MaWi

In all of my projects that I supervise as a BIM consultant, IFC is the format used to exchange the model with other specialist planners. And thanks to Vectorworks excellent data manager, we are able to meet the IFC requirements. But I am delighted that Vectorworks 2026 has introduced yet another improvement to the data manager!

Hi line-weight You are absolutely right about the title (and the original topic). However, the discussion partly took the direction of criticizing the development of VW Inc. very negatively, and I disagree with that. Regards, Marc

In my opinion, Vectorworks is developing well and communicating very openly about the issues that will be addressed in the future. As mentioned earlier, I believe that many of the items on the roadmap will actually be implemented. Incidentally, for me, the glass is never half full or half empty. It is always full, because 50% is air, and we need the air to breathe. So, let's gather constructive feedback and share it with Vectorworks along with our expertise. This will help us all take one or even several steps forward.

I am not very familiar with all the internal processes and am often only involved in innovations once I can test them myself in a preliminary version. However, I have noticed that a lot of the items on the roadmap have been implemented in recent years. From my distant perspective, the processes seem to be running well. At ComputerWorks, we regularly discuss future developments internally, and our own development department then passes this information on to VW Inc. So we have our own wish list for the German-speaking region. And all these wishes are, of course, always fulfilled immediately 😉

I have various responsibilities, but I don't receive a penny directly from Vectorworks Inc. From that perspective, I am financially independent and can also take uncomfortable or critical positions. I earn part of my salary as a lecturer for VDC at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland. Vectorworks is used in teaching there, and features are also used that are certainly used even less in offices (a good example is actually the AI rendering function). The rest of the week, I am the head of the consulting team at ComputerWorks Switzerland. This means that I work with architects on projects and support them in creating their BIM models according to requirements. Just yesterday, I was in an office myself and we did some tidying up on a building model (stylizing walls and floors, adding hatching to columns, check the heights, etc.). Basic work, in other words. I like the new VW interface, and I know from the architecture firms that new employees in particular really appreciate the new clarity and find things faster. For me, the roadmap is anything but window dressing. I often show it to my customers when they want to know what to expect in the next 1-2 years. I think it's good and important to talk openly about development.

Yes, of course, “AI rendering” could have been omitted. However, I have used it myself and am confident that it has a promising future. Interface updates are important to me, particularly from the perspective of software consistency. The roadmap is publicly accessible, and every user can evaluate the wishes there, completely independently of any marketing department.

Do you know that every development at VW Inc. is documented in detail and that there are always more wishes from users for a tool than can be implemented. Careful consideration is always given to which requests must be incorporated into the new version and which can be postponed for later development. I know that resources are definitely used very carefully. And of course, as an architect, I would like to see 100% of resources being used for architecture, but it is actually correct for the revenue generated by each sector to flow back into development.

To my knowledge, NNA has not existed as a company name for several years. 😉 Vectorworks Inc. has introduced fundamental changes for architects in recent years. I support as consultant a large number of major BIM projects and am convinced that the development department of VW Inc. is driving positive and important improvements.

The question is how much money you start your business with. Many of my colleagues try their hand at self-employment as architects, and if it doesn't work out, they cancel their subscription after 12 or 18 months. The loss in this example is calculable and less than when purchasing a license with VSS.

For me, the first version was MiniCad 6 on Windows. One of the first versions introduced the new feature of being able to undo more than once. That was a real treat!

Being critical of a new licensing system does not automatically mean that customers reject the software. Rather, I think that many users would like to have more options or would even prefer no changes at all to the current practice. As already mentioned, I know many colleagues who only started working with Vectorworks because of the subscription model.

Hi Rudy I understand the frustration with subscription-based licenses and time-limited usage rights, because software was never purchased that way in the past. However, I can assure you that some of my colleagues only started using Vectorworks because they were able to keep the initial monthly costs low, and nowadays such subscriptions are common in many areas of life (telecommunications, sports, movies, etc.). Regards, Marc

Such facades are possible with the new Assemblies! 😍

Hi gharcourt I'm currently trying to get in touch with Apple in various ways. I'll let you know if I hear anything! Regards, Marc

You misunderstood me. As a reporter of the bug, I give priority. And if I set this to “Low”, then this bug should have a lower priority than “Medium” or higher. For the bugs that I report, I try to give a serious assessment of how troublesome the bug is. In recent years, I have been very happy with the balance between new features and fixed bugs. It's not about simply accepting bugs, but rather about prioritizing them correctly and recognizing whether or not they affect daily work. The cooperation with Vectorworks is very satisfactory for me in this respect.