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macOS Catalina (10.15) Compatibility


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10 hours ago, RonMan said:

My testing indicates the chart is accurate. I keep a virtual machine of macOS Sierra in case I need it.

 

 i am responsible for 6 mac workstations for Vectorworks plus another 20 workstations, servers etc. - of course I keep backups before upgrading the OS on the workstations, but I can't be expected to keep and maintain  virtual machines for all of the Vectorworks Workstations "just in case"

 

It is nice that people post their opinions here, but the only thing that will let me update my user's workstations, is an official answer from Vectorworks.

 

We also use various other software (of course) all these other software vendors have a clear position on this question. Only Vectorworks seems to be unsure if it is compatible or not, which is frustrating. We have used Vectorworks for many years and intend to keep using it. We are fine with waiting for a couple of months after the latest MacOS update before updating, however I would say that by 3 months I would expect Vectorworks to have caught up. We pay an annual subscription which includes annual releases. I think it is fair to expect Vectorworks to make sure that the annual releases are compatible with the corresponding operating systems.

 

I have sent the above comment directly to Vectorworks.

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I am in the same boat.

I have 5 Macs running High Sierra and VWX 2019.

And having purchased VWX 2020, it looks like I still cannot use it.

Very frustrating not to have a definitive answer on compatibility with the latest Mac operating system with either VWX 2019 or 2020.

 

So are VWX 2019 and VWX 2020 now compatible with Mac OS Catalina...or was VWX 2020 as wast of money?

 

Good if we can receive an emailed update from suppliers on this.

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So my main question is, does anybody have VWX 2020 working properly, on Mac OS 10.15 (Catalina)?

I have VWX 2020, already to go, but equally have Mac OS 10.15 Catalina, which I also have ready to go, but dare not load either, until I know that they work okay together.

So currently, I am still with VWX 2019, and Mac OS 10.14 (Mojave)

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Yes, I have it working on Catalina. It just crashes more often than 2019 under Mojave and a few features don't work and even on a fast computer, it can get slow… normally some time before a bomb. I have my preferences set up to save every 20 actions… ie normally more than once a minute, so I don't lose too much. I frequently close a file and reopen it when the graphics get scrambled and quit VW from time to time but it doesn't take too long to reboot.

 

D

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2 hours ago, DMcD said:

Yes, I have it working on Catalina. It just crashes more often than 2019 under Mojave and a few features don't work and even on a fast computer, it can get slow… normally some time before a bomb. I have my preferences set up to save every 20 actions… ie normally more than once a minute, so I don't lose too much. I frequently close a file and reopen it when the graphics get scrambled and quit VW from time to time but it doesn't take too long to reboot.

 

D

@DMcD exactly what I do, tho my saves are every 22 operations, and closing / rebooting I do far more regularly than in years past.

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I can also confirm that VW2020 works on Catalina.

 

I have been using it on a mac mini. 3.2 GHz 6-Core 16GB ram

Does seems a little heavy on the ram side, but are planning to upgrade in the near future. 

 

Most of the time graphic card seems to perform ok, but a little slow on complex models.

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I'm working with VW2020 on Catalina with very few problems. I had one strange crash, but I couldn't repeat the problem once I restarted VW. I'm using the most up to date VW 2020 sp2 and macOS 10.15.3. I do find it to be more responsive than VW 2019 when working with 3d models in open GL as well as basic 2d work. I'm not looking back to 2019, its a new year.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 1/20/2020 at 7:36 AM, RonMan said:

I have been consistently using VW2020 Designer on Catalina for weeks. I have found no major problems. 

I am adding a eGPU and an AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 to improve performance. My system:

 

 Model Name: MacBook Pro

 Model Identifier: MacBookPro15,1

 Processor Name: 6-Core Intel Core i9

 Processor Speed: 2.9 GHz

 

is bogging down with this graphics configuration:

 

Radeon Pro 560X:

 

Thunderbolt Display:

  Display Type: LCD

  Resolution: 2560 x 1440 (QHD/WQHD - Wide Quad High Definition)

  UI Looks like: 2560 x 1440

  Framebuffer Depth: 30-Bit Color (ARGB2101010)

 

Thunderbolt Display:

  Display Type: LCD

  Resolution: 2560 x 1440 (QHD/WQHD - Wide Quad High Definition)

  UI Looks like: 2560 x 1440

  Framebuffer Depth: 30-Bit Color (ARGB2101010)

 

The screens will not refresh under load. I have to either force an update by moving the view slightly (I bump the scroll wheel forth and back), or quit VW and wait until GPU memory has been cleaned. That can take 15-20 minutes.

 

I am specific about my configuration because others have had no issues or some minor ones. I believe VW2020 is ready for prime time now. Don't forget to do your updates.

I have added the eGPU since this update. What a huge difference. The card is an AMD Radeon Pro WX7100. Both the faster and slower cards in the series use mini-display port connectors. The immediate impact is all visualizations. I can crank OpenGL settings to the moon and still move smoothly. I changed the setting on my 3DConnexion mouse because the card is so much faster.

 

I also crash less often. The built-in graphics card does not have enough memory to handle complex renderings. Once it is full you either quit Vectorworks for a while, or wait for VW to crash and quit VW for a while. memory does not clear quickly from the graphics card. Use istat Menus to see what your GPU is doing. 

 

I did change my monitors. I now use two DELL UP2716D monitors. My Thunderbolt displays are for sale in the Dallas area.

 

Note: If I had chosen a different AMD card I could have kept the Thunderbolts monitors.They cannot be used with a full-size display port to mini-display port adaptor. The new monitors calibrate extremely well with my datacolor SpyderX. They do lack speakers–not an issue. I do not regret changing monitors. The color gamut is much better and they have excellent uniformity. (I do photo editing)

 

Radeon Pro WX 7100:

 

  Chipset Model: Radeon Pro WX 7100

  Type: External GPU

  PCIe Lane Width: x4

  VRAM (Total): 8 GB

  Vendor: AMD (0x1002)

  Device ID: 0x67c4

  Revision ID: 0x0000

  Automatic Graphics Switching: Supported

  gMux Version: 5.0.0

  Metal: Supported, feature set macOS GPUFamily2 v1

  GPU is Removable: Yes

  Displays:

DELL UP2716D:

  Resolution: 2560 x 1440 (QHD/WQHD - Wide Quad High Definition)

  UI Looks like: 2560 x 1440 @ 59 Hz

  Framebuffer Depth: 30-Bit Color (ARGB2101010)

  Display Serial Number: KV97096J195L

  Main Display: Yes

  Mirror: Off

  Online: Yes

  Rotation: Supported

  Automatically Adjust Brightness: No

  Connection Type: DisplayPort

DELL UP2716D:

  Resolution: 2560 x 1440 (QHD/WQHD - Wide Quad High Definition)

  UI Looks like: 2560 x 1440 @ 59 Hz

  Framebuffer Depth: 30-Bit Color (ARGB2101010)

  Display Serial Number: KV97096J183L

  Mirror: Off

  Online: Yes

  Rotation: Supported

  Automatically Adjust Brightness: No

  Connection Type: DisplayPort

 

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>>Note: If I had chosen a different AMD card I could have kept the Thunderbolts monitors.They cannot be used with a full-size display port to mini-display port adaptor.

 

I was having all sorts of problems connecting an old Thunderbolt Display to anything recent… 16" MacBook or Mac Pro and looking for alternative displays. In the end I got a really cheap USB-C to mini display port adaptor from the local office supplies shop and the TD now works fine… to a point.

 

Last year I was using two older 30" displays and having continual fights with others in the building about the line widths I was using to get a decent screen view or print. I ended up buying an Apple/LG 5K display and it certainly makes a huge difference. It's smaller than the 30" by quite a lot which means less neck bending but far higher resolution and better looking 3D rendering.

 

The result is that I have to change all the line widths to something much smaller than I had been using. Regrettably, the screen view is now not the same as the MBP users get. 

 

Re graphics cards etc. does VW publish and recommendations about what works and what doesn't in terms of standard Macs, or external graphics units? Might save a lot of time and money. I have read that most are getting out of openGL into other rendering tech. Does this mean if you spend a lot on openGL monitors, it will be a dead end soonish?

 

D

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