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Desktop GIS for Mac OS X

The last time I went looking for a desktop GIS application for my Mac all I found was the beast of a system that is GRASS (it looked so powerful, but yet so far beyond my reach to properly grasp).

Suddenly it seems that GIS apps for the Mac are all over the place: Quantum GIS and uDIG are two I tried tonight with good success (both are cross-platform PC-Mac-Linux).

The task at hand was updating an old MapInfo layer of The Old Farmer’s Almanac long-range weather forecast regions and getting it ready to live as a MapServer-friendly SHP file.

I began by exporting the MapInfo file as an ESRI shapefile using the trial version of MapInfo running on my Mac using Virtual PC. Both Quantum GIS and uDig then opened this file with no problems:

uDig Screen Shot Quantum GIS Screen Shot

Now the fun begins: I’ve got some “ZIP code in polygon” magic to perform and my next step is to see which tool supports this sort of thing best. Stay tuned.

Update: There’s also Thuban.

Friday, July 21, 2006 - 7:29pm
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Comments

Alexandre Leroux's picture
Alexandre Leroux on July 25, 2006
There’s also OSSIM.org which is worth mentioning.
Howard Butler's picture
Howard Butler on July 25, 2006
I’m not sure, but I think QGIS should be able to read the MapInfo file due to its use of GDAL.
dylan's picture
dylan on July 25, 2006
There is an excellent MacOS X installer for GRASS6.1 with support for integration into QGIS. Couple this with PostGIS, and you have a very flexible GIS system. Note that the GRASS installer for the mac comes with gdal. here is a link: http://wwwamb.bologna.enea.it/forgrass/ For hard copy maps, GMT compiles easily on the mac. cheers, D
Christian Harder's picture
Christian Harder on July 25, 2006
Question: Does ArcGIS running in XP inside of Parallels or Bootcamp on OSX on an Intel Mac qualify as a GIS on a Mac? Works great.
Andrea Borruso's picture
Andrea Borruso on July 25, 2006
Hi, you should try TNTlite: http://www.microimages.com/tntlite/osdialogmac.htm I think it’s a great software
Willian Sanchez's picture
Willian Sanchez on September 7, 2006
For Mac platfforms there are TNTmips, which is a profeesioanl GIS and Remote sensing software, this tool is a strong rival for ESRI products, alos is a cross-platform between MAC, Win, Lunix and Solaris. More information http://www.microimages.com
jon's picture
jon on December 11, 2006
What about doing a brief side-by-side comparison of the GIS packages for OSX? Or is that available somewhere else?
stephane's picture
stephane on March 24, 2007
on this page you ll find all kind of ressources which are GPS / GIS-related and working on Macs. www.gueritte.net/geomax.html
Steve's picture
Steve on December 25, 2007
So? How did it go? Inquiring minds want to know! :-)
Agustin's picture
Agustin on June 27, 2009
There are some very interesting developments like openjump or udig not mentioned here; but I will recommend to take a look to gvSIG that is a good alternative to grass and gqis http://gvsigmac.blogspot.com/2009/06/sextante-03-working-well.html
Macken's picture
Macken on December 28, 2009
Yeah both Quantum GIS and uDIG are cross platform PC-Mac-Linux.I’ve tried them & they’re good one.Thanks. Macken cordless electric fillet knife
geomac's picture
geomac on February 26, 2010
You can also try MacMap® (www.macmap.com). The trial version is available there…
Rosacea's picture
Rosacea on July 17, 2010

For Mac platfforms there are TNTmips, which is a profeesioanl GIS and Remote sensing software, this tool is a strong rival for ESRI products, alos is a cross-platform between MAC, Win, Lunix and Solaris. Also, both Quantum GIS and uDIG are cross platform PC-Mac-Linux.I’ve tried them & they’re good one.

Amyn's picture
Amyn on December 4, 2010
You should try out Cartographica from ClueTrust. You can download a copy and a trial license from www.macgis.com.

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