Hi Axure team and forum users

I am wondering if there are any plans at all to release for mac as I can se this thread is almost 2 years old?

what are the Mac alternatives? I dont think Omnigraffle and ConceptDraw sufficient

thanks in advance

Hi laidback, thanks for the post. Unfortunately, I still can't provide a timeline, but we definitely recognize the need.

Dear Axure guys,there is no shame in saying it as it is: There's no change for a Mac version of Axure RP. We're too deep into .NET and have no idea how to approach the issue of porting. We're also too busy keeping our Windows version competitive to have time to waste exploring the Mac market.

My advice would be to move on. I did, and I can't say I really miss Axure.

There are ways to port .NET applications to the Mac, but certainly some challenges deciding which parts "should" be ported. We're considering these carefully so we can continue to enhance Axure RP at a good pace on the supported platform(s).

There is the .net project Mono for Mac (and Linux).

http://www.mono-project.com/

Hi Gabriel,

By day I'm a pro MS developer, working in an MS Gold Partner dev shop, but by night I don my alter ego.... MacMan!

So, yeah, as a very big fan of the Axure application, I too would be delighted to have a Mac version so I have to ask: what alternatives for OSX did you settle on to make you 'not miss' Axure?  As far as I'm aware, it's still the top choice (regardless of OS)...

john

Hi john (jtc),

 I use OmniGrraffle Pro, mostly. Version 5 is actually great, and its Variables and Shared layers feature are very handy. 

I also use Photoshop from time to time, and Word for writing the actual specifications.

My colleagues were'nt fond of the interactive prototypes, they find them too graphical and distracting. So yeah, that too helped me shy away from Axure.

OK, I have now had a look at Omnigraffle and it appears to be quite a package, but ostensibly aims to serve a different need to that of Axure.

Of course, I don't have it so can't really try it out for myself but my first impression is that it is ideal for static wireframes with rich graphical styling (especially if one dives into the many free templates which appear to be available - mainly Mac-influenced but there are some web-forms templates).  However, maybe I'm mistaken but I don't see a way to create the interactive prototype experience to the same degree that Axure allows.  

So, I'm thinking: use Omnigraffle as a conduit to creating the 'look and feel' and import into Axure and create as Masters so that they can be 'made to come alive' with a sprinkling of the Axure 'pixie dust'...

:-)

You're right, OmniGraffle is just a sexier Visio, there's not much interactivity to it. The rich graphical features are not quite on par with Photoshop or an illustration package, but they are nice.

It's still pretty handy and does the job for me, especially since the dev team asked me for "loads of flowcharts, more text, less graphics, no interactivity" :-)

Axure works great in Parallels on Intel Macs. Shame it doesn't work in crossover though. 

i just want to add my 2 cents that i'd like to see a native version of Axure for the mac as well..   Your app rocks and i've not been able to find any other app like it for the mac.

I'd like to chip in and say that Axure should be made available for Mac OS X as well.

As a stop-gap until that happens, it would also be a good thing if Axure were made to be fully compatible running in the Crossover/WINE environment. I just tried installing the demo in Crossover - it gave one error in the install process before completing but then it wouldn't launch. The dev team seems pretty receptive to getting productivity apps to work.. particularly when they get to work WITH the app's developers on the process.

Do I want it now that our company is on Macs? Yes

 However the Parallels way of running it is ok, if a little unstable at times. I can appreciate that it takes significant $ investment to port it, and porting will open another dimension of support issues and questions.

Price vs Functionality Axure is a hands down winner, and I think there is better return in making Axure better than making it port. 

Would Axure consider allowing a 3rd party to experiment with a mac port if they signed IP protection contracts and NDAs? 

Hi Andrew,

Thank you for your insights. We are investing in making Axure portable (and also in some significant enhancements for the next update expected early next year). We're not looking for a 3rd party at this time but will continue to consider it.

In the meantime, you may find VMWare Fusion a little more stable.