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Introduction and Summary In its first steps toward expanding its product line Diehl Graphsoft will be releasing as many as six new vertical market CAD products over the next six to 24 months. The first of those, VectorWorks ARCHITECT, is expected to be released by year's end and possibly as soon as the next 30 days. According to Diehl Graphsoft's company spokesman Barton Greer, the product is in very late beta stage. And in related news, VectorWorks 8.5.1, the next upgrade went 'golden master' the day of the interview. VectorWorks ARCHITECT is an add-on product to MiniCAD VectorWorks which provides the architectural practitioner new and improved AEC industry tools, objects and new drawing and file management features. The product works within MiniCAD VectorWorks as a new architecture specific "workspace", providing enhanced toolkit features and objects, in addition to new palettes, menu items, and its own preferences. We will get more into the details in the interview below. Other vertical market products in the works include add-ons for landscape architecture (possibly up next), MEP, structural design, exhibit design, and other industry focused packages. These new vertical market applications add substantial power to MiniCAD VectorWorks by leveraging the inherent strengths of VectorWorks in the manner in which different professionals already use the program. These new products are all very much driven by end-user requests, critical feedback by consultants, and Diehl Graphsoft's own marketing teams.
One important fact that came through in the interview with Richard Diehl is that Diehl Graphsoft is very committed to the Apple Macintosh platform and is enthusiastic about Apple's current product lineup, their reinvigorated developer support, and their technical road map, including Mac OS X and the many promises of the G4 processor. Even more importantly, Diehl Graphsoft is very committed to their longtime Mac users -- in addition to their many new Windows users. So please read on and join us on a very engaging interview.
Architosh Chats with Richard Diehl Architosh founder and editor, Anthony Frausto-Robledo, chats with Diehl Graphsoft CEO Richard Diehl and covers everything from the new VectorWorks ARCHITECT to opinions on Apple's technologies, its past, present and its promising future. Architosh (AFR) Now Diehl Graphsoft has been a Mac software developer for years. Why did you first develop for the Macintosh and what prompted you to later develop for Windows as well? Richard Diehl (RD) Back in 1985 I was working on very high-end computers at Bendix Aerospace Research Lab and had no interest in PC's until Apple came out with the Macintosh. In fact, up until a few years ago I never played with a PC. With the Macintosh I saw the future and that Apple had done something great and knew it was something special. So I got a loan for $11,000, bought a Lisa and the development tools, and started developing MiniCAD. (AFR) So you have no training as an architect? What is your background? (RD) That's correct. I have a master's degree in computer science and was at Bendix Aerospace Research Labs because of my physics background. I wanted to be a science writer. We have architects working for us. And we have relied on consultants and lots of feedback from architect users. We also bring users on as consultants; that's how Robert Anderson, AIA, came on board. As for Windows development. Clearly the market was larger and we realized that the Macintosh user was not really well served with only a Macintosh version of MiniCAD. Apple was actually supportive of putting out cross-platform products, that's what they were telling us at the developers conferences. (AFR) You mean Apple was actually telling Mac developers to go cross-platform? When was that?
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