I've done my first set of house plan drawings using Pattern Fills but the memory demand is causing problems. I'm running Windows 7 in 32bit with 3.5Gb of RAM but I find just accessing different pages in the same file I take nearly 400Mb memory hit as each page opens despite only having four patterns loaded. Anyone else noticed this or having problems with memory demands?

I get the same, ground shadow turns on with xray and can't be unticked.

Dave, I think the last image would fit some of the properties I've worked on!

Thanks for the inspiration; with a little tweaking dimensions don't have to be dimensions. I'm looking to use one for section line markers.

Good links thanks.

I guess the long list of them in the Refurb store is also a good indicator.

I detest Win8 and I think MS are loosing the plot; I'm about to jump to Apple so the Q's in the OP are also of interest to me.

@db11: If you are keeping windows "primarily" for Excel, do you know MS Office is available for the MAC?

From what I've seen of Pages & Numbers I think they could cover my needs quite readily so I'm also considering dumping Office.

LO needs to provide the ability to easily form holes in the current fill or any vector fill before it is truly useable. I wanted to pattern fill a tiled roof and realized to form openings for all the roof features was going to take forever so I went back to SU to place the pattern.

Is there a confident date for Mavericks release? I am set on getting an iMAC to escape my PC hell but can't decide whether I should wait for the release which may also bring a rumoured (Haswell?) processor upgrade or just bite the bullet now.

It's my biggest hate when updating. Takes me about half an hour to get everything back into a useable format. I did add a save request to the wishlist.

Ah I see. You have to go through FILE>PAGE SETUP this happens a lot in Windows where software doesn't retain the paper size and adjust the printer for you. I tend to favour the export to PDF option which gets around the problem in the paperless age but even Adobe Reader needs you to configure the paper if you want a hard copy.

Yes I agree as I have been tempted to use LO for space planning.

What would you use it for?

You should be able to set A3 by either using:

FILE>NEW, pick the paper template from the dialogue and at the bottom select "Always Use The Selected Template"

or

EDIT>PREFERENCE>STARTUP and enter the required template name and select use default.

The Startup page gives you a number of template options as to how LO works when you start a new drawing.

I foresee a time when the objects we put in out models are logically associative at which point something like this would be great for semi-immersive 3D modelling where you can grab a door and move it in the wall or stretch it to make it bigger but that probably need a huge jump in software development and will inevitably be derailed by all the different international & local "standards".

Thanks Mike I have added that to the list to try.

In LO its about time when rotating an object that the angle can be set by snapping to other geometry. I was trying to align a rotated scene on a site plan the other day and ended up having to approximate it.

Thanks Patrice, I will give that edrawings a spin when I get my Mac especially as it comes from Dassault Systemes... http://www.solidworks.com/sw/products/free-cad-software-downloads.htm

I might even consider getting DraftSight for 2D but SolidWorks is probably a step too far

I wasn't so convinced by the Progecad website. Thank you for the suggestions.

I'm contemplating buying an iMAC to replace my ageing PC. I'm checking drivers and software migration costs but the one area that I'm having trouble with is finding an AutoCAD DWG file viewer/printer so I can inspect or print for reference before I work on it in SU. Any suggestions / recommendations?

I appreciate what you are trying to achieve but until LO "flattens" a scene properly the easiest option could be to duplicate the imported scene, set it to vector and then explode it on a different linework layer... but I think you already know all these workarounds?

+1 to sfto1's comments.

If you are working on a section, avoid dimensioning to the model by creating a "group from slice", copy and then paste to a separate layer in LO.

Alternatively set the scene in LO to vector and then explode it. This will "flatten" the view but it also removes any automatic updating or automatic scaling of dimensions.

Just a couple of ideas for your workflow.

Yes I upgraded. Primarily because of LO which I use a lot.

@tig said:

you can select > context-menu unglue to allow you to manipulate the location..
DOH!!! Thanks TIG wish I'd spotted that yesterday