ArchiCAD 9 is shipping in mid-September!

[Bence Kovacs]

Dear Archi-Talkers,

We are happy to announce on ArchiCAD-Talk that ArchiCAD 9 will be released in September 2004. Shipment will start with the INT, US and GER versions followed by other localized language versions over the coming months. Based on the results of extensive beta testing we are confident that this version will be the most robust version of ArchiCAD ever. Please check www.graphisoft.com for the official press release on ArchiCAD 9! And... enjoy!

Bence Kovacs
Vice President

ArchiCAD Product Management
Graphisoft

[Thomas Holm]

If you are mad, take a deep breath and think again. They ARE listening. (Although it takes long - some of thes changes were requested some eight years ago). And the changes ARE significant enough for a version upgrade. Take a look in the poll thread.

As for bugs, i can only hope the've done their homework this time. We'll have to wait and see.

[Anonymous]

Thomas wrote:
If you are mad, take a deep breath and think again. They ARE listening. (Although it takes long - some of thes changes were requested some eight years ago). And the changes ARE significant enough for a version upgrade. Take a look in the poll thread.

As for bugs, i can only hope the've done their homework this time. We'll have to wait and see.

If you think calmly you will understand that the new features are minimal.
To understand that write down new features from 7 to 8 and from 8 to 9.
Then you will propably understand.
As for fixing bugs, they are supposed to be fixed for free.
When you buy a product you expect to work flawlessly.
If you buy a car that stop every 200km after day 1, will we pay for fixing that? And would you buy a new car just because the have a new cd player and new leather seats? I guess not.

[Anonymous]

I think GS should let us know what the next "upgrade" will have.. Ok, we are not thrilled but the question is wether we wait another 2 years... Some wish items were minor to implement but big on a day to day working basis..

If AC is static for 2 years Revit may have improved enough by then to start adversely affecting GS.

[Ben Odonnell]

oreopoulos wrote:

Thomas wrote:
If you are mad, take a deep breath and think again. They ARE listening. (Although it takes long - some of thes changes were requested some eight years ago). And the changes ARE significant enough for a version upgrade. Take a look in the poll thread.

As for bugs, i can only hope the've done their homework this time. We'll have to wait and see.

If you think calmly you will understand that the new features are minimal.
To understand that write down new features from 7 to 8 and from 8 to 9.
Then you will propably understand.
As for fixing bugs, they are supposed to be fixed for free.
When you buy a product you expect to work flawlessly.
If you buy a car that stop every 200km after day 1, will we pay for fixing that? And would you buy a new car just because the have a new cd player and new leather seats? I guess not.

As Thomas stated some of the things that we are seeing now are long awaited whishes.

As far as the changes from 7-8 yes they were major changes, maybe too many hence the buggy version of ArchiCAD. I don't think we will see so many changes in another ArchiCAD version than as we saw from 7 to 8, I could be wrong though, you never know what the future has in store for ArchiCAD.

But I still belive that there are enough new features in ArchiCAD 9.

Cheers.
Ben

[Anonymous]

Ben wrote:
As Thomas stated some of the things that we are seeing now are long awaited whishes.

As far as the changes from 7-8 yes they were major changes, maybe too many hence the buggy version of ArchiCAD. I don't think we will see so many changes in another ArchiCAD version than as we saw from 7 to 8, I could be wrong though, you never know what the future has in store for ArchiCAD.

But I still believe that there are enough new features in ArchiCAD 9.

Cheers.
Ben

Ok then. If you are satisfied with so few then dont expect anything improvements with this rate.
If this tha case for Graphisoft I would like to know that.
If they are going to provide features at that rate and at that time space then WE SHOULD KNOW. And each of us we will decide what to do.
I think the features from 7 to 8 where not so many. Not many at all. And dont forget that WE ARE WAITING for 2 years for that release. That is a VERY LONG TIME.

[__archiben]

quite a mixed reaction.

as a beta tester, maybe i should jump in here . . .

my initial thoughts when first installing AC9 were much the same. BUT after a couple of days it became quite apparent that the increased productivity from the improved features was well worth the upgrade. not only that, but i could see very early on that the beta could be used on live projects quite comfortably and securely (i have been for the last three months). the improvements are very difficult to quantify to somebody who hasn't used it, so i will give you an example.

a couple of days in to using AC9 i had to revert back to an AC8.1 project file . . . and found that already i was missing the features of 9: once quick-select becomes a part of your working method you can never go back and will find that you've speeded up considerably as a result. this is worth the upgrade on its own, and there are many many more features like this (far more than the measly 15 listed here!)

as karl said, lightworks is just the icing on the cake. as with all software upgrades there are a set of features that make the news . . . i hope that graphisoft will soon expand on this with a more detailed list so that AC9 can be judged in its entirety . . .

~/archiben

[Laci Neda]

Dear Oreopoulos,

We believe there are a lot of important new features in ArchiCAD 9. To be able to quantify all of the 'main' new features let me post the ArchiCAD 9 New Features spreadsheet here.
I hope when you get down to the end of the list you will also agree that there is a lot more to ArchiCAD 9 than it first appears.
Apart from these of course there are several improvements to the existing ArchiCAD workflow that are officially called maintenance fixes and are not listed, but they also add to the much more fluid working methods you will experience in ArchiCAD 9. But of course in the end you'll have to be the judge of that.

Best Regards,

[Ben Cohen]

How about the crop to zoom option in plotmaker, I really like the sound of that one!! and I don't think it was even on the wishlist.
Plus with the new interface // dragged copy's are active at last // improved dwg.pdf // lightworks etc etc it all sounds good. As the coach always used to say "its all about the one percenters" (all the little bits that nobody else does that makes a great program) Without refinement software just becomes "bloatware". Personally I am really looking forward to the upgrade

Ben

[Anonymous]

Laci wrote:
Dear Oreopoulos,

We believe there are a lot of important new features in ArchiCAD 9. To be able to quantify all of the 'main' new features let me post the ArchiCAD 9 New Features spreadsheet here.
I hope when you get down to the end of the list you will also agree that there is a lot more to ArchiCAD 9 than it first appears.
Apart from these of course there are several improvements to the existing ArchiCAD workflow that are officially called maintenance fixes and are not listed, but they also add to the much more fluid working methods you will experience in ArchiCAD 9. But of course in the end you'll have to be the judge of that.

Best Regards,

Sorry for beeing aggresive but you just dont get the point.
We are achitechts, and we want the job done.
If we dont have the tools there is not need to discuss about the interface.
1. Fixing bugs is not a part of a new version but of patch (agreed?)
2. Please list the new tools or tool enchancements. (this are too few)
3. What you introduce here is a policed 8 version. This is what 8 was supposed to be with few tweaks.

But all that took 2 years??
And version 10 2 more years?
THat is we have to wait for 2 more years to see at last some tools?
What can the pdf improvement do when i have problems with walls (fills in section different than in plan) lines shown everywhere if i have a wall on a wall or two walls of different height next to each other.. and so on.

And whats more annoying. STAIRMAKER. The MOST DISCUSSED poll here. You just ignored that. And having archistair around is not an excuce.
Today its free tomorrow not. Stairs walls roofs are a obligatory part of the design.

And now? We have to wait for 2 more years to actually see some of our wishes in action?
This policy is familiar to me. Its what maid me leave autocad behind.
Look at autocad. From autocad 2000 to autocad 2005. And think as a customer. Every year (almost) a new release but zero content. New export formats and things like that. Pack one feature and try to sell that.

Dont think as a merchant but as a customer. Having a prettier and more convinient interface is ok BUT its not the purpose of the software. We use it to make house. If we lack building tools then dwg 2005 format compatibility is nothing to me.

Just think for a while as a customer. Please

[Jefferson]

Thanks Laci! -

That was a comprehensive list with references to the actual application of the new and improved functions. [how does this benefit my work flow....]While my inclination is to wait to upgrade, even on a every other release pattern, this release seems pretty compelling and the advantages are apparent, to me anyway.

As well there are beta users I trust giving unbiased endorsements, in regard to stability as well.

While some disagree, there is no rule that says you must upgrade. Withholding your upgrade purchase is always an option as is migration to another program if the dissatisfaction is unbearable.