Ladies & Gentlemen,
My company has a large installed base of users, both full installations and
distributed run-time versions.
We still use Mapinfo 4.1, although we have purchased a copy of each upgrade
for evaluation.
Each time, I have investigated whether it is worth our while upgrading the
whole company to the new version. Are any of you surprised that we have
not done so? There has been nothing in v4.5, v5 or now, it seems, v6 to
justify the expense.
Looking back at the WishList from a few years back, so few of these
questions have been properly addressed. All text-objects are anchored
top-left, why can't I fix each text-object at a different location
(bottom,right for example)?; Lat/longs in d.m's" has yet to be fully
implemented (even Encarta WorldAtlas does this); why can't I take a
selection of text objects and itaicise them/rotate them/ in bulk?; why
can't I copy/move objects but retain horizontal/vertical alignment?; why
can't I seamlessly move from editing an object on one layer to an object on
another layer? Curving text aling a polyline? Continuous line-styles (that
don't stop/start with each line vertex) etc.etc. etc. MBX's have answered
some specific questions, but the product itself seems stuck in a rut.
A simple analogy from Autocad days might help to illustrate this point.
Autodesk used to buy-up utilities produced by third-party vendors, fully
implementing the code, seamlessly, into the next upgrade. I presume they
paid the third-party vendors who could then move on to the next gap in
Autocad functionality. With each upgrade, there was a real boost in
functionality; the best of the third-party stuff, and Autodesk's own work;
a real commitment to working through the User Group wishlist.
If Mapinfo is ever to really challenge AV, or even keep clear of the
clutches of smaller, faster-moving companies, it will have to be more
responsive to it's user-base. It has been interesting reading the views of
so many who use a number of mapping products. How many of you would ditch
the others, concentrating on Mapinfo alone - if only Mapinfo v7 was a real
and significant improvement that would genuinely justify the change in
version number, produce better maps and be faster to use and easier to
learn. But even if the improvement was less significant, how many of you
would still buy Mapinfo; you wouldn't use it as much as you might, but
Mapinfo would still register a sale.
The best thing that's happenned to Mapinfo in this office since v4.1?
Adobe's PDF writer. Connection to Mapinfo Corp. - None.
I can only agree that a new version number for v5 and v6 seems like
complete overkill. I despair of any step-change from Mapinfo.
Regards,
Brian Forrester
Edinburgh
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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