A report from Desktop Engineering does indeed seem to indicate that SolidWorks Corporation is working on not just cloud computing based Mac support but a native SolidWorks for Apple’s popular Mac platform. We first reported on the possibility of this early this year in this report. This news was brought to us by Architosh reader Tom Fenn.
SolidWorks Community Cheers Loudly About Mac
Desktop Engineering reports that the 5000 plus attendees cheered loudly when SolidWorks CEO, Jeff Ray announced support for the Mac. “Clearly he hit a nerve,” writes Desktop Engineering‘s Kenneth Wong. “The spontaneous applause that erupted in the audience was louder and longer than the initial one he received when he first walked in.”
Later this year SolidWorks Corporation will release a new cloud-based computing solution for SolidWorks customers. “A web-hosted CAD modeler is bound to be accessible to both Windows and Mac users,” writes Wong, “but addressing the demand for a Mac-compatible CAD in such a fashion may not fully satisify dedicated Mac fans, because this approach doesn’t take advantage of Apple’s hardware and OS.”
Solidworks World showed Mac and multi-platform Cloud future for SolidWorks. (image courtesy of Desktop Engineering)
The mandate to push for future technologies and compute models was delivered to SolidWorks research and development (R&D) three years ago by Jeff Ray. Now the first fruits of that multi-year effort are being delivered later this year. It is not clear yet when a native SolidWorks for the Mac will be ready, but based on the feedback in applause to Jeff Ray’s news it should be readily apparent that the demand for this is out there. And now that this news is out, what will Autodesk’s response be? Will the CAD giant and chief SolidWorks rival sit back or will they respond with Mac versions also?
To read the Desktop Engineering article go here. There’s a few pictures too.