GRAPHISOFT is maintaining compatibility for ArchiCAD 17 and 18 and connected products (BIMcloud, BIMx, BIM Server, BIM Server Manager) on OS X 10.10 Yosemite. Based on GRAPHISOFT’s initial testing, ArchiCAD 17 and 18 generally work well on 10.10 with some minor issues that are detailed in this article.

BIMx users should note that BIMx will not run until the first compatibility update for ArchiCAD.

update 02/21/2015: This is old news but both ArchiCAD 18 Update #1 and ArchiCAD 17 Hotfix #8 have been released. Those releases are the compatibility updates for each version, so both ArchiCAD 17 and 18 are good to go on OS X 10.10 Yosemite. Keep reading for more info:

As you get ready to update, here are some OS upgrade best practices to keep in mind:

Before any operating system upgrade we advise that you:

1. Generate external back-ups of your data.
2. Pick an appropriate time to upgrade the OS, when deadline pressures are minimal.
3. Have a computer restoration method in place to revert to the previous state if necessary.

Important for BIM Server:

Please be sure to export your data and uninstall BIM Server before upgrading your OS. Then re-install BIM Server and re-import data.

More Information:

Click here to stay up-to-date on ArchiCAD and BIMx compatibility testing. For general support questions, please visit our support page.

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Thus ends the official announcement, now for my additional comments

None of this is a surprise. If you are on an old version of ArchiCAD and getting angry because Graphisoft isn’t maintaining compatibility with the old version you are using, you should have seen this coming. With each new release of OS X Graphisoft appears to be actively maintaining the two most recent releases. This has been going on for a long time:

2011 News: Compatibility Notes for OS X 10.7 Lion

2012 News: Compatibility Notes for OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion

2013 News: Compatibility Notes for OS X 10.9 Mavericks

My advice is this: for users of ArchiCAD 16 and older, you’ve already decided to live in a world of old software. Don’t upgrade to OS X 10.10. You need to remember that your most important software is ArchiCAD. Everything else on your machine serves it, ESPECIALLY the OS. Yes ArchiCAD 13-16 will run, but if you hit a devastating glitch, you are on your own.

For users of ArchiCAD 17 and 18, wait a few more weeks. A Hotfix is coming out soon. Yes it seems like everything will run fine on Yosemite-in fact other than no BIMx there seems to be no known big problems. But there is a big difference between the known and the unknown. So there could be something lurking. Regardless there’s nothing so important about the new OS X that you can’t delay for a little bit just to be safe and even more stable.

Remember, 2015 will surely bring a new version of ArchiCAD and a new Mac OS…so be prepared for the day when you want to upgrade to OS X 10.11. And as always, if you’re upgrading to a new OS (whether Mac or PC), it is a good time to make sure you migrate all your old projects. Don’t lose access to your data because it’s too old or you were too lazy. Download the File Converters and get all your files to the latest version of ArchiCAD (these are only needed if you have files OLDER than version 8.1, as ArchiCAD 18 can still open ArchiCAD 8.1 files).

Follow Shoegnome on Facebook and Twitter for more reasons why not updating your software is slowly rapidly eroding your value. 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.