When is a new Mac version coming?


SteveT
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I was excited I wouldn't have to use my old PC anymore, but the Mac version of X6 is basically unusuable as it's very slow and full of bugs. I had to switch back to my PC.

 

When are they going to come out with a newer rev that fixes the bugs/slowness?

 

 

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What hardware are you using on the MAC?

 

Do you have issues with specific plans or all plans?

 

What are the specific issues you are seeing?

 

An update is in the works. It will be released once it passes QA and Testing. I can't say if it will help your situation.

 

Have you worked with the support team to determine if there might be something we can do to help the situation?

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I have a 3.4Ghz iMac with 16GB of RAM. It's about 2 years old? I hope it's enough to run Chief...

 

The problem is the slowness/hangs, along with  clunkiness on the navigation (the mouse zooming when I don't want it to, and what happen to the scroll bars?).

 

An example is brining up an object from the library, I get a ~20 second hang every time. The hangs are really difficult as they just hang up the whole system without any feedback as to what is happening.

 

It doesn't appear to be a drastic problem--it just seems like the program needs a once-over for performance and general usuability. Not suprising considering how new it is. I have a fallback with my PC, so I'm fine with waiting a few more months until they fix it...

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Dan,

I have noticed a lag when looking at any camera views on my MBP.  I am still running mountain lion.  I don't remember the details on the hardware, but I could provide the info if needed.  I have noticed this on all plans I have tinkered with lately.  I have been seeing a 5-10 second lag when I switch from the plan view tab and the camera view tabs.

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I'm still not blown away with the Mac version but it is usable. I quit contacting support because I'm sure they were sick of hearing from me. At this point I'm dealing with the annoyances but I hope they get resolved sooner than later. In the mean time "Command-S" is my best friend.

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iMacs should be pretty good. About 1/3 of our development was done on iMacs that are 2-3 years old. Performance issues may not all be caused by Chief. Mac software is notorious for running the system out of memory. Chief should not be leaking memory but it is something to keep an eye on. When the memory becomes tight you will see a significant performance drop.

 

The graphics cards on iMacs are often using mobile graphics. Probably to avoid the overheating issues that some of the earlier iMacs had. This will reduce your 3D performance.

 

We are interested in all issues that you have. Please don't hesitate to contact us about issues. You can be sure that for every issue you contact us with there are at least 10 people who had it that didn't contact us. Given the smaller number of people using Macs this means that it is likely that you may be the only person reporting the issues you see.

 

We really like people who are willing to report problems.

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I was excited I wouldn't have to use my old PC anymore, but the Mac version of X6 is basically unusuable as it's very slow and full of bugs. I had to switch back to my PC.

 

When are they going to come out with a newer rev that fixes the bugs/slowness?

 

I think it might be something with your particular machine. I find it works quite well on my iMac. I get the odd hang-up here and there and a bit of lag in regenerating the 3D model (only a few seconds), but overall I find it performs quite well. I'm happy with it so far...

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One thing I learned from a local Network Admin that deals with MACs everyday is that you need to reboot them more often than with Windows systems.

 

If you see odd font issues, menus that don't look right etc. these can also be indicators of system memory problems. It's a good idea to restart before they become serious problems.

 

If you do restart and it solves a problem try to note what applications you were running at the time. Since Chief demands a lot from your hardware and memory it can expose weakness on a system where other software does not. That's a generally true for both MAC and Window systems.

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One thing I learned from a local Network Admin that deals with MACs everyday is that you need to reboot them more often than with Windows systems.

 

If you see odd font issues, menus that don't look right etc. these can also be indicators of system memory problems. It's a good idea to restart before they become serious problems.

 

If you do restart and it solves a problem try to note what applications you were running at the time. Since Chief demands a lot from your hardware and memory it can expose weakness on a system where other software does not. That's a generally true for both MAC and Window systems.

 

I've had a few crashes on my Mac Pro.  I've found that starting from a cold boot works best.  By cold boot, I mean turning the computer off and waiting ten seconds or more before starting again.  From what I've been told, turning it off clears the memory while a reboot does not always clear it.

 

I would also try running "Repair Disk Permission".

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On a hardware level when you turn off the system and wait for the capacitors to bleed off then the system starts from a clean state. It's possible that a quick off / on could leave electronics in a bad state. Most memory is reset in a matter of microseconds after the power is removed but capacitors on a board can keep the power applied. The OS should not care what state memory chips are in when it boots up, it should in all cases just write what it wants to the memory.

 

So even restart will clear memory but it's not a bad practice to do a cold boot once in a while to make sure everything starts from a pristine state.

 

When a restart does fix the problem it means that something, some program or some hardware is not working as well as it should. These things are hard to diagnose and sometimes accumulate over days or weeks.

 

When in doubt save your work and reboot.

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Some may know this, some may not.

On a Mac, clicking the red X closes the window but does not Quit the program.  The Program is still running.  Example: Safari > select Safari > Quit Safari will quit the program, clicking the red X only closes the window.

Command + Tab will show which Programs are open, Command +Tab again will cycle through the open Programs.

Command +Q will quit the Program.

 

To see the Memory being used; from the desktop > select Go > Utilities > Activity Monitor 

Select the Memory Tab. Take a look at the Toolbar under View, it gives some interesting options.

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