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Bluebeam dropping Mac


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I received an email today that has made me quite unhappy.  Bluebeam has decided to drop Revu for Mac.  Bluebeam never really put much effort into the Mac platform, their Revu was quite sub-par compared to the Windows version, but I was able to use it almost daily in my professional practice.

 

Since Bluebeam and Vectorworks are part of the same family, how did this happen?  How does one part of the company drop Mac support when all their other applications (as far as I know) have Mac versions?

 

Here is a copy of the letter.

 

Hello,

 

We’re writing to let you know that we’ve made the difficult decision to stop developing future versions of Bluebeam Revu for Mac. We understand that this decision will impact many users and organizations, and we’re committed to providing the support and resources required to keep you and your company on track during this transition. We’ll also release the Revu for Mac 2.1 update in Q2. This update includes improvements to our measurement tools and addresses some critical issues.

 

When we originally developed Revu for Mac, our intention was to extend the incredible efficiency and collaboration power of Bluebeam Revu to the Mac platform. While we pursued this multi-platform approach, advancements in cloud-computing redefined what was possible and provided an opportunity for us to reevaluate our strategy.

 

At the end of 2018, we committed to building a new cloud-based ecosystem of solutions that delivers powerful features, tools and workflows accessible from any device and from any location. You will first see this vision coming to life in new products like Bluebeam Atlas and features like Drawings. In order to invest in this long-term vision, we have made the decision to begin the process of winding down the Revu for Mac product.

 

We know that Revu for Mac provides specific benefits for your business. To minimize the disruption this decision may have, we will provide you with the following:

 

You can continue to use your existing license of Revu for Mac. To learn more about your support options, please read our support article.

 

All customers who are on Revu for Mac 2.0 will have access to the 2.1 release. Please note that we will not release any additional updates after March 2020.

 

Customers who are on Revu for Mac 1.0 will be able to purchase an upgrade for a limited time only (until 6/1/19) at a discounted price. If you’re interested, please reach out to sales@bluebeam.com or your local reseller. Please note that this is only available for upgrades; as of today, Maintenance sales and renewals are no longer available.

 

Customers who are interested in Revu for Windows can purchase a Standard, CAD or eXtreme license for a special price. If you’re interested, please reach out to sales@bluebeam.com or your local reseller. Please note that Bluebeam does not provide support for Mac applications like Parallels or Boot Camp.

 

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out.

 

Thank you,
The Bluebeam Team

 

I found it humorous that they go on to suggest that customers could purchase the Windows version to continue using Revu.  

 

I am severely disappointed in Bluebeam with this decision.  

 

Rob

 

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee
1 hour ago, rgcn said:

Since Bluebeam and Vectorworks are part of the same family, how did this happen?  


We are only a part of the same family under the Nemetschek group as Apple and Google are part of the same family in that they're both US companies. We do not coordinate when it comes to feature decisions and direction, pretty much only when it comes to methods of interchange between software packages.

Though it's pretty stunning to me as well.

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I saw the title of this thread and opened it up fully intending to point out how this would put the nail in the coffin of my efforts to explore Revu. But then I read this:

 

15 hours ago, rgcn said:

While we pursued this multi-platform approach, advancements in cloud-computing redefined what was possible and provided an opportunity for us to reevaluate our strategy. At the end of 2018, we committed to building a new cloud-based ecosystem of solutions that delivers powerful features, tools and workflows accessible from any device and from any location.

 

This actually sounds great. Look around, from CAD apps like Onshape to specification apps like NBS Chorus. I'm a big fan of native apps but cloud-computing and web-standards is changing what's possible, and something like Revu is perfect for cloud-computing because it's all about collaboration.

 

If they get this right my bet is it will provide an even better experience than native apps.

Edited by Christiaan
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From a collaboratoin perspective going cloud based can have its advantages, including solving cross platform issues, but I'm still not ready to join "team cloud" as I do notice some substantial disadvantages still haven't been solved for the average user.

 

I've worked on a project with a client at their office where basically everything was cloud based and by standard running over (fast) WiFi, even though it was running on an in-house server so no worries about internet connection speed, and one thing I clearly noticed is that you need some serious overcapacity on the network when working with large and/or complex files. When the office was fully occupied things could get quite slow on the network when working with large files (think Vectorworks large files of 200+ MB or with lots of data). On such days we ended up waiting, and then waiting a bit more before files/data got updated or saved. Not to mention the times of temporarily losing connection due to network overload. Did I mention waiting? 🙂

 

Imagine how it might be when it would have been running on external servers (e.g. as is the case with OnShape for most users) to be accessed over the internet.

This was just for the main big program and two small programs open. If you have more than one major software application open containing quite a bit of data (in file size or number of objects) and have colleagues doing the same then it will require some investment in network capacity (and possibly internet connection speed/capacity) to keep performance up to a minimum level, which may be doable for a large company but for many one person/smaller companies the cost may be harder to absorb/justify.

 

Bluebeam is apparently targeting those large companies with this decision and given the large number of single/small company users of Vectorworks I'm not sure this cloud is really good news at the moment whether on Mac or Windows. Time will tell what they'll come up with and then we'll know whether it is worthwile for us or that we need to look for alternatives. As a Bluebeam user and working with very large files I do have mixed feelings about that statement from Bluebeam.

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On 3/2/2019 at 9:01 AM, Christiaan said:

I saw the title of this thread and opened it up fully intending to point out how this would put the nail in the coffin of my efforts to explore Revu. But then I read this:

 

 

This actually sounds great. Look around, from CAD apps like Onshape to specification apps like NBS Chorus. I'm a big fan of native apps but cloud-computing and web-standards is changing what's possible, and something like Revu is perfect for cloud-computing because it's all about collaboration.

 

If they get this right my bet is it will provide an even better experience than native apps.

I noticed this as well which suggests to me that you won't be left in the lurch.  They are coming up with something "better"?

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  • 7 months later...

I was having another look at Bluebeam today because we're looking for a cloud-based RFI solution. It's quite incredible how ugly this software is. They've managed to make it look like computing in the 80s. They've even exported this look to their iPad apps. Just compare it to something like PlanGrid by Autodesk. So slick. It's like Nemetschek bought a fixer-upper for $100 million and then never fixed it up.

 

I'd like to see Vectorworks on this list:

https://www.plangrid.com/integrations/

Edited by Christiaan
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  • 5 months later...
On 3/2/2019 at 8:01 AM, Christiaan said:

I saw the title of this thread and opened it up fully intending to point out how this would put the nail in the coffin of my efforts to explore Revu. But then I read this:

 

 

This actually sounds great. Look around, from CAD apps like Onshape to specification apps like NBS Chorus. I'm a big fan of native apps but cloud-computing and web-standards is changing what's possible, and something like Revu is perfect for cloud-computing because it's all about collaboration.

 

If they get this right my bet is it will provide an even better experience than native apps.

 

I'm not confident this is going to be what it would need to be.  Cloud based apps are fine as long as they do not always need the cloud.  As long as there is a desktop companion application that can be used when you don't have a connection then it's fine but otherwise I find it useless.

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If you're looking for a cloud based RFI solution then PlanGrind is better for you assuming that you're looking for something more than just marking up a PDF.  

 

Revu and PlanGrid are quite different.  I find it hard to compare them.  I use Revu as my default PDF application and have used PlanGrid on various projects as part of the entire project teams effort.  Using one does not preclude using the other.  For example I would still use Revu as my PDF application even if I had PlanGrid.  Revu is really just a PDF markup application with some nice purpose built features for the architectural and engineering industry.  PlanGrid is a whole ecosystem built around drawings and other documents that is highly integrated with workflows for RFis, submittals, Punch Lists, task management etc.   The pricing structure is different too.  PlanGrid gets quite expensive with it's monthly fee vs the one time cost of Revu.  Both are great for what they are but I wouldn't compare them.

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  • 1 year later...
On 6/10/2021 at 1:58 PM, Genevieve Raynauld said:

Bonjour,  I run an interieur design firm on MAC in Montréal and I've never found any PDF reader/editor that I like more than Bluebeam REVU for their architectural features. Would it be possible to have some software suggestions?

It depends on whether you want/need 3D PDF support (i.e. viewing because VW already can export 3D PDF).

 

If yes then PDF XChange might be worth looking at: https://www.tracker-software.com/ but it runs either on Windows or a Citrix environment, so you would have to run it in a virtual machine on Mac. Otherwise Adobe Acrobat is your only other option for 3D PDFs as far as I know for affordable software plus that it is rental and not a permanent license.

 

Another potential option might be Foxit PDF Editor Pro: https://www.foxit.com/pdf-editor/

According to their website it should be able to convert DWG files to 3D PDF, so it could be that it supports viewing of 3D PDF files as well, will have to look at this myself soon. Currently that feature is Windows only, don't know if it will become available on Mac as well.

 

It 3D PDF support is not required, then PDF Studio Pro might be one to consider: https://www.qoppa.com/pdfstudio/

It is one of the few that are multiplatform and have viewers for iPhone and Android as well and so does Foxit)

 

Bluebeam, Adobe Acrobat and PDF XChange from Tracker Software sees as far as I have been able to find the only options for small and medium business that can handle 3D PDF files. Foxit might  also be supporting 3D PDF now, but would have to check by testing its viewer/editor.

Otherwise you will have to look for corporate/enterprise level kind of software. Or wait until Bluebeam comes up with its cloud option.

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5 hours ago, Art V said:

It depends on whether you want/need 3D PDF support (i.e. viewing because VW already can export 3D PDF).

 

If yes then PDF XChange might be worth looking at: https://www.tracker-software.com/ but it runs either on Windows or a Citrix environment, so you would have to run it in a virtual machine on Mac. Otherwise Adobe Acrobat is your only other option for 3D PDFs as far as I know for affordable software plus that it is rental and not a permanent license.

 

Another potential option might be Foxit PDF Editor Pro: https://www.foxit.com/pdf-editor/

According to their website it should be able to convert DWG files to 3D PDF, so it could be that it supports viewing of 3D PDF files as well, will have to look at this myself soon. Currently that feature is Windows only, don't know if it will become available on Mac as well.

 

It 3D PDF support is not required, then PDF Studio Pro might be one to consider: https://www.qoppa.com/pdfstudio/

It is one of the few that are multiplatform and have viewers for iPhone and Android as well and so does Foxit)

 

Bluebeam, Adobe Acrobat and PDF XChange from Tracker Software sees as far as I have been able to find the only options for small and medium business that can handle 3D PDF files. Foxit might  also be supporting 3D PDF now, but would have to check by testing its viewer/editor.

Otherwise you will have to look for corporate/enterprise level kind of software. Or wait until Bluebeam comes up with its cloud option.

 merci!!

 

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