What is the best GIS software??

Hi every body..

We are preparing to move to GIS, because of that I would like to know
which software is the best??
somthing really feels the real GIS..
not like the one which seems like kids drawing..

Thanx in advance for every respond

 

The best GIS software is the one that everybody can easily use. Not
much learning curve. If you have a little background in GIS then the
product should be usuable immediately to you. Of course you tinker
around a few days but you will eventually learn the basics alone.

I want to say that ArcGis is the best but i got lost while still in
the installation process.

I want to say that Arcinfo is the best but i got lost while counting
the money that i will need to purchase it. i did not have enough...

I want to say AutoCad Map is the best but i had to learn CAD first in
order to use the GIS part.

I want to say Microstation Geographics is the best but i got lost
trying to connect it to database...

I want to say Mapinfo is the best but not one of my client was using
it...

I want to say Manifold is the best but it was too cheap ($245) and
nothing that cheap could be that good...

So I have to say that Microsoft Map Point is the best because
Microsoft owns it. Usually Microsoft products eventually wins out
because it has the staying power and ease of use. Whatever happened to
other competitors - Wordperfect, Lotus, Approach, Netscape, Sun, Unix,
Pascal, ? Only Oracle is left that still has a profit in its
products.

 

Thanx a lot for your responding..

I thought that ill get many replies, but I think that I post in wrong
place (No one talks about anything not related to Microstation)..

Any how thanx again for the details which you counted for me & I
gained some information of..

But I can I ask another question? or the same but in different way?

I mean the best software in power & can do most if not every thing
related to GIS, powerful, makes me feel that I am working on (real
GIS) not some software which are good for some fast food restaurant or
demonstrations..

Thanx in advance for every reply & concern..

 

MapInfo is very powerfull and relativley cheap and easy to use with a
little training.
GeoMedia (Intergraph )much more powerfull but way more expensive but if
your a novice to any gis you'll need training.

 

al-maraghi

Good morning!
In all the years that I have been in the GIS business, I have learned
that there is no 1 GIS software to answer all my needs. Let me give you
an example:
1. Arcview 3.x - nice layout maps but very difficult to edit elements.
Forget about topology creation & editing. You will have to rely on
freeware created by other users.
2. Microstation Geographics - good in editing but cannot handle files >
32MB (Pre V8). stable but can get quite slow for large files.
3. Mapinfo - poor in topology editing & creation
4. AutoCAD Map - fast in topology procedure but slow in map layout for
large maps.

usually, we do all digitising & topology checking in Microstation >
Export to Shp > Database manipulation in Access >Plot to Inkjet Plotter
using Arcview

 

Sometimes the most powerful software are just that. "Good" I mean.
Whether for restaurants or demonstrations...
I know of a company once that bought ArcInfo (the whole package +
maintenance...) because someone told them that it was the "most
powerful" GIS software Around...well it is still there....hanging
Around some PC that no one was using. They eventually used only the
Arcview module...everything thing else was done in other software
packages that their people already knew how to use.
Power usually means people actually using it.