Autodesk, Inc. has announced that it will make Autodesk DWF 6 (Design Web Format) files available for Mac OS X, an operating system with more than seven million users. The support for Mac OS X will allow Mac users to view and print design information created by Autodesk design software, and will provide a DWF Developer’s Toolkit for Mac OS X developers to create third-party design applications that leverage DWF files.

“Making DWF available to Mac users is a strategic piece of our future and a tremendous first step for Autodesk,” said Carl Bass, executive vice president of Autodesk’s Design Solutions Group in the press release. “Multi-sheet design information will now be available to a whole new world of users, extending the design review process and allowing architects and engineers to share their designs with security and confidence, knowing Mac users will see the design information of an original CAD drawing exactly how the creator intended for it to be seen.”

“The power and stability of a UNIX-based operating system, the cutting-edge graphics technologies, and the revolutionary user interface make Mac OS X a great fit for the architectural design industry,” said Ron Okamoto, Apple’s vice president of developer relations. “By enabling these users to share intelligent design data across OS boundaries, Autodesk is able to support the needs of a much larger customer base which accesses building information throughout a project’s entire lifecycle.”

DWF is an open, non-editable, file format that helps customers share data for seamless design collaboration and communication throughout project lifecycles, allowing designers, engineers, developers, and their colleagues to quickly and easily communicate design information to anyone needing it.

To give Apple users access to DWF files, Autodesk is now working with Apple to port the Autodesk Express Viewer to Mac OS X. The Autodesk Express Viewer is a lightweight, high-performance application that will allow Mac OS X users to be a part of the design review process, allowing them to view and print design data, without having access to the software used to create them.

Both Autodesk and Apple have extensive and active developer communities. Autodesk will provide a DWF Developer’s Toolkit to allow Mac OS X third-party developers to read and write multi-sheet DWF drawings.

More information about DWF here.

MacDailyNews Take: Hopefully this will somehow lead to the Holy Grail: AutoCAD on Mac OS X, which will enable design/architecture firms and many education departments to consider Mac OS X. AutoCAD is perhaps the most glaring example of a widely-used application that does not run natively on the Macintosh platform. AutoCAD on Mac OS X would provide a major boost to Mac OS X, allowing architects, designers, students, and others to return fully to the platform many would rather use vs. Windows varients (XP, 2000, NT). Creative people prefer Macs, Autodesk.

Related MacDailyNews article: A Powerbook in a Windows/AutoCAD Architecture Firm – April 02, 2003