New home design software from Better Homes and Gardens . . . or yet another reason NOT to have a Macintosh

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The just-released Picture Painter home and landscape design software from Better Homes and Gardens looks mighty fun. Too bad I have a Macintosh! This software can be used only on a PC.

If you are PC-equipped, I'm a little jealous. This software, developed by Chief Architect, allows you to use photos of your actual home to mock up changes you might want to consider. Thinking of hardwood floors? Granite countertops? A new paint scheme? A new fireplace surround?

Load up your pictures, click a few times, and there you go, a visual of your ideas.

Here's another neat thing: Among the 6,000-plus items you can select from, there are brand-name items from Corian, Formica, Armstrong, Mohawk, Jeld-Wen and so on, as well as Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore paints. So it's not just a vague product type you'll see reflected in the program, but the exact product you could buy.

Of course, the real test is in the use. How easy or difficult is this software to learn? What kind of quality do you get for the $20 sales price? Because me and my Mac are being discriminated against, I can't be the one to tell you.

The five reviews I read on Amazon seem to suggest the program could be slow and clunky for homes with a lot of architectural detail, such as Victorians.

If you have used this software, or any of the other six Better Homes and Gardens software offerings, please post your review below.

Comments

[larry]

Just use one of several available software packages and you can run Windows on a recent Mac (they now use the same cpu as a Windows PC). There is a dual-boot facility included free with your Mac (unless it's an old one). You will need your own copy of Windows tho.