CAD on a Mac

[petek]

Originally Posted by Bill Moore

You may have better options once the Mac converts to Intel chips, especially with the Wine and Darwine initiatives. But that's a few years off, so it doesn't help now.

If you want to run any Windows OS program as hardware-intensive as Inventor, I think you'll have better luck dual-booting these machines (rumored to be introduced in January). Though I suspect that you'll have to wait until Apple releases high-end Intel desktop machines to get it to run properly.

Originally Posted by Bill Moore

Adaptability is the key folks. Your job will not be the same 10 years from now (when I retire), or 20 years or 30 years from now. The tools and systems you use will change, and you must be able to adapt along with them. That is the key to making yourself marketable over the long term.

I couldn't agree more! I've found that my work has undergone major changes about every 3 to 5 years. I started out doing analog circuit development and data acquisition and 30 yrs later I'm doing lab automation, process development for pharmaceutical research and (mostly) project management and paperwork.
BTW, my first desktop PC was a Mac IIcx (with dual monitors), which I used for CAD (MacDraft, Claris CAD and Ashlar Vellum). I didn't have a Windows box on my desk until about 6 yrs ago, though I used them a lot for machine control before that. However, once I got the opportunity to switch to Inventor (at v5.0), I quickly abandoned the Mac for CAD, though I still use it for most other things. Ironically, a PC-centric design engineer I work with has been oogling my 3-yr old TiBook - amazed at how well it handles sleep and power management, and how easy the screen is on the eyes compared with PC displays.