HighDesign and AutoCAD compatibility (Just bought iMac 24")

[children]

Hi, I just bought an 24in 2.8ghz imac... its my 2nd mac (my first was a ibook g4, which i couldn't get used to, so i sold it).. hopefully, this mac will be different.
The main reason I bought a mac now (just before the new ones come out) is because of the crap aussie dollar, i think the next imac will be more expensive, so this was my last desperate chance to get a 24in imac.. and i got this one for $1950 refurbished, which i thought was a good deal.

Anyway, to the important question:
Im an architecture grad, and I got ArchiCAD on my imac, and i also need AutoCAD, but apparently, AutoCAD doesnt run on osx. I don't want to dual boot my system, and i was looking at a program called highdesign.

So my question is, is HighDesign nearly as good as AutoCAD? does my cad files work on HighDesign?

also, is there a program like Revit on OSX?

 

[Demosthenes X]

1) Just dual boot. It's not that big a deal.

2) Try VMWare or Parallels - no dual booting required.

3) Try some of the suggestions in this thread.

 

[wackymacky]

Hi, I just bought an 24in 2.8ghz imac... its my 2nd mac (my first was a ibook g4, which i couldn't get used to, so i sold it).. hopefully, this mac will be different.
The main reason I bought a mac now (just before the new ones come out) is because of the crap aussie dollar, i think the next imac will be more expensive, so this was my last desperate chance to get a 24in imac.. and i got this one for $1950 refurbished, which i thought was a good deal.

Anyway, to the important question:
Im an architecture grad, and I got ArchiCAD on my imac, and i also need AutoCAD, but apparently, AutoCAD doesnt run on osx. I don't want to dual boot my system, and i was looking at a program called highdesign.

So my question is, is HighDesign nearly as good as AutoCAD? does my cad files work on HighDesign?

also, is there a program like Revit on OSX?

Not sure if the price will change. Late couple of releases in N.Z were only $20.00 variation in price despite large fluctuations in the dollar. I bet it is the retailer that misses out, not Apple.

 

[children]

1) Just dual boot. It's not that big a deal.

2) Try VMWare or Parallels - no dual booting required.

3) Try some of the suggestions in this thread.

the reason I dont want to dual boot is because its too prone to viruses and spyware. My old "pc" was infected , and i lost 3 months of work.

so dual booting is a no no for me.

question about vmware, is there performance compromises?

oh one more question, I come from vista, and in vista, the system goes slow after about a month or two after purchase, and you have to go through the process of reinstalling vista or cleaning the PC once a week or so.. Is this the same with osx? will the system slow down after a few weeks of use?

 

[mastershakess]

the reason I dont want to dual boot is because its too prone to viruses and spyware. My old "pc" was infected , and i lost 3 months of work.

so dual booting is a no no for me.

question about vmware, is there performance compromises?

oh one more question, I come from vista, and in vista, the system goes slow after about a month or two after purchase, and you have to go through the process of reinstalling vista or cleaning the PC once a week or so.. Is this the same with osx? will the system slow down after a few weeks of use?

I haven't noticed slowdowns in my iMacs except after years of use