Does anyone want Rhino on Mac / Linux?

[DanishBagger]

Yes, please!

Decent CAD programmes for macs are as far between as swimsuits in greenland.

[Tim B]

Just to show that I am an informed Linuxite, I have managed to download a Beta2 version of Windows Vista. It's still a pain to have CAD and Reasearch on different OSes, but the download is free, so perhaps it's a solution. It will be next week before I can try it, but I will post a full report when I've had time to look at it. If it will run Rhino stably it is at least a free solution.

The Only problem I foresee with Windows Vista (except the blindingly obvious) is the minimum spec. For the basic version - 800 MHz PC with 512MB Ram... Premium - 1.5GHz (I think) CPU with 1GB Ram. Both require about 15GB of Disk Space.

Most Linux users will be familiar with large root (system) partitions of 20GB, but these are rarely filled past 8GB. Ram Requirements are more like 300MB.

It sounds to me like the microsoft boys have a pretty big bit of software. It will be interesting to see if it stands up to the Linux assault. Don't forget that there will be several Linux releases before Vista hits the shelf.

KDE 3.5.3 is already available and looks like a hell of a GUI

Tim B.

[Jeff]

If it overcomes the 2 GB / process limitation of the 32-bit windows I'll be happy. I'd love to have a system that could fully utilize 16 GB of memory in a workstation configuration

[Tim B]

Linux will happily access as much memory as you like. However, only Rhino v 1+2 have been made to run. Vista may be able to access more but it is unlikely to be 16GB. That said I only know what little I have read on the subject. Since I'm looking at doing CFD jobs in Linux on multiple standard x86 (2.5GHz,2GB) platforms, it makes little difference.

Cheers,

Tim B.

[Kiteship]

Originally Posted by odysseus

In fact studies show that to do the same tasks on Windows and on Mac, you need significantly less steps on the Mac. That is why the productivity is higher, because what takes most time is not the CPU "thinking," but the user telling it what to do (in most programs). As regards AutoCAD I haven't used it, but a friend who is manufacturing tools and machines said that it is not a challenger for what they need (guess it lacks CAM?).

It is a fact that Apple has focused on the publishing segment and not on the technical side. Take LabVIEW, originally a Mac program for data collection and system control with a wonderful graphical programming language (called G), it is now mainly a Windows program although it runs on most OS:s. Why? Because when Steve Jobs were out of Apple the fools produced too many different computer models that each required a separate driver and sometimes hardware. Or take Map II/MapFactory/MFworks, originally a Mac GIS program, went Windows some 10 years ago and is now mainly Windows. They follow the market, and the sad fact is that Apple has neglected engineering users. For someone like me who is doing a bit of everything it is almost impossible not to use both systems - but if any software is available on the Mac I rather buy that, even at a higher price (and I have the receipts to prove it).

It is the same with MacSurf--now MaxSurf. Used to be the best NA design software on the market--and was Mac only. Now is Win only (stopped Mac development 2 years ago), and just one of the pile. (Still very good, just no longer Best). It took me 15 minutes to design my first boat hull with MacSurf; now??

Dave

[ludesign]

Originally Posted by DanishBagger

Yes, please!

Decent CAD programmes for macs are as far between as swimsuits in greenland.

Not quite true. A search on Apple's Made4Mac indicated about 100 programs.

[SeaSpark]

Not quite true. A search on Apple's Made4Mac indicated about 100 programs.

Where there and decent programs among them?

[ludesign]

Originally Posted by SeaSpark

Where there and decent programs among them?

http://guide.apple.com/index.lasso

The database contains 23.000 programs. Not as many as Windows, I agree, but on the other hand, how many of us do actually install that many programs anyway?

The question is simply not how many programs there are, it is how many you actually want to USE yourself.

[SeaSpark]

Dear Claes,

Before we go into the classic Mac vs Windows debate i have to tell you i was responsible for the computer systems for several design and engineering companies for more than 10 years. Result is i now hate both. Two of the companies i worked for used Mac and Windows computers in the same network (was not my idea would NEVER recommend it). The sole reason they used both systems was that there is no decent CAD software for a mac on a professional level.

Jeroen

[SeaSpark]

The question is simply not how many programs there are, it is how many you actually want to USE yourself.

If you are a serious boat designer and have to make a choise for a operating system you are condemned to windows.

[ludesign]

Originally Posted by SeaSpark

If you are a serious boat designer and have to make a choise for a operating system you are condemned to windows.

So, apparently I'm not a serious boat designer even though I have designed over 70 realized projects, all done on Macs.

[SeaSpark]

I'd just say you could have made a better choise.

[ludesign]

Originally Posted by SeaSpark

I'd just say you could have made a better choise.

Let's agree to disagree.

[SeaSpark]

The world would not be a more nice place to live in if we all had the same boat.

(edit)
No offence but you could have told before you are supplier of CAD software for mac.

[Kiteship]

I'm with Claes. Yes, there are some specialized programs unavailable on the Mac. And, yes, some of these are "industry standards." However, the attraction of the Mac OS has always been, for right-brained "designers," that the operation system is more, well, transparent than others. One works with one's data, one doesn't work with one's computer. (The whole success of iPod can be summed up similarly; one listens to one's music; not to one's mp3 player)

As to quality; leaving the excellent TouchCad aside, Maya, on the Mac, is an industry standard. Interestingly it makes its way--via Macs--into most PC and game console games. As is FormZ (I don't use FormZ, but a professional friend of mine tells me it runs circles around Rhino). Both Photoshop and Illustrator were developed--and remain--on the Mac (as were both Word and Excel). Final Cut Pro revolutionized the way television news run their businesses, just within the past few years. iPhoto, iMovie and iTunes have altered the very way ordinary people buy and use home computers--think of it; software driving user experiences; not the converse. There are *numerous* knock-offs of each of these applications, attempting to provide their functionality on various other OS's. I'm often reminded of the corrolary to McNeel's advice--how hard is it to just buy a Mac? Certainly not cost; a Mac Mini is less than the retail price of Rhino; refurbs approach 50% of that.

No, I'm not trying to start the Mac/everyone else "debate;" but rather to point out that it is always quality of software, not quantity, which is important. You can--and will--work on whatever platform you wish. Isn't it a wonderful world which allows you to do so?

Dave