Inventor Fusion coming to Mac First Quarter 2012

Autodesk’s Inventor Fusion is coming to Apple’s Mac computer. Not surprised. Autodesk has been slowly recreating some of their most popular design programs to be used on the Mac. And I do mean recreate. Like it or not Autodesk is going Mac. Regardless of what it means for Windows users, Autodesk is doing things the right way. Starting with AutoCAD for Mac, then AutoCAD LT for Mac and then with Inventor Fusion for Mac, Autodesk started over. They did not create a port to Mac from Windows. They reused what code they could but made Inventor Fusion (and the others) a native Mac program. That’s good. Now I wish they would rewrite the Windows versions!

Inventor Fusion is a 3D modeling software that uses direct manipulation. It unites direct modeling and parametric workflows. The best part is that it is free! It comes standard with AutoCAD 2012 (for Windows) and is also available as a free download in Autodesk Labs. Fusion is created to work along with AutoCAD, Inventor (of course), Algor, Moldflow, and Design Alias. As an example, while working on a 3D model in AutoCAD, click the Export to Fusion button and it is. Edit the model then put it back into AutoCAD. They work together. Fusion can also be used as a standalone program. You don’t need anything else.

The new Mac version of Inventor Fusion will be available in the first quarter of 2012, which is just around the corner so it won’t be long.