>>> Previously written by David Bruce: > Like Bob Foss, I have had curious misgivings about the mixed remarks > concerning MI 5.5. There are certain features I would definitely be > interested in having; and there is an element of 'loyalty' in wanting to > see MapInfo Professional continue to evolve. But ... > > Andrew Dressel's 'enlightened user's' remarks have traditionally been a > welcome and definitive indicator of the software state of affairs, but > since the release of MI 5.5, these remarks have been unusually limited > to the high-end features, e.g. Oracle connectivity. This absence of > assurance has been less than compelling. > > With Bill Thoen and Steve Wallace co-opted by Directions obligations, > who among MapInfo end users can make a convincing case for new benefits > outweighing some apparent performance quirks? Are they quirks or do > they reveal something more serious? With the 1999 Wish List in the hands of MapInfo's CEO, and the Technical Advisory Board meeting taking place during the annual Partners Conference next week in Marco Island, FL, my position has been one of "wait and see." It is difficult for me to complain _MORE_ than the near 150 items on the Wish List and other stream of comments to MapInfo about problems with printing to Adobe Acrobat, working in MapXsite, MapMarker geocoding errors, buffers in the cosmetic layer being totally screwed up, and even MapInfo data that was sold as one thing and really was something else. I guess what it comes down to is, I'm waiting for MapInfo's next move. It seems to me that some of the bugs introduced in v5.5 should have been responded to IMMEDIATELY with v5.5.1. I seem to remember fixes like v 3.0.2; 3.0.5; 4.0.2; 4.1 and 4.5.2 -- where is the bug fix? I feel like many of you that MapInfo is too focused on the "big bucks" opportunities like (Enterprise and Internet) to remember the foundation of MapInfo in the MI Professional installation base. My guess is that they are working hard on improvements to the code. There probably is an actual v5.5.x release out there they are sending to large Oracle customers who have problems working with their database. The other guess is that they are in "freeze" mode while they finish their entire re-write of the MI Pro code. That being the case, there is likely even less we can expect from v6, as it had a focus other than "new / enhanced features." I use MapInfo 5.5, since I had purchased the maintenance agreement on MI Pro; however, my machine (and one other) is the only 5.x in our company. The others are 4.5's, as they do everything those users need. Since I've never used a MI Graph, don't connect to Oracle databases, don't use less common raster formats, and am used to making my own legends quickly -- I would not have purchased the 5.5 upgrade for those alone. However, I do make many maps and often run into problems with object processing. This was worth the upgrade, if it had been implemented without the buffer problems. As far as clipping goes, people must have forgotten how slow it already was in earlier versions, and that there were many times it would not display properly. It doesn't appear to be much slower to me now, and the results are much more reliable. It is true, in the past few months, I've channeled much of my non-work GIS hours towards Directions Magazine. All my efforts there have been efforts to enhance the entire GIS community in general, and the MapInfo user community in specific. That does not mean I am any less a self-appointed advocate of MI users across the globe. I have 12 hours of driving next week in order to attend a 3 hour meeting in South Florida, JUST for that reason (got appointed to the MI Technical Advisory Board back at MapWorld '99). While that meeting is shrouded in non-disclosure and I will not be able to comment about the content afterwards, I will be bringing _to_ the meeting the concerns of the MI user community. Steve Wallace GIS & Market Information Manager Florida Farm Bureau Insurance Companies Contributing Editor Directions Magazine http://www.directionsmag.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from this list, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and put "unsubscribe MAPINFO-L" in the message body, or contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
