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Floorplan Software for Macs?
jgardner asks: "I was asked by my employer to create a scale drawing of the floorplan for our company's buildings. Using Illustrator or Freehand and building everything from scratch seems too time expensive. I spent a long time online looking for a program which is designed to create floorplans, but only found expensive, high-end products. I need something inexpensive, and it just needs to draw flooplans. No 3D modeling, or walkthroughs required. There are plenty for PCs that are under $100. So far for the Mac, I have only found Architecture 3.03, by Abracadata. This program was originally written for OS 6.x, so it is very old, and has severe limitations. Does anyone know of a better Mac alternative? Maybe even an inexpensive set of tools for Illustrator or Freehand? Preferably OS X, but I can boot into 9 or operate in Classic if forced to."
If you need to run the OS6 app it might be worth getting a System 6 machine like one of the Mac II since OSX no longer supports that level of compatibility. They can be picked up for $10 cheaply, will run alot of software for the older MAC and retro cool is just cool. The best part is if you don't have much space an SE or Classic series machine will do what you need and take up less space than many modern towers and include a monitor.
Apple to refund disappointed OS X buyers
By Tony Smith
Posted: 14/08/2003 at 10:34 GMT
Apple will refund owners of PowerPC G3-based Macs who bought Mac OS X but found elements of the operating system didn't work on their computers.
The company's decision appears in documents filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court, MacCentral reports.
The filing marks the latest stage in a class action lawsuit brought against the company in January 2002. Apple's offer is conditional on its acceptance by the case judge.
The suit demanded that Apple develop a version of its DVD Player application for all G3-based Macs, and support some old graphics chips, including ATI's Rage family, that shipped with early G3-based machines. Apple subsequently added Rage support to Mac OS X 10.1.5.
Since Mac OS X was explicitly stated to run on a listed set of G3-based Macs, it was said that Apple was obliged to ensure all aspects of the operating system worked on those computers, including the first two iMac releases, the original iBooks, the first PowerBook G3s and beige Power Mac G3s.
The suit also requested the court to force Apple to pay damages to users who found that OS X performed more slowly than Mac OS 9. But since that situation arguably applies to almost everyone who's made the upgrade - even with Quartz Extreme acceleration, the Aqua UI feels less responsive than OS 9's UI - the request was never likely to be granted.
While Apple refuses to accept any liability in the matter, the filing is a win for disappointed customers who forked out $129.99 for Mac OS X. The refund offer is open to anyone who bought the OS before 15 May this year, and is made on condition punters send back their Mac OS X CDs and sign an affidavit which states they haven't used the OS in earnest since their bought it, and will not reinstall the OS on their computer in future.
Anyone who wants to keep using Mac OS X can request a $25 money-off voucher to be put toward an Apple Store purchase of $99 or more.
Apple also has to pay legal costs totalling $350,000, but at least it's been spared a day in court. Its offer has to be ratified by the judge hearing the case, which is expected to take place on 2 September. (R)