Rhino OSX

Version 5 of Mac Rhino is under active development and will be updated every week or two.  It is following the core Rhino V5 changes and you can see a detailed list of the changes here.  This Mac version can run in 64-bit mode on Core 2 Duo Intel processors or later, so running out of memory should no longer be a problem.

This version requires OS X 10.6 or later and will not install and will not run on OS X 10.5.

Mac V5 Rhino also has all the improvements that are part of Windows V5 Rhino, such as:

• better stability
• many command enhancements
• faster drawing speeds
• display enhancements
• new commands
• new editing tools (gumball)

This version also runs in 32-bit mode.  This version runs Python scripts only in 32-bit mode and not in 64-bit mode because a 64-bit version of Mono is not yet available.  This web page explains how to force Mac Rhino to start in 32-bit mode.

Rhino V5 files are not backward compatible with Rhino V4, either for Mac or Windows.  Use File > Export in Mac V5 Rhino to save a Rhino V4 compatible file.

See this post for more information.

First, all your program preferences are preserved when switching between versions of Mac Rhino, so you can switch to version 5 of Rhino without any problems.  You will need to remember that Mac V5 files are not backwards compatible, so you may need to export files in V4 format.

The standard Mac installer does not always correctly update your Rhinoceros application in place, but sometimes does not change the application name, and that can lead to a bit of confusion as to what version is actually installed.

When switching versions, we strongly recommend that you drag your existing Rhino application to the Trash before installing the new version.  You need not do this for every program update, but it is advisable to do this when switching from V4 to V5 Rhino.  This will ensure that the application installed in your Applications folder has the correct name and contents.

We also strongly recommend that you have only one copy of Rhinoceros on your computer at a time.  If you have more than one copy of the application, the Apple installer is likely to incorrectly update one of your Rhino application files.

 A number of people have disregarded this warning and the installer is not reliable if you do not drag existing applications to the trash.  So, starting with V5 WIP 2011-01-19, the application name will be Rhinoceros, and the application will enforce this.  See this post for more information.