Platforms.md

uid	46793f6d-da23-48ea-913a-186727062a80
title	Running on other Platforms

Macad|3D has been developed for the Windows operating system on x64 architecture. However, it is possible to run the program on other operating systems and other architectures like Arm. This requires an emulation that provides the program with the required operating environment. Here are some tips to increase the experience on the respective systems.

Windows on Arm

For Windows on Arm an emulation is executed in the operating system itself, this should run Macad|3D as usual. Since it is still an x64 application, you need a 64bit operating system.

MacOS

Operation on MacOS platform has been successfully tested using the emulation software Parallels Desktop. Furthermore, the emulation solutions Crossover and Wine are available, which have already been successfully tested under Linux. For more details, see the next chapter.

For the installation of Wine on MacOS see here.

Linux

Operation on Linux has been tested successfully using Wine. Wine is easy to install and comes with its own configuration gui.

There are also tools to help manage Wine versions, dependencies, and application-specific settings more conveniently. Popular Wine management programs include Bottles, the game-focused Lutris and PlayOnLinux, and the commercial Crossover, all building on Wine's core compatibility layer.

Wine is available in most distributions via the respective app manager, but the software version may already be older and therefore still contain errors, which usually show up in the UI rendering. If UI/display errors occur, manual installation of the latest version is recommended.

The operation of Macad|3D was tested on Ubuntu 23.10 and Wine 9.0.

For the installation of Wine on Linux see WineHQ Installation and Configuration. Please make sure you also have installed the Corefonts.

Installing Macad|3D

Download the latest version from the Macad|3D Website. Start a terminal, navigate to the directory containing the downloaded installer executable and run the executable using Wine:

cd /path/to/downloaded/installer
wine Macad3D_4.4_Setup.exe

Replace Macad3D_4.4_Setup.exe with the actual name of the downloaded installer (version may vary).

Follow the on-screen instructions for the installer to complete the installation.

Configure Wine

To keep the display of the application window as close as possible to the original, it is recommended to disable the setting Allow the window manager to decorate the windows. This can be done in Wine configuration tool globally or in a special setup for Macad|3D.

After the installation succeeded, start the Wine configuration tool:

winecfg

Create a new profile, selected the file Macad.exe inside the installation directory (default is C:\Program Files\Macad3D). On the Graphics tab, ensure that the checkbox Allow the window manager to decorate the windows is unset, and save/apply these settings.

^

For those who use integrated graphics together with a dedicated GPU (often in laptops), it may be important to set the dedicated GPU to be used instead of the one integrated in the CPU. This leads to higher energy consumption in laptops, but also significantly increases compatibility. This setting can either be made in the Linux system itself or directly in some tools such as Bottles, and is referred to as “Discrete Graphics” or “Discrete GPU.”