Architosh Staff (info@architosh.com)

9 Oct 2001

End of MacApp will touch key Mac3D/CAD software

According to a story on MacCentral the Apple-co-developed C++ -based object-oriented application framework, MacApp, will be shelved once more, a condition the product is familiar with from the past.

Some Key Mac 3D and CAD software touched by loss

Unfortunately, this will likely bring some disruption to a number of superb Macintosh applications which are developed with MacApp. Though it should be pointed out here that the nature of this product's demise is both unclear and uncertain. What is clear is that Apple's developer efforts will be put in directions more central to the three development environments of Mac OS X, Apple's new UNIX-based operating system.

Some Mac 3D/CAD apps developed with MacApp include BOA, by BOA Research, cumTerra and HouseMap by Cigraph of Italy, and DenebaCAD 2, by Deneba. Other graphics oriented software included GIFConverter, Media100, Freeway, and Celview, to name a few.

This decision comes at a key time when many developers are moving their applications to Mac OS X or beginning that process. The eventual fate of MacApp is unclear because it has been noted here in the past that MacApp has received development assistance from third-party developers in the past and conceivably could be aided by third-party developers in the near term. But we caution to speculate about such activities here.

As we learn more about how developers are planning to move forward with or without MacApp we will keep you informed.