For me, this is the last product for Mac that I need in order to convince a lot of people to make the switch.
As an engineer (well, computer engineer), CAD programs are an absolute must for a lot of the people I know, and for better or for worse, AutoCAD is the golden standard. Most engineers I know just need web browsing + office + AutoCAD... and now they (hopefully!) have it.
What do you use autocad for? Electrical drawings or something else? I am very happy about this coming to the Mac as it might make the other engineering packages come to the Mac as well if it is a success. At my work we use solidworks for models and autocad for electrical drawings.
I'm a mechanical engineer, my personal preference for 2D drawings is AutoCAD but 3D CAE is Solidworks. I'm not sure I could personally make the switch until Solidworks was availble because I spend about 90% of my time in Solidworks but only 10% in AutoCAD, but if Inventor went to Mac that's pretty close to Solidworks.
(Is Pro/E on Mac? I know it is available on Linux)
My brother is an architect and his primary tool is AutoCAD, he could absolutely make the switch to a mac if that were available, in fact having to boot into Windows most of the time anyway is the reason he did not spend extra and get a Macbook Pro last time he bought a laptop.
I've been waiting for Solidworks on anything but Windows since approximately 1997. I've been considering switching to Autodesk Inventor recently, and this might push me over the edge. The last piece of software holding me to Windows then would be PCB layout software.
Also, I believe that Pro/E doesn't support Linux anymore. I believe the most recent release, Wildfire 5, only runs on Windows and, strangely, 64-bit Solaris.
Most of the AutoDesk products tend to focus on 3D modeling design. You can do a research on products information. I bet this news will stimulate Apple's future Pro sales at least 10%. There are so many 3D designers (ex. Architect, Civil Eng..) can't switch from Microsoft to Apple because of that (my brother included).
Actually, I'm a AutoDesk Inventor addict. I design prototypes and sketch out ideas for testing on there - I just hope AutoCAD on Mac will open a doorway that lets them port their other tech over, too. After all, the technology powering all their software is practically identical, so far as I can tell.
I remember probably a decade ago being told by CAD people how much companies pay to run AutoCAD, and being completely shocked. I never realised there was any software so expensive. Based upon my observations in several engineering companies I'd say that Autodesk is one of the worst organisations when it comes to selling of software, very aggressively locking users in using strong-arm tactics.
Pretty much all engineering software tends to come out to about $2k-$6k a seat which may seem quite expensive but when you get to modeling systems with a huge number of parts and such this software is invaluable and these engineering companies know this and therefore can charge this price.
These companies are more than just autodesk, there is PTC and solidworks and MSCsoftware, I've heard from my professors that MSC's Adams software is something like $20k a seat and getting an educational discount or deal is extremely hard to come by.
It was a long time ago, but I remember having a conversation with the chief draughtsman at one company and him explaining with a tone of weary resignation how he needed to spend a large amount of money buying upgrades for AutoCAD even though his department didn't require any of the features it contained. The way that the software was being marketed was basically forcing him into paying Autodesk whether he wanted to or not - almost like the medieval practice of paying tribute to the local baron.
I'm guessing someone at the company he worked for deciding a reason for upgrading and whether or not it was a good reason I doubt it was completely forced, more probably the person who decided they needed to upgrade was found with a really good salesman or there was a legitimate reason for an upgrade.
Either way I can't see the difference between upgrading engineering software and say upgrading an entire point of sales system for some new features or because of a good salesman.
This kind of thing just seems to happen in business no matter the type, but a large portion of Autodesk software is sold through resellers and this is probably where the marketing issue comes into play.
This is ironic as AutoCad is now a completely obsolete program based on decades old technology. The industry is moving to Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Autodesk was smart enough to see the writing on the wall, and bought Revit. What I would love is Revit on linux.
It's a nice thought, but it's hard to see the business case for Autodesk...support for two platfroms in order to cannibalize their own sales doesn't make a lot of sense.
Also, in my experience, most engineers who use AutoCAD use at least on third party domain specific plugin. If those plugins aren't also ported then they still won't be able to move to Apple. In fact I know many people who would be happy to give up AutoCAD for something else, but can't because they need certain plugins.
As an engineer (well, computer engineer), CAD programs are an absolute must for a lot of the people I know, and for better or for worse, AutoCAD is the golden standard. Most engineers I know just need web browsing + office + AutoCAD... and now they (hopefully!) have it.