Your comments about iCloud are interesting. Nice share!! Thx!

Your comments about iCloud are interesting. Nice share!! Thx!

DISCLOSURE: I am an architect; I also am the Chief Creative Officer at BQE Software and the original developer of ArchiOffice before BQE Software acquired it. I’m also a Mac enthusiast (read – fanatic).

ArchiOffice has not abandoned the Mac. The movement in technology is not to drop one platform for another but to embrace all platforms. Approximately 35% of ArchiOffice users are on Macs. I, personally ONLY use Apple products. I have an iMac, Macbook Pro, iPad, IPhone and iPad Air and use all these devices to run ArchiOffice. I don’t personally own any PCs.

Even Apple’s iCloud uses Microsoft Technology on its servers to deliver their cloud to you? Likewise, BQE Software is using Windows technology to deliver ArchiOffice to you. Would Mac enthusiasts say that Apple has abandoned the Mac to provide you with iCloud? No. And neither has BQE. Both Apple and BQE acknowledge that in the world of powerful data-driven applications, Windows servers are still the most robust.

Powerful computing with Web Applications doesn’t require you to worry about your device – pick up anything with a browser and you can enjoy the product. This is what we have done with ArchiOffice. But it does need an engine to run. It just doesn’t use your engine. It allows your computer (or mobile device), to not waste processor power and simply delivers data to you via the browser so your computer can continue to run other applications that do require power natively. Your experience is much, much faster and doesn’t bog down your processor that’s working hard to make your CAD, BIM,CS, etc applications run.

What is quite puzzling to me is how some Mac enthusiasts see this as a zero sum game: Mac and nothing else. It’s a real shame that some fail to accept the benefits derived from freeing your device and allowing servers to do the heavy lifting. We have Mac customers that are still using our 4 year old FileMaker Pro solution simply because it means they don’t need to know that the engine behind ArchiOffice is running in Windows. Even though the user experience is still – pure Mac. Yet these same people will eat a hotdog knowing what went on to make it. Our old FileMaker Pro solution is like a horse-drawn carriage in it’s ability to get you to your destination whereas ArchiOffice is currently a high-speed train (with a fabulous dining car and air-conditioning).

If you like the idea of having ArchiOffice to run your firm and you’re an “all-Mac” office, here are the options we propose:

If you want to keep your server on your local area network you have three options:

1. Buy an inexpensive Windows Computer (see our system requirements) and stick it under a desk, in the back room or in the server room and cover it with all the white Apple decals you have sitting in your desk drawer. This would definitely give that box the humiliation it deserves.

2. Take an existing Mac computer that has the requisite power described in our system requirements and boot it up in Windows. Since the computer doesn’t need a monitor – its not going to embarrass you or waste all the decals as discussed in the first option.

3. Take a Mac and install VMWare Fusion or Parallels on it. Run the ArchiOffice server on that and keep it hidden on the Dock so no one has to see a Windows screen. NOTE: this is really only good for firms with 1 to 3 users and the Mac running the virtual environment should not be used for any processor intense applications.

If you want the luxury of not even worrying about a server than simply get managed hosting services from a company like RackSpace or Amazon to host ArchiOffice on their equipment for you. The upside is that you don’t have to worry about hardware or backups. The service takes care of it all. Also, these big providers can guarantee uptime and tend to deliver at high bandwidth.

In closing, Neil Pann is way off the mark by suggesting that we have “completely abandoned the Mac.” In fact, our CEO and CTO also have MacBook Pros as their #1 device. This wasn’t the case when I joined the company in December 2009. Now, Macs proliferate around here and our market share with Mac customers is growing daily.

DISCLOSURE: I am an architect; I also am the Chief Creative Officer at BQE Software and the original developer of ArchiOffice before BQE Software acquired it. I’m also a Mac enthusiast (read – fanatic).

ArchiOffice has not abandoned the Mac. The movement in technology is not to drop one platform for another but to embrace all platforms. Approximately 35% of ArchiOffice users are on Macs. I, personally ONLY use Apple products. I have an iMac, Macbook Pro, iPad, IPhone and iPad Air and use all these devices to run ArchiOffice. I don’t personally own any PCs.

Even Apple’s iCloud uses Microsoft Technology on its servers to deliver their cloud to you? Likewise, BQE Software is using Windows technology to deliver ArchiOffice to you. Would Mac enthusiasts say that Apple has abandoned the Mac to provide you with iCloud? No. And neither has BQE. Both Apple and BQE acknowledge that in the world of powerful data-driven applications, Windows servers are still the most robust.

Powerful computing with Web Applications doesn’t require you to worry about your device – pick up anything with a browser and you can enjoy the product. This is what we have done with ArchiOffice. But it does need an engine to run. It just doesn’t use your engine. It allows your computer (or mobile device), to not waste processor power and simply delivers data to you via the browser so your computer can continue to run other applications that do require power natively. Your experience is much, much faster and doesn’t bog down your processor that’s working hard to make your CAD, BIM,CS, etc applications run.

What is quite puzzling to me is how some Mac enthusiasts see this as a zero sum game: Mac and nothing else. It’s a real shame that some fail to accept the benefits derived from freeing your device and allowing servers to do the heavy lifting. We have Mac customers that are still using our 4 year old FileMaker Pro solution simply because it means they don’t need to know that the engine behind ArchiOffice is running in Windows. Even though the user experience is still – pure Mac. Yet these same people will eat a hotdog knowing what went on to make it. Our old FileMaker Pro solution is like a horse-drawn carriage in it’s ability to get you to your destination whereas ArchiOffice is currently a high-speed train (with a fabulous dining car and air-conditioning).

If you like the idea of having ArchiOffice to run your firm and you’re an “all-Mac” office, here are the options we propose:

If you want to keep your server on your local area network you have three options:

1. Buy an inexpensive Windows Computer (see our system requirements) and stick it under a desk, in the back room or in the server room and cover it with all the white Apple decals you have sitting in your desk drawer. This would definitely give that box the humiliation it deserves.

2. Take an existing Mac computer that has the requisite power described in our system requirements and boot it up in Windows. Since the computer doesn’t need a monitor – its not going to embarrass you or waste all the decals as discussed in the first option.

3. Take a Mac and install VMWare Fusion or Parallels on it. Run the ArchiOffice server on that and keep it hidden on the Dock so no one has to see a Windows screen. NOTE: this is really only good for firms with 1 to 3 users and the Mac running the virtual environment should not be used for any processor intense applications.

If you want the luxury of not even worrying about a server than simply get managed hosting services from a company like RackSpace or Amazon to host ArchiOffice on their equipment for you. The upside is that you don’t have to worry about hardware or backups. The service takes care of it all. Also, these big providers can guarantee uptime and tend to deliver at high bandwidth.

In closing, Neil Pann is way off the mark by suggesting that we have “completely abandoned the Mac.” In fact, our CEO and CTO also have MacBook Pros as their #1 device. This wasn’t the case when I joined the company in December 2009. Now, Macs proliferate around here and our market share with Mac customers is growing daily.