Life after/beyond PowerCadd?

[poolvibe]

I have yet to see a single post from someone who identifies a specific must-have feature in the next generation of hard/software from Apple. Not a single one.

By that argument, I assume you are still using PC4 on OS9 on a PPC iBook because it works good enough? At some point what works now will become harder to deal with. Web browsers, printer drivers, and who knows what else become harder to deal with as time goes on. It's simply easier to use hardware and software that is current and supported on current hardware. There is a premium to that and most of us are willing to pay it

[lava]

I'm glad people are pursuing alternatives like HighDesign. Whatever works for you...

All the chatter about HighDesign in this thread –– why are they not interacting with Todd right now and testing his XML exporter? Am I missing something? The guy from RealCad is all over the translator like a rat on a meat truck. But if HighDesign is courting us, they are not really trying.

These other options are just inadequate. Good for you if you can limp along till you retire with PowerCadd running on an old machine. I am going to be working too far out into the future to do a quiet fade into the night. I'd live with an emulator, but I'm not going to divide my work across several machines. I need robust access to my past work moving forward and I'm not too interested in learning a new program that does half as much. If you are going to court us, you really have to step up your game.

I have yet to see a single post from someone who identifies a specific must-have feature in the next generation of hard/software from Apple. Not a single one.

Give me a system level emulator that lets me keep running PowerCadd. And run it faster than it ever ran native on my old OS on the new Apple chips.

[MCharek]

On July 15 Andrea of Ilexisoft (publisher of HighDesign) said this:

“We already created a module inside HighDesign to load it and are now beginning to translate the various parts. Hopefully the next update will be able to import PowerCADD projects.”

To me that sounds very promising. If someone comes up with a migration path from PowerCADD to a similar system that is great news. I am on the soon-to-retire path, and a way to be able to maintain almost 40 years worth of work on PowerCAD into the future seems miraculous.

Keeping old systems on life support into the distant future sounds less than promising, so a “living” alternative is welcome.

[S. Shubin]

Can you post a link to the HD Forum?
Thanks

Robert, I was curious about your user name having LAB in it

I’m not sure if HD would be the proper CAD program for you because it’s not all that great on tangency and that type of thing

If PC/WT is not an option for you for some reason — then read on

If you haven’t checked out Onshape, you should do so

If you’re just doing things for yourself and not making money on it, you could use Onshape all you want and that would be a great way for you to evaluate the program. And there’s no time constraint. You could use it for years and years for free as a hobbyist

The screen capture you see below, is a 3D model I did on my iPhone

If you go to the App Store for the iPhone just type in Onshape

You can also use it on your android phone but it’s not quite as good as the iPhone version

App Store for the iPad has a version of the app

And it runs on whatever kind of computer you have. The nice thing is you don’t have to install any software if you’re using it on a computer

And the install on the iPhone is as easy as can be

When you sign up, just say you are a hobbyist and that is what you truly would be in evaluating the program.

But if you wanna start using it professionally, they’re going to charge you. And it is not cheap. But it really would be the ideal program for you because of all the different constraints and what not.

Unfortunately for people with smaller businesses, well it is pricey.

But you should at least take a look at it

And there’s all kinds of ways you can learn for free. I actually never went through any of there learning programs. I just piddled around and picked it up. It’s one of the easier programs to learn as far as I’m concerned as far as the modeling side goes

I don’t have any association with them other than as a hobbyist user of the app, and I surely don’t make any money off of any thing to do with Onshape

They also have a great forum for when you get in to a situation where you need some help. There’s a lot of people that will jump in and show you how to do things

If the price is just too outrageous then check out Shapr3D if you have an iPad or Mac. It’s a different type of software. It’s not a parametric app. It’s a direct modeler more like Rhino. But I think it’s a whole lot cheaper

I’ll add this for others interested. I’ve long felt that a number of software packages have their advantages. And even with the 3-D world coming on strong nowadays, well I think for a lot of people, that still doesn’t do away with their need for a very good 2D package like PC/WT. But in the case of a guy that’s doing mechanical CAD, there are some very good MCAD apps. A person could speak for an hour on the advantages those apps can have. And just as there’s no diminishing PC/WT, well there’s no diminishing the good MCAD programs either. They can do some amazing things. All said — PC/WT is the king of what it does and greatly appreciated

For HighDesign
https://www.ilexsoft.com/

Then under the hamburger in the upper left (the three horizontal lines) go down to support and you’ll find the user forum

This is Onshape on the iPhone

0CA2A458-56AD-43F3-B6A1-9E0339EF2E00.jpeg (303.7 KiB) Viewed 19114 times

[Eric Pousse]

The guy from RealCad is all over the translator like a rat on a meat truck.

First, it is RealCADD, with 2D.

Second, I don't know how I have to understand this comparison...??

[lava]

like a rat on a meat truck.

with enthusiasm

[Matt_A]

Give me a system level emulator that lets me keep running PowerCadd. And run it faster than it ever ran native on my old OS on the new Apple chips.

Sorry if I was unclear, Greg. I am asking for examples of announced features in the next generation of Apple machines/OS that folks find compelling enough to make immediate upgrading a necessity. I have not seen one that I need, nor have I seen anyone point to any examples.

Currently, perceived speed in PowerCADD is almost entirely a function of the drive read/write process. I believe the vast majority of the time PowerCADD is idling waiting for user input. That function can be optimized with current hardware.

I am hearing only crickets from the folks with their hair on fire in answer to my question.

[Derek]

Sorry if I was unclear, Greg. I am asking for examples of announced features in the next generation of Apple machines/OS that folks find compelling enough to make immediate upgrading a necessity. I have not seen one that I need, nor have I seen anyone point to any examples.

Perhaps some folks just want to be using an operating system that is supported with security updates when those are deemed necessary. Apple no longer supports High Sierra and it's likely they'll stop supporting Mojave in the next 12 months (based on past history).

[EduardoJB]

Perhaps some folks just want to be using an operating system that is supported with security updates when those are deemed necessary. Apple no longer supports High Sierra and it's likely they'll stop supporting Mojave in the next 12 months (based on past history).

Other software I have installed are asking me to leave Mojave if I want to upgrade to their newer versions.

[S. Shubin]

Perhaps some folks just want to be using an operating system that is supported with security updates

Excellent point Derek

What you have stated is exactly how I feel