Cyon Research took a close look at the Macintosh AEC environment late last year. In a white paper available for purchase ([http://www.cadwire.net/whitepapers/?Id=9&View=Summary),] we found that AutoCAD and its DWG format have a profound influence, even though Autodesk does not publish a version of AutoCAD for the Macintosh.
The AEC project lifecycle, as practiced throughout the world today, requires baseline DWG compatibility for a high percentage of projects. Though many applications support DWG, none that are available for the Macintosh work in a DWG-centric fashion. Thus it is not simply the lack of AutoCAD per se, but rather the lack of DWG-centric AutoCAD-oriented tools that creates a problem for architects, engineers, and other construction professionals who use Macintosh computers.
The current initiative by Autodesk and Apple to bring Autodesk’s DWF file-viewing technology to the Macintosh OS X operating system addresses the lack of DWG-centric tools for ancillary applications, where downstream users need the data created by architects and other construction-design professionals, but it does not address the ability to create the original design information on the Macintosh in a DWG-centric fashion.
Were any vendor—Autodesk or a competitor—to come to market with a full-function CAD product that provided high-fidelity DWG-centric operation and an AutoCAD-type user interface, it would prove compelling to Mac users. But in the long run, it would not be enough.
A DWG-centric software tool with an AutoCAD-type interface is necessary but not sufficient. Macintosh users ultimately will want more than today’s AutoCAD. They want a user interface that is OS X Aqua, not Windows AutoCAD. The AEC community would be best served if Autodesk, Apple, and other interested vendors work to create the future of architectural design with strategies and products that bridge the present gap and provide a smooth transition to next-generation, post-DWG AEC design products. These products would focus on data transportability between applications without regard to specific file-format specifications.
