Doing product research can be a lot of hard work and can consume a lot of your time. As many of you are aware, Geographic Information Systems are very much about the making of maps. To assist you in selecting a GIS product, we at POB have put together an excellent “map” of what to look for in a GIS product. Our 2006 GIS Software Survey is loaded with product information provided by the developers--and now we offer it in an online searchable, comparable format. For those of you who haven’t yet taken the plunge into GIS but are still thinking about it, our easy point, click and compare format might be the answer to finding the program that best fits your GIS needs.

We’re sure some readers already own some of the products on the list and perhaps just didn’t think of them as GIS software packages. This isn’t unusual because many users only utilize a small portion of the capability of those products. When a product is used only for basic tasks, its potential often goes unrealized.

For this group we recommend carefully examining the Software Features column and reading the Explanation provided in the Summary. You may discover some “hidden gold” like how to perform Basic Geographic Query and Analysis functions with your CAD software.

If you are interested in a product you don’t already own, the list is extensive. Just compare the features of these software products side by side in our new comparable web format. For additional information, use the contact phone numbers of the developers included in the listings.

Why not take a few minutes to see where you are on the map? Click to our NEW 2006 GIS Software Survey.