a problem with Apple, not Graphisoft). This is an AC 11 thread...do you have (or want to start) another thread in which you've listed all of the flaws with the MacIntel version of 10? I know a lot of people who are having no problems at all with it.

Clearly you're very unhappy about this...talk about it (in another thread) if you're after support. Empty criticism won't get anywhere here or with GS...people will just tune it out. With details, somebody who beta tested 11 on a MacIntel may be able to indicate if the issues you raise are resolved.

Cheers,
Karl