AutoCAD-AutoDesk

Ares, a CAD alternative for Linux and Mac

There have not been many aided design solutions that go beyond Windows. ArchiCAD had been somewhat lonely on the Mac, now AutoCAD has decided enter this market, and Ares is another interesting alternative.  Ares_ce_linux His name does not sound like AutoCAD, with the shade that P2P downloads program and what reminds us of the god of war in Greek mythology.

But Ares is a robust tool that not only runs natively on the three main platforms: Mac, Windows and Linux.

How Ares is Born

While little has been known about this software, the company that creates it is not new to it. This is Graebert GmbH, born in 1983, the first AutoCAD dealer in Germany. 

  • In 1993 it is separated from AutoDesk and a year later they were launching FelixCAD, which was later called PowerCAD, now owned by GiveMePower Inc. This still exists although it only supports dwg versions 2.5 up to 2002.
  • Graebert was the creator of PowerCAD CE, which for the year 2000 became popular as one of the few CAD applications for PDAs.

Starting with 2005, a new idea began to work, which was launched up to five years later, apart from ISurvey. Since last year we have seen in the magazine Cadalyst Some interesting reviews of Ares.

It is clear that nobody who already has AutoCAD is going to be interested in using another solution unless they find an added value that grabs their attention. Let's see what this solution offers:

Ares autocadIts multiplatform potential. 

This is most attractive, especially for users who are used to taking advantage of Mac operating systems, which are well positioned in the field of design. Let's not say Linux.

  • Ares runs on Apple on Mac OS X 10.5.8 or higher systems.
  • Also on Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7.
  • And about Linux distributions: Ubuntu 9.10 Gnome, Fedora 11 Gnome, Suse 11.2 Gnome, Mandriva 2010 Gnome and KDE.

Development potential and price.

ares Ares comes in two versions: A call only Ares ($495.99), And the other Ares CE (Comander Edition) ($995.00). It can be said that in terms of price it is extremely attractive, it is also feasible to migrate for a lower value than PowerCAD 6 and 7 although that software is no longer owned by Graebert.

The value that the Comander Edition version adds is in the core for developing applications. You can take advantage of Lisp, C, C ++, and DRX programming to create new functions, macros, and plugins. In the Windows version it is possible to work with Visual Studio for Applications (VSTA), Delphi, ActiveX, COM, including embedded links of OLE objects.

You can also customize the user interface using toolbars and XML nodes.

Other interesting features of Ares

Ares works on the native dwg 2010 format, although it can read and convert to any dwg / dxf format from R12 versions. It also reads and edits ESRI shape files.

13reason_05The interface is quite practical, with paddles that drag easily and settle without much turning. The contextual right-click functionalities make work easier, although it also supports command line for users who like that archaic custom.

The properties of objects go beyond simple attributes. It is possible to make annotations on the drawing, such as freehand sketches, even associating audio with them. They imagine:

"Modify all this zone, according to the logbook in its page 11, once finished they send it to my mail and look for the signature of the supervision of the contractor"

The functionalities in managing layouts for printing, precision aids (smart snaps) and 3D drawing (based on the ACIS standard) are quite similar to AutoCAD. Although the rendering can combine different types of shading in the same view and the creation of templates for printing seem to be more practical, also the zoom / pan does not take up refreshment and can operate in real time without badly killing memory.

It supports DWT templates, DWGCODEPAGE, you can load external references using polygon clips (not just rectangle), edit blocks on the fly, export to pdf / dwf.

In short, a great tool that comes in more than 12 languages, including Spanish and Portuguese. It will be necessary to see how they walk in terms of positioning in a fairly captive market but with a lot of potential.

Here you can download the trial versions for 30 days:

Golgi Alvarez

Writer, researcher, specialist in Land Management Models. He has participated in the conceptualization and implementation of models such as: National Property Administration System SINAP in Honduras, Management Model of Joint Municipalities in Honduras, Integrated Cadastre-Registry Management Model in Nicaragua, Territory Administration System SAT in Colombia . Editor of the Geofumadas knowledge blog since 2007 and creator of the AulaGEO Academy that includes more than 100 courses on GIS - CAD - BIM - Digital Twins topics.

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