Goodbye Vista, we hardly knew you.
I read this on the ArchiCAD-talk forum today: Graphisoft will no longer be supporting Windows Vista. For all the details on using Windows Vista with a variety of ArchiCAD releases, read the ArchiCAD wiki page. This means a few things:
While future versions of ArchiCAD may run on Windows Vista, there’s no guarantee. If you do run ArchiCAD 17 or a newer version on Windows Vista and something bad happens, your complaints will fall on deaf ears. Or maybe sympathetic listening ears, but ears attached to hands that can’t do anything for you.
Now I can hear a few users screaming “What the Fuck?! I love Vista, why are you not supporting it anymore? Why are software companies always leaving me behind…”
Here’s some fun facts:
Vista was released in late 2006; its last stable release was in 2009; and Microsoft discontinued mainstream support for it back in early 2012. So even Microsoft gave up on it almost two years ago. For reference, those dates coincide roughly with ArchiCAD 10, 13, and 16. Yes Windows Vista is so old that it was released around the time Graphisoft was releasing its first version of ArchiCAD for an Intel based Mac. OMFG.
What Now?
For more thoughts on capability and ArchiCAD, read this post on OSX 10.9 Mavericks and Windows 8.1. Expect another version of that post later this year when whatever supersedes Mavericks arrives. And then another version in 2015 when (rumor has it) Windows 9 and whatever replaces the 2014 version of OSX both land.
What Next?
Here’s my official first mention of ArchiCAD 18. We don’t know when it’ll arrive, or what it will offer us. But we now know this: don’t assume it’ll run well (or at all) on Windows Vista. Same goes for users of OSX 10.6. No official word yet, but I bet You’ll be dropped pretty soon too. ArchiCAD 17 is the last version to support OSX 10.6. You’ve been warned.
Follow Shoegnome on Facebook and Twitter for more reasons why not updating your software is slowly rapidly eroding your value. I’ll be writing more on that soon enough. Trying to make a decision about which BIM software to use? I have the ultimate answer for you. Seriously, here’s BIM software you should use. But make sure it’s the latest version.
James Badcock
On the GS AC system requirements page, we already show that AC17 is the last version to support Mac OSX 10.6. I think it’s been listed there for a while 🙂
http://www.graphisoft.com/support/system_requirements/
Jared Banks
Ah crap. I knew that, but forgot! Thanks for the reminder.
Nikola Duzevic
I wonder how much users are still on the Vista since it’s one of Microsoft’s neglected problematic kids. Forward looking users realized that long time ago. Similar goes for 32bit systems. ArchiCAD 16 was the last version to support them (and Win XP).
Technology constantly moves forward, follow or be left behind.
bma
…and Graphisoft you should be warned – YOU may be left behind – forcing a large percentage of (1/3~2/3) of customers off workflow they depend on & that works only serves the developers, not long time (since AC v4.1) customers…
In a world where project cycles are 3+ years, software is increasingly to impossibly complex, migration after schematic design is officially NOT recommended, AC tech support for versions older than 1 year is de-prioritized or unavailable, and Mac platform efficacy can be months rather than years if forced onto a new OS simply to replace hardware…
… I debate canceling my AC subscription and looking for an entirely different solution that doesn’t churn an overhead treadmill with pointless maintenance, orphaning my digital assets & training before a project can be completed…
I understand W7Pro will run XP, and currently (effectively) offers support from 2001 planned to 2020… I may be forced to move there from OSX 10.6…
A significant percentage of business still depends on XP, why it has been partially extended for yet another year… Stop the churn…
When will sustainability apply to software…?
Jared Banks
Quite honestly with every passing day there are plenty of programs and resources out there that are going to force you to move from OSX 10.6. Also I challenge your 1/3-2/3 of customers. I think the number affected is much smaller than that. And if it’s users not on current software or hardware, then they probably aren’t technically current customers of Graphisoft…but former customers who are current users (and thus future potential repeat customers, which is a different logic).
This is a bigger issue than just one company, but I am curious what version of ArchiCAD are you running on OSX 10.6 (10.6.8 I presume) and what’s the machine? I agree that companies should continue to support older software, but what is an acceptable time table for a company vastly smaller than Microsoft or Apple? If 10% of Graphisoft’s users are on AC12 or older and 10% of those have given GS money since 2008 is that a big enough contingent to spend current resources on? (or replace AC12 with another old version and the percentages with something equally small). 10.6 is 5 years old. AND anyone with OS 10.6 can upgrade to 10.9 for free. Should companies continue to support that? Why?
I understand this is a struggle for small firms with small budgets, but productivity from ArchiCAD should be near the top of the needs for firms using ArchiCAD. So that suggests either upgrading hardware and software to get the most value or holding back hardware for the sake of one program above all others.
bma
AC16/17, but try bringing any older project in, and being responsible as architect of record… Even GS officially says DON’T migrate mid project…
The pencil worked for how many thousands of years? Oh yes, it still does…
10.9 is not ‘free’. Not even close. Factoring in even access to the hundreds of legacy documents in Apple’s own Appleworks (Pages only opens v6) format and I do NOT understand, like the Patriot Act why users are not screaming about this ode to feeding developers in any myth or hubris of ‘progress’… Like the loss of PHPP export in EcoDesigner v16, or the inability to bring favorites forward, this software has become a quicksand of compatibility nightmares, needing careful vetting for every feature lost at the shareholder AGM.
Mavericks in isolation is wonderful, with elegance and meaningful improvements across the board, but try and look at sustainability of software and W7Pro with XP now seems the best option, ironically able to access AC 6~17 & Appleworks files when the MacOS could not even run AC17…
Jared Banks
Damn it. Had a big comment going and then computer glitch lost it. Which FYI was just user error. So not a glitch at all. I’ll recap short (sorry): never seen the recommendation against migrating from GS. As long as you maintain libraries, I’ve found migration works fine. Of course moving up to 17 is a bitch because of BMats. But 16 is a good place to rest. Also I assume 17 to the future will be “smooth” again. Also re: favorites, other than the issue of objects not always mapping everything else (polylines, text, dimensions, etc.) seems to work fine (or has in the past I didn’t migrate up to 17 but built new for template reasons). So to say favorites don’t migrate is a bit misleading. Not trying to overly defend AC, but I like to provide counterpoints for anyone who might come across the comments and be less knowledgeable than you or I.
Oh and about EcoDesigner v16 and the lack of PHPP: There wasn’t a v16 evrsion. And that’s the bigger issue. Built-in Energy Evaluation was never supposed to replace EcoDesigner. EcoDesigner STAR was supposed to be the replacement. And it got delayed over a year. Of course the cost of EcoDesigner STAR is another issue which will prevent people from using it. But that’s something else…
BTW really appreciate the comments.
bma
Who wants to or pays for maintaining libraries, or the gdl expertise, or checking & re-entering the parametric data on every object in a project (especially large) or finding another route to go BACKWARDS in v16 and build out and update PHPP model, assuming one wants to actually use the ‘upgrade’ features paid for in v16, and yes the cost of ED+S went up just a bit, to half the cost of the AC license @ $2500…? Will it too be dropped or de-featured next year? Have you read the EULA – ‘not responsible’. Will anyone even license EDS at $2.5k when the SketchUP DesignPH is a few hundred dollars? Such a shame because the potential is so great…
Suffice it to say complexity increases, support thus needs to be increasingly tiered, the information in any BIM model or template needs checking every version and development seems more oriented to the shareholder than typical project cycle…
For the uninitiated
http://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-17-int-reference-guide/migration-guide-for-archicad-17/
I simply ask to keep the I in BIM – as the name implies – no more ‘database-lost’…