AutoCAD free software

C

CLD

Bit poster
Hi All,
We need to run this software
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=6703438&siteID=123112
Its a free AutoCAD software that allows you to see and print dwg files.
We were considering buying a new windows laptop but I would like to install Parallels onto our macbook. We have a MAC OS X 10.4.11 2.1GHZ Intel Core 2 DUO 1GB 667 MHZ. Would this be suitable? Once I have bought and downloaded this software can I simly download the AutoCAD software direct from the internet - or is there anything else I need to consider or know.
Many thanks for any help.

Sarah
 
Unfortunably, the latest version (2009) of DWG TrueView doesn't (yet?) work with directx shaders support turned on which means it's near unusable, if you find the 2008 version it will work fine (I have it, I can upload it to yousendit.com or something like that if you want it).

I've opened a thread for this issue, but got no reply (yet?).

If you haven't bought Parallels yet, and you must run DWGTV 2009, I suggest you trial VMWare Fusion (sorry to mention the competition, Parallels, but for some of us AutoCAD support is vital and we'll change to whatever makes it work) and see if that works well (personally, I'm curious to know, I'm just waiting to see if Parallels or Fusion supports 2009, and if I have to pay for the next version of Parallels to get that support then maybe I'll jump ship, depending on other factors).
 
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So we cannot use it at all?

Im sorry I dont know what direct x shaders is. Could you explain. To clarify what we do and the purpose of this software we simply need it to read drawings sent to us from other companies - we do not own any other autocad or window based products. We just need to check other peoples drawings. We use vectorworks. Please advise.
 
DirectX shaders support is an option you can turn on or off in Parallels, it's basically to support hardware accelerated 2D/3D, which means, that with it turned off (the only way DWGTV 2009 works) all the AutoCAD graphical work is done thru the CPU (without taking advantage of your graphics card), which makes it considerable slower, and depending on the complexity of the drawings can make it unusable.

Personally, I use version 2008, but if you must have ACAD 2009 support it will still work, albeit slower to almost unusable depending on complexity, but it works.

There's a free program to view/print DWG on Mac, it's called eDrawings, thou it's problematic to get it to print to scale (I don't know what were these guys thinking).
There are also some non free mac apps to view and print DWG on Macs (without needing windows) that work way better than eDrawings and might be less costly to buy one of those apps then to buy Parallels + Windows.

Or, you can forget about Parallels and run Windows on Boot Camp (dual boot) then DWG TV 2009 will work without a glitch.
 
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What are the names of the software you can purchase for Mac that open dwg files - just tried the edrawings software - its ok - but not great.

Thank you for your help.
 
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