http://www.bluemarblegeo.com/products/global-mapper.php
Is anyone upgrading? I'm still on version 12 and it really does just about everything I need. The one new feature that would be nice is the ability to pass variables to GM scripts from the command line. That's something I requested long ago in their forums - it would allow me to use the database applications I've developed to actually launch Globalmapper and do automated processing.
List price is $450 but you can get 10% off here: http://www.globalmapperforum.com/global-mapper-pricing/
Version 14 users can upgrade for $169. The e-mail I received said that users of older versions
might be eligible for a 25% discount if they contact
[email protected]This reminds me of the VectorWorks CAD software I have used for almost 20 years. "Back in the day" it was a $400 program, then the company was purchased by a larger one who added many new features (that I don't need) and it is now something like a $1500 program. Originally it filled a niche as a low cost CAD package, then they added enough features for it to be viewed as an AutoCAD alternative. Looks like the same thing may be happening with Globalmapper vs ArcGIS.
Oh well, good tools aren't cheap I guess. I am sticking with version 12. :)
My GM is also ver12, recently I've been working with ArcGIS 10 and they have a home edition for $100/year that seems less expensive than the GM updates.
The only things I use (a little) in GM versions 13 and 14 are ArcGIS 10 read support and postGIS read/write. The feature I use a lot in version 12 is the raster to polygon support. That's how I do wooded areas.
Does the Esri Home export to MP, OSM, and all the other formats GM supports?
ArcGIS can be extended with extentions, some are listed here (http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/arcgis-for-desktop/extensions) and other are available elsewhere.
Info on the OMS extension is here:
http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/extensions/openstreetmap
Into on the home use (non commercial) license is here:
http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/arcgis-for-home
I don't know if there's an .mp export extension, I use shapefiles for layers to make Garmin maps. ESRI has a 60 day eval license @ n/c you can get to try it out yourself.
For shp editing I'm using Qgis and Grass, which are free tools. Not so convenient like GlobalMapper but sufficient for most of my task. New version of Qgis 2.0 has been just released:
http://www.qgis.org/en/site/