Architosh Staff (info@architosh.com)

19 Dec 00

IntelliCAD and OS X: porting options and the ITC

With all of the rumors, wishes and interest in better Autocad compatibility and Autocad for OS X, it was refreshing to read this interesting suggestion from reader Matthew Gallyer:

I just got a free copy of IntelliCAD 2000 for windows on a CD with a magazine, for noncommercial use....

Anyway I was thinking, as this is now free-source...not open source...but still easy to get hold of. Wouldn't it be great if someone ported it to MacOS X? If Autodesk (Autocad) will not do it, then a complete fully functional 'clone' is the next best thing, not to mention better price.

IntelliCAD Technology Consortium and Macintosh Development

Those looking to learn more about IntelliCAD 2000 can go read the good info at the IntelliCAD Technology Consortium web site. For those not familiar, IntelliCAD is unique in that its native file format is .DWG, the same as Autocad, so that when you open an Autocad file (v2.5 - v2000) there is no file conversion what-so-ever.

IntelliCAD's source code is also open through the ITC (consortium). By becoming a member you can download the IntelliCAD 2000 source code and work with it in your software projects. To learn more click here.

One key Macintosh developer, Nemetschek North America (formerly Diehl Graphsoft), the makers of VectorWorks products, are "Commercial Members". Nemetscheck NA, is likely a member to improve the Autocad support in its flagship, cross-platform CAD and 3D products. Nemetschek NA is also a member of the OpenDWG Alliance.

This brings up the question of Mac OS X projects for better DWG support. Most of the key Macintosh CAD developers are already members of the OpenDWG Alliance, a group of developers that have reverse-engineered Autodesk's proprietary DWG file format. But it would be great if more Mac developers worked with the IntelliCAD Technology Consortium as well, and even better if a Mac CAD developer would undertake a Mac OS X port of the entire IntelliCAD 2000 source code or some subset of that code base.

Do We Really Need Autodesk in our Mac OS X World?

This question has come up more than a hundred times in our efforts here at Architosh to evangelize the Mac platform in the CAD/3D/AEC markets. As Matthew Gallyer suggested, perhaps we do not need Autodesk at all if IntelliCAD for Mac OS X could come into existence and offer unrivaled Autocad compatibility.

As more and more Autocad for OS X petitions continue to come in here at Architosh one theme continues to present itself: compatibility over use. Even the engineers and scientist who use the Mac OS and yet love Autocad (for whatever reasons) would most likely love any "clone" product on OS X even better.

While some see Autocad as "legitimizing the Mac" in the CAD world (and this has to do with the close-minded, corporate IT validation of Macintosh), many feel—as we do here at Architosh—that the Mac is already the premier platform for technical CAD work, because it is the "best platform" period for getting more real work done.