Justin Montoya Posted October 28, 2016 Share Posted October 28, 2016 Hello- I realize the Linux base may still be pretty small, but a growing number of production software packages are being offered on Linux now that it is much easier to develop a Linux version along side Windows and OSX. Is there any chance we could see a Linux version from FormZ? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Cooper Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 Sounds good in an idealistic way, but as it is quite a big job clearing bugs for OSX and PC platforms, I would think that for as long as development is on an incline, this would dilute progress too much to be commercially viable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Cooper Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 It's been a year since the last post and FormZ is much more stable, 8.6wip has been released, developer focus is on V9. Windows 10 is continuing to be ignored by many businesses using Windows and consensus is that Windows 7 was the best ever version and that Windows 10 has privacy issues and who knows what subscription may cost in future. Unfamiliar UI and uncertainty about the future. "According to NetMarketShare’s August 2017 data, 48.43% are still using Windows 7 – compared to the 27.99% who have moved on to the latest operating system, Windows 10." Apple continues in strength but requires serious investment as hardware is expensive. Linux is increasing in strength and the future is looking bright. Will there indeed be Linux support in the future for FormZ? It would be great if there is by January 14 2020 when extended support for Windows 7 officially ends. I think FormZ may be one of only two programs I really need anymore which cannot be accessed on Linux. I expect alternative programs exist for anything else I have to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bo Atkinson Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Alan, I like your suggestions, but am getting used to things as they now are, with the occasional improvement in one thing and the loss somewhere else. I think that the modeling software market is so much a minority nowadays that all platforms are jeopardized, perhaps equally, by comparison to smart phones, pads and entertainment markets. The public A&E is tiny. The real development money for serious engineering software goes into the closed markets of military funding, where architecture and public modeling is absolutely excluded. We live on a predatory world, so I got used to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Cooper Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 I have had a quick response from the developer of the other program I am committed to and they will not be developing a Linux version. So I am committed to Windows. But eventually, after Jan 14th 2020, unless support from Microsoft is extended for Windows 7, I may consider a Linux PC to host Virtualbox with Windows 7 guest, hope Windows 7 is supported by FormZ and also the other software for many years and if/when it ceases, stand still long-term with such a setup but I really do hope for long-term Windows 7 compatibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Montoya Posted November 6, 2017 Author Share Posted November 6, 2017 As much as I would love to move to Linux completely, I realized that the need for FormZ as well as Adobe products - InDesign in particular, are going to keep us in Windows for a long time. I do not believe Adobe will ever make a Linux product. Alan, Windows 10 is great once you get it setup how you want it. Holding on to 7 is only going to hurt you in the long run... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 MacOS is based off Unix just like Linux... just get a mac and life will be easier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smarttec Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 Really! - my take is that the choice is Windows or Mac and both are evolving operating systems. Windows 7 is already ANCIENT like Mac OSX 10.6 - I don't think Autodessys / formZ has the resources to add another operating system when formZ 9 has taken this long in gestation so forget Linux. Anyway I'd rather see a formZ browser based 3D cloud application like Onshape, Fusion 360 etc ( growing all the time ) - that is the future of 3D design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Montoya Posted November 6, 2017 Author Share Posted November 6, 2017 snow - MacOS is pretty great, but the hardware is the problem now. Their unwillingness to provide NVIDIA based hardware for CUDA based rendering is a deal breaker for anyone wanting to use a modern rendering engine like Vray, Thea, or Maxwell. Sure CPU rendering still works but is often much slower on all of our scenes. This means a laptop with a GTX1060 can render faster than a 12 core desktop from Apple! Seriously! Plus, forcing other bad hardware decisions down everyones throat is not a way to keep professionals using the systems, no matter how good the OS has been. (removing normal USB slots, only offering non upgradeable equipment to force buying your overpriced RAM upgrades, stupid touch bars, removing 3.5mm stereo jacks, forcing desktop buyers into iMacs with awful glossy screens, overheating hardware, only AMD GPUs and only Intel CPUs... the poor hardware choices Apple keeps making goes on and on...) Smarttec - While I would love the cross platform flexibility of a browser based 3d package. Many of us travel without reliable internet, and still need to be able to do our work on the go. A browser based application will never be as good for that sort of flexibility, since they require an always on internet connection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smarttec Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 snow - MacOS is pretty great, but the hardware is the problem now. Their unwillingness to provide NVIDIA based hardware for CUDA based rendering is a deal breaker for anyone wanting to use a modern rendering engine like Vray, Thea, or Maxwell. Sure CPU rendering still works but is often much slower on all of our scenes. This means a laptop with a GTX1060 can render faster than a 12 core desktop from Apple! Seriously! Plus, forcing other bad hardware decisions down everyones throat is not a way to keep professionals using the systems, no matter how good the OS has been. (removing normal USB slots, only offering non upgradeable equipment to force buying your overpriced RAM upgrades, stupid touch bars, removing 3.5mm stereo jacks, forcing desktop buyers into iMacs with awful glossy screens, overheating hardware, only AMD GPUs and only Intel CPUs... the poor hardware choices Apple keeps making goes on and on...) Smarttec - While I would love the cross platform flexibility of a browser based 3d package. Many of us travel without reliable internet, and still need to be able to do our work on the go. A browser based application will never be as good for that sort of flexibility, since they require an always on internet connection. It's just that the volume CAD business is going to go into the cloud - not saying everything -yet! But the growth numbers that Fusion 360 and Onshape are quite large. And I see rendering systems around the corner from all of the above renderers using GPU's ( as many as you've ever dreamed of ) which can be linked to to cloud services for just the time you want. The ones I've seen are fast and productive. So we all have internet issues but it is the future... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Cooper Posted November 12, 2017 Share Posted November 12, 2017 Justin, "Holding on to 7 is only going to hurt you in the long run..." I am unconvinced. I am very satisfied with my workflow at the moment with a wonderful combination of programs working together on Windows 7. I can easily see myself maintaining that just as it is in a VM for many years to come. I met an architect 5 years ago who was perfectly happy with his 10 year old or more version of Autocad, he had found a comfortable work flow. Many companies have workflows which utilise old well designed programs, hence so much continued use of Windows XP. A lot of 'progress' is driven by the need to sell things and generate income rather than improve a system which already works great. Often when things are redesigned there is some loss as well as gain. I am comfortable and although looking forward to FZ v9 I may reach a point where I wish to settle in a virtualised setup for quite some time. There may be a point well into the future when I will want to move to new horizons, but that will be my decision, not being pushed along against my will by the likes of Microsoft. Have you used Virtual Box? I find that running an older system guest on a newer operating system host and newer hardware has some advantages and tends to work more smoothly and faster than it did on the original native system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow Posted November 13, 2017 Share Posted November 13, 2017 Justin, I agree that some of the decisions apple has made over the years in terms of hardware has been a hard pill to swallow, but at the same time, if they didn't "force other bad hardware decisions down everyones throat" then I don't think our computers would be what we have today. For example, everyone made a stink when they removed optical drives from their computers. Does anyone use them now? I'm sure very few do, but that helped force the enhancement of cloud technology and personal removable hardware like USB drives. the removal of the 3.5mm jack and USB-A ports seems like a scary thing for now, but in 2 years we will look back and laugh at how much we panicked. Pardon my fanboyism, but I digress. I think my general point is that change can be a good thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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