Skia_D Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 Before I decide on a year-end purchase to upgrade from 10 to 11, I'd love it (and I'll bet others would too!) if those who are using 11 wouldn't mind giving a rating (scale of 1 to 10, 10 of course being best) on this release. Provide comments if you want, and answer the question below if you want, but I'd like to see what the average rating is on this release. Is it worth it? I'm currently running VW 10.5.1 w/ Arhitect on G4 Mac, 10.3.5, 768 Ram, 1.25 Gig - I've read some of the speed issues discussions and wonder whether I'll be getting myself into my own little software quagmire. The only speed issue I have seems to be with the object info palette when I am adjusting walls and lines. It is slow when I have change a length for instance and then pick another line or wall to change its dimensions. will it get worse for me with VW 11? Quote Link to comment
Jonathan Pickup Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 the upgrade for me is 10! There were some important new tools and commands added, but the most important for me is the ViewPorts. They are an amazing leap forward for VectorWorks. For me (and for several of my clients) the viewports alone were enough to justify the upgrade price. One of my clients said the the cost of upgrading was minor compared the cost of not upgrading [and making a mistake on the drawings that would be saved by the use of ViewPorts]. Quote Link to comment
Kevin Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 Viewports is a substantial change in the way VW works. It is how VW will work from here on out. I cannot see any advantage in staying with version 10. You will upgrade eventually so why not now? If your business is like mine, then December is a slow time of the year. It is a perfect time to learn the new Vectorworks without the pressure of deadlines. VW11 is not just new features but a fundamental change in the way drawings are made. The program has been stable. It could be faster, but then I suspect that VW11 is no slower than VW10. (I upgraded to VW11 from VW9, OS9). Quote Link to comment
Haich Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 Viewports in 11 really make a huge difference, especially for those who are used to having the functionality from AutoCAD. Worth the upgrade for this feature alone. VW 11 is REDICULOUSLY SLOW! I personally find it to be slower than 10.5. I have a reasonably fast machine (XP Pro, AMD 3200+, 1.5 gigs ram.) and I dread working on complex drawings because of the speed issues. All in all, if your bread and butter comes from working in VW and generating multiple plates with multiple details from the same "drawing", VW 11's Viewports will make your life a lot easier. If you generate 1 plate from 1 drawing without details, and you are happy with vw10- you would be fine to stay with it. There is still plenty of room for improvement with 11.5 or 12 though! VW Really NEEDS user coordinate systems and the ability to rotate the 2d plan view. Also VW could use some improvements in workgroup referencing- i.e. rotating references, inserting references at different origins. -haich Quote Link to comment
Guest Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 Skia-D- If you are thinking about getting VW 11, you should go ahead and get it. You can always return the product if it doesn't suit your needs, or you are for whatever reason unhappy. While it's a good idea to get opinions from other users, this message board may be a slighted in the findings one way or the other. Keep in mind,the people that frequent the message board compose a very small group of the overall user base. Quote Link to comment
Skia_D Posted December 23, 2004 Author Share Posted December 23, 2004 quote: While it's a good idea to get opinions from other users, this message board may be a slighted in the findings one way or the other. Keep in mind,the people that frequent the message board compose a very small group of the overall user base True, it's a small base, but so are 1,053 respondents in a voting base of 120 million-something plus voters in a presidential election poll! If you can direct me to another site that might have more objective reviews - by users - I'd be happy to peruse that. Don't get me wrong - I thoroughly like using Vectorworks, and have no plans of changing to a competitor's software, but honestly, your response almost sounds as if you're worried that there will be too many negative reviews about this particular release. Am I detecting just a hint of "spin," or did I not get enough sleep last night? Quote Link to comment
oldguy Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 quote: Originally posted by Haich: There is still plenty of room for improvement with 11.5 or 12 though! VW Really NEEDS user coordinate systems and the ability to rotate the 2d plan view. Also VW could use some improvements in workgroup referencing- i.e. rotating references, inserting references at different origins. -haich As you can see below, I am currently an AutoCAD user but have been evaluating VW 11 (Demo) along side a current project of AutoCAD drawing As-builts and am very impressed with VW and their implementation of Viewports. All that's need is support for AutoCAD References and VW would be a close substitue for A-Cad - particularly for Mac users. Seems to be the next logical step (Not unlike Bentley/MicroStation now supporting dwg-format complete with opening and closing in dwg) If VW were to move-one-more step this way this may kill the AutoCAD for OS X movement For what it is worth, from an AutoCAD on Windows user - Go! Vw11 JimL PS Grrr.. No spell checker Quote Link to comment
AndyM Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 VW11 is all about viewports. They are a huge advance and I don't know how I ever worked without them. As others have mentioned, there is always room for improvement. I REALLY wish you could copy sheet layers and workgroup referencing needs to have the same functionality as viewports i.e. cropping, moving, controlling class vivibility, etc... The Spotlight module is also desperate for an update. Quote Link to comment
AndyM Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 It sure would be nice if it worked exactly like viewports. Quote Link to comment
Guest Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 No, I am not concerned at all about possible negative reviews. I'm just making sure that you don't put all your eggs in one basket. I work in tech support. If anyone in the company heard negative things about the program, I'd hear more than the fair share of things. While there are people that complain about VW 11, there are many many many more people that love it and are pleased with the purchase. My suggestion is for you to just try it for yourself. Not everyone on the board is going to use the same exact way you will. You can get a demo, or even buy the program. You have a full 90 day period to evaluate it. If you don't like it, just send it back. It's that easy. Quote Link to comment
Kevin Posted December 23, 2004 Share Posted December 23, 2004 I agree with Katie. The focus of this board is typically to solve "problems", either real or percieved. There are certainly many happy users who never visit this board. 90 day money back guarantee is hard to beat. Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee Bruce Ferguson Posted December 24, 2004 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted December 24, 2004 Haich, It is possible to rotate or move a workgroup referenced layer, but it may take more steps than you would like. You can create a layer link to a referenced layer. Then you can rotate or move the layer link. Quote Link to comment
CEA Posted December 27, 2004 Share Posted December 27, 2004 Version 11 is the most significant upgrade to the program I have experienced- I have been using Vectorworks since version 8. I would not hesitate to switch from version 10 to 11; the viewport feature alone makes the upgrade worthwhile for me. I personally have not experienced any problems with speed. Quote Link to comment
dc Posted December 28, 2004 Share Posted December 28, 2004 As a user since MC3, VW 11 is a significant upgrage. Speed problems are minor. Upgrade now. 10 out of 10 Quote Link to comment
Skia_D Posted December 31, 2004 Author Share Posted December 31, 2004 Thanks for all the responses. I'll give 11 a try. Quote Link to comment
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