Axure for Mac

Axure RP for Mac is now available!

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 18:24:56 -0700

This is the first release of Axure RP for Mac. Follow the link above to see the announcement and download the release version. We’ll continue to do updates and fix bugs as we find them.

Huge thanks to everyone who downloaded the beta and provided us all the great feedback and support!

Axure RP 5.6.0.2673 - Patch for the Patch

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:59:37 -0700

Axure RP 5.6.0.2673 - Patch for the Patch:

Sorry, Folks.

The last build introduced a bug. It doesn’t crash the app but you will see error reports when closing a file. This build fixes that (and hopefully didn’t add any new ones).

Victor

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Axure RP 5.6.0.2671

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 11:03:27 -0700

Axure RP 5.6.0.2671:

Hi Everyone,

Quick update to the last build. We received some reports of a bug that could happen freqently (though it doesn’t crash the app). Opening the Quick Link dialog and then adding pages to the Sitemap throws an error. This build fixes that.

Thank you for submitting the bug reports,
Victor

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Axure RP 5.6.0.2670

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 18:38:00 -0700

Axure RP 5.6.0.2670:

Hi Everyone,

Here is the latest update to Axure RP for Mac.

This one will start a 30 day trial (which will be reset when the final release is out in the next couple weeks) and you can also enter your 5.6 license key to test the licensing.

A number of bugs have been fixed (like Remove All in the droplist dialog and opening configurations from More Configurations) and it’s better about cleaning up memory usage.

Please give it a try and let me know if you run into any issues. If things look good, this could be the last update before the release. And we’ve got a very good list of feature requests for V6!

-Victor

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The Last Mile

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:02:19 -0700

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick update. We’ve been busy fixing bugs and getting the last few features in place. We’re also plugging memory leaks which should help with overall performance.

It doesn’t look like we’re going to make a March release, but early April is looking good. Hoping to have an updated build next week.

Victor

Axure RP 5.6.0.2608

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:22:00 -0700

Hi Everyone,

Here is the latest update to Axure RP for Mac. We’ve been busy fixing bugs, testing the prototype in Safari, getting shared projects to work with https and mac shares, and general performance tuning. The main UI difference is the addition of location and size to the toolbar.

From here to release, we’ll be working on a few more usability issues and focusing on performance tuning.

Thanks again to everyone using the beta and submitting bugs and requests. I have to say that the quality of the reports has been exceptional and we really appreciate it.

Known issues:

Generating specs to iWork Pages is not going to make this release
Special characters in shared directory paths cause an error
Excessive memory usage
URI exception when saving and loading to paths with “:” or “/” in folder names
New window is created on startup and not closed when loading a file (more of a usability issue than bug, but frequently reported)
(UPDATED 3/18) Opening configuration from More Configuration dialog throws an error. Workaround for specs and prototypes is to set configuration as default and use Generate->Prototype or Specification.

-Victor

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Axure RP 5.6.0.2579

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:45:00 -0800

Hi Everyone,

Here’s a small update fixing the priority bugs from the first beta 5.6.0.2576 including the Views menu, setting states on panels that have multiple states with the same name, and special characters in the destination folder for prototypes. We also fixed the Safari issue of linking to the current page.

Known issues:

Safari compatibility has not been fully tested.
iWork Pages crashes when opening the generated specification. Word is required to open the specification. But once saved in Word, they do open in Pages.
Shared projects can be stored on a Windows (SMB) network drive or SVN server, but not a Mac share or through https.
Performance tuning is in progress.

Thank you,
Victor

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Known Issues in Axure RP 5.6.0.2576

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:54:00 -0800

Thanks for the early feedback and bug reports on the beta. Look for an update within the next couple days with some fixes.

Here is a list of priority bugs so far:

Using the View menu to hide and show side panes causes a crash
Defining set panel state actions has an error if a dynamic panel has multiple states with the same name
Image caching error (still researching the cause, but it seems to happen infrequently)
Special characters in the destination folder for prototypes causes an error

And other known issues:

Safari compatibility has not been fully tested. Ex. Reloading or linking to the current page is not working.
iWork Pages crashes when opening the generated specification. Word is required to open the specification. But once saved in Word, they do open in Pages.
Shared projects can be stored on a Windows (SMB) network drive or SVN server, but not a Mac share or through https.
Performance tuning is in progress.

That’s it for now. I’ll keep this list updated.

-Victor

Hi Everyone, We just released the beta version of Axure RP for...

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:45:00 -0800

Hi Everyone,

We just released the beta version of Axure RP for Mac. It is available for download here. And we are targeting the end of March for the final release.

The beta expires April 15, 2010. A valid beta will be available until the final release of 5.6 for Mac so your work will not be interrupted.

Axure for Mac requires the following:

Mac computer with Intel processor
Mac OS X 10.5+
1 GB Memory
200 MB disk space
For specifications, Microsoft Office Word 2004 (with compatibility pack) or Word 2008
For prototypes, Firefox

What to expect:
The beta has all* of the features from Axure RP 5.6 for Windows including shared projects. It also has a number of UI enhancements like a new properties pane and redesigned interactions dialog.

If you’ve been using the alpha (thank you!), you’ll notice a new formatting toolbar and the formatting pane has been moved to the annotations and interactions pane. Also, the default folders for widget libraries has been moved to ~/Documents/Axure/Libraries.

The .rp files are compatible with Axure RP 5.6 on Windows.

* Features not in the Mac version:
- Word 2000 generator (the newer Word 2007 or DOCX generator is available)
- CHM generation for prototypes
- Spell Checker (native Mac spell checking while editing text works)

Known Issues:
Safari compatibility has not been fully tested. If you notice anything in prototypes that do not work in Safari, please let us know.

iWork Pages crashes when opening the generated specification. Word is required to open the specification. But once saved in Word, they do open in Pages.

Shared projects can be stored on a Windows (SMB) network drive or SVN server, but not a Mac share or through https.

Performance tuning is in progress.

How can you help?
Please submit bug report dialogs that pop-up in the application. Any information that might help us repeat an error is really helpful. You can send those to support@axure.com along with any bugs and requests.

What’s next:
We’ll continue to release beta builds until the final release and post known issues here. You can keep track of updates here, on our blog or by following us on Twitter.

And if you have any requests for 6.0, now’s a good time to send them in.

Thank you!
Victor

Axure RP 5.6.0.2546

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:21:30 -0800

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Hi Everyone,

We’re still trying to get to the bottom of the “TargetInvocationException” error. This build just adds a small change so the bug report sends some additional information about where that error is coming from.

If you’ve seen that error, we’d appreciate it if you installed this version and submitted the bug report the next time it happens.

We’re getting closer to a full featured beta and want to get these bugs out of the way too.

Thank you,
Victor

Axure RP 5.6.0.2545

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 13:42:00 -0800

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Sorry, Folks.

That last build (5.6.0.2544) had a pretty big issue initializing the Wireframe and Objects menu. We fixed that in this build.

Fixed:
- Shortcuts for the Wireframe and Objects menu are not right and may be causing initialization issues

We’ll keep a running list of known issues in this build here.

Priority 1 bugs:
- Startup / New File (TargetInvocationException): Error when starting the app creating a new file.
- UriFormatException opening certain files.

Missing features:
- Shared Projects
- Search & replace
- Print
- Spell check
- Zoom
- Formatting toolbar

Thank you,
Victor

Axure RP 5.6.0.2544

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 16:47:00 -0800

Hi Everyone,

We’ve just posted an update to Axure RP for Mac 5.6.0.2544 to fix the Priority 1 bugs in 5.6.0.2533.

Fixed:
- Rich text error when generating prototypes: This happened on specific files and we’re able to repeat it (thanks to a sample file from a customer).
- Reset View: Using View->Reset View threw an error.
- Deleting root level pages: Deleting pages in the sitemap at the root level (like Home) caused an error.
- Accented characters caused an error

CSV generation and some minor UI tweaks were also added to this release. We’ve been getting a lot of great feedback and we’re working on them, but most have not been included in this release.

Like before, we’ll keep a running list of known issues in this build here.

Priority 1 bugs:
- New File: Error when starting the app creating a new file. We put in a fix for this but are not able to repeat the error. Please let us know if it shows up in this build.
- UriFormatException opening certain files.
- Shortcuts for the Wireframe and Objects menu are not right and may be causing initialization issues. A new build will be up shortly to repair this (1/5/10 12:43PM PT)

Missing features:
- Shared Projects
- Search & replace
- Print
- Spell check
- Zoom
- Formatting toolbar

Thank you!
Victor

Known Issues in Axure RP 5.6.0.2533

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 13:59:00 -0800

The first 24 hours has been a lot of fun. Thanks for all the great feedback and bug reports. Loving all the UX tips too. Keep em’ coming!

We’re planning to keep an up-to-date list of the more critical bugs and missing features here. Please continue to submit bugs through the app and by email to support@axure.com.

Priority 1 bugs:
- Rich text error when generating prototypes: This happens on specific files and we’re able to repeat it (thanks to a sample file from a customer). Still working on finding the source.
- Reset View: Using View->Reset View throws an error.
- Deleting root level pages: Deleting pages in the sitemap at the root level (like Home) causes an error.
- New File: An error happens occassionally when starting the app which creates a new file. You can get past the error but an error dialog appears.
- Accented characters cause an error

Missing features:
- Shared Projects
- CSV generation
- Search & replace
- Print
- Spell check
- Zoom
- Formatting Toolbar

That’s it for now. Back to work!

Axure RP 5.6 for Mac Alpha is Now Available Axure RP for Mac...

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:27:00 -0800

Axure RP 5.6 for Mac Alpha is Now Available

Axure RP for Mac Alpha aka MAxure is now available for download here.

We didn’t quite make it to Beta before the end of 2009, but we’re really excited to show you where we’re at and start getting your input (and help!). We’re targeting end of Q1 2010 for the final release.

What to expect:
Most of the Axure RP 5.6 features are available along with some UI enhancements including a new properties pane and redesigned interactions dialog. There are still some features missing including shared projects, CSV generation, search & replace, print, spell check and zoom.

We’ve successfully created some prototypes in MAxure using core features like dragging and dropping widgets, adding annotations and interactions, and generating prototypes. But we are still running into new bugs regularly. Specification generation works and the .docx files can be opened in Word 2004 with the compatibility pack. You can find directions for installing the compatibility pack here.

The files are compatible with Axure RP 5.6 on the PC, which is a nice backup if you run into any issues.

This alpha version expires February 28, 2010. A valid alpha/beta will be available until the final release of 5.6 for Mac, so your work will not be interrupted.

How can you help?
Please submit bug report dialogs that pop-up in the application. Any information that might help us repeat an error is really helpful. We’re also looking for usability issues that are Mac specific (like Cmd+Q shouldn’t increment the footnote number). You can send those to support@axure.com along with any bugs and requests.

What’s next:
We’ll continue to release Alpha/Beta builds until the final release and post known issues here. You can keep track of updates here, on our blog or by following us on Twitter. And we’re also in progress with 6.0. Who needs to sleep? :)

Thank you!
Victor

MAxure Preview at AxureWorld Last month, Victor gave a sneak...

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:03:03 -0800

MAxure Preview at AxureWorld

Last month, Victor gave a sneak peek of MAxure at the Ask Axure session of AxureWorld. Ezra Schwartz was kind enough to convert and publish all of the sessions from the event. Skip ahead to 26:55 in the video to see MAxure. You can check out other recorded sessions from AxureWorld at www.axureworld.com.

MAxure Sneak Peek Wondering how development is going? Come and...

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:46:06 -0700

MAxure Sneak Peek

Wondering how development is going? Come and see for yourself. We will be giving a sneak peek of MAxure during the Ask Axure session this Saturday 10th at AxureWorld.

You can still register to attend at www.axureworld.com.

A Better Dialog

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:42:35 -0700

As we’re converting dialogs, we’re also looking for opportunities to improve them. One feature that uses a lot of dialogs (ahem… maybe too many) is building interactions.

Currently, the Interaction Case Properties dialog has two modes: basic and advanced. The basic editor is nice because you can see all the available actions right away and can add actions with one click. The advanced editor is nice because you can add as many of a type of action as you like and order them as needed.

The goal is to combine the benefits of the basic and advanced modes into one AND reduce the number of nested dialogs.

Here is a video of a prototype (created in Axure RP) of a proposed new design for the Interaction Case Properties dialog.

So, what do you think?

Building MAxure Figuring out how to build MAxure was definitely...

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:14:45 -0700

Building MAxure

Figuring out how to build MAxure was definitely a challenge given our two main criteria:

1. MAxure has to share a majority of its code with Axure RP for Windows
2. MAxure has to be able to deliver a Mac experience

The first is important to reduce development time, but also to keep future development efficient. Having to maintain separate code for each new feature or fix going forward would not be good. And the second is… well… you know why the second is important.

Axure RP is built mostly in C# on the Microsoft .Net 2.0 Framework. Thanks to the wonderful folks at the Mono project, we were able to run the non-UI related code from Axure RP on Mac with minimal effort.

As for the UI, that was a whole other ballgame. Getting a UI element as complex as the wireframe pane to work on both platforms from a single code base was not an easy task. We first removed all Windows-specific controls and replaced them with custom “Windowless” controls. Then a (magic) drawing layer was developed so that the same C# code could render and function on both Windows and Mac. This layer also handles themes so a control can look and behave different on each platform. Very cool stuff and amazing to see it come to life.

The added flexibility from creating custom controls is also giving us an opportunity to make enhancements while we convert, which will work on both Windows and Mac. How great is that?

We’re going to make sure that MAxure is built well and is architected so that Axure RP on both Windows and Mac can and will continue to improve together.

- Victor, PM

P.S. A quick thanks to Aaron at Big Nerd Ranch for providing great Mac OS training.

Keep It Simple: Licensing for the Mac version

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:33:11 -0700

Thanks for the great response to the screenshot in our last post. We’re excited that you’re excited! One question coming up a lot is how licensing will work once MAxure is released. Some companies charge more for the Mac version of their software. Others charge the same but ask you to buy a different license for each OS. We’ve decided to keep it simple. Here’s how our licensing works today:

“Each license can be used by the same person on two PCs (or Mac through virtualization).”

Once the Mac version is released, here’s how the licensing will work:

“Each license can be used by the same person on two PCs, two Macs, or one PC and one Mac.”

We’re basically going to continue with the same licensing but let you choose to install on PCs, Macs, or one of each.

Because licenses come with 12 months of free updates, many of you will be able to use your current Axure RP license for the Mac version for no additional cost. If your license has expired for updates, you can renew your license for $149.

For new customers, a single user license is $589 (and $539 each for 5+ licenses) and comes with 12 months of updates.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to send us an email to contactus@axure.com or send a tweet to @axurerp.

…Until next time!

P.S. We’re hoping to have something to show customers before the end of the year.

Axure for Mac aka MAxureA Mac version of Axure RP has been the...

Mon, 18 May 2009 12:33:00 -0700

Axure for Mac aka MAxure

A Mac version of Axure RP has been the single most popular request from our customers. We got the point and are happy to say that MAxure (Mac-sure) is in development.

We plan to post here once or twice a month to keep you updated and share some info like how we use Axure on our Macs today through VMWare Fusion.

So, here it is: the first public screenshot of MAxure showing the Wireframe pane with a loaded page and working Sitemap and Masters panes. There is much to be done, but we’re past some tech hurdles and making solid progress.

We haven’t published a release date or licensing details yet, but we’ll post that here as soon as we can.

In the meantime, follow us on Twitter or sign up to be notified when Axure for Mac is released.

Back to work!