Use QuantumGIS that can compete with any other popular GIS Software

For those of you still hesitate to use open source desktop GIS software “Quantum GIS or QGIS”, here are some strong reasons to use it now.

1. QGIS is free and open-source software (FOSS)

Anybody with an Internet connection can visit http://www.qgis.org/en/site/ site and retrieve a copy of the GIS software.  There is no cost to the user and this software’s source code is also freely available for the users to make any changes to the program.

QGIS can also run on many operating systems, including Windows, Mac OS, Linux, and UNIX. It has a small file size compared to commercial GIS's and requires less RAM and processing power; hence it can be used on older hardware or running simultaneously with other applications where CPU power may be limited.

2. View data

You can view and overlay vector and raster data in different formats and projections without importing/exporting. Supported formats include:

• QGIS uses the OGR library to read and write vector data formats, including shapefiles, MapInfo TAB file formats, GML, KML, AutoCAD DXF, PostGIS, SpatiaLite, Oracle Spatial and MSSQL Spatial databases, and many more.
• Raster formats supported by the installed GDAL (Geospatial Data Abstraction Library) library, such as GeoTIFF, ERDAS IMG, ArcInfo ASCII GRID, JPEG, PNG and many more.
• Online spatial data served as OGC Web Services, including WMS, WFS and many more.

3. Extend QGIS functionality through plugins

QGIS can be adapted to your special needs with the use of extensible plugin programs that can greatly enhance the functionalities of the software. 

4. Print Composer

With the Print Composer you can create nice maps and atlases that can be printed or saved as PDF-file, an image or an SVG-file. This is a powerful way to share geographical information produced with QGIS that can be included in reports or published. 

5. Working with GPS Data 

The GPS receiver uses the signals from the satellites to calculate its latitude, longitude and (sometimes) elevation. Most receivers also have the capability to store locations (known as waypoints), sequences of locations that make up a planned route and a tracklog or track of the receiver’s movement over time. Waypoints, routes and tracks are the three basic feature types in GPS data. QGIS displays waypoints in point layers, while routes and tracks are displayed in linestring layers. 

QGIS can also perform Live GPS tracking so If the GPS receiver is receiving signals from satellites, you will see your position in latitude, longitude and altitude together with additional attributes on the QGIS map. 

6. Create, edit, manage, analysis and export data 

• Ability to create and edit shapefiles 
• Image georeferencing
• Support for visualizing and editing OpenStreetMap data
• Improved handling of spatial database tables 
• Tools for managing vector attribute tables 
• Option to save screenshots as georeferenced images
• Offers vector analysis, spatial query, shortest path analysis,sampling, geoprocessing, geometry, database management tools and many more
• Offers many raster analysis, such as terrain analysis, zonal statistics, conversions, dam creation etc. 

7. Basemap Facility 

You can easily add a number of popular image services as base maps to publish your own GIS map. Name of the such image services are Google map, OpenStreetMap, and Bing maps.

GIS on the Web

Traditionally, the Geographical Information System (GIS) mainly worked on the desktop computer, to create, manage, analyze and display geographical information, which is also popularly known as Desktop GIS. It has monolithic structures where all the three necessary elements of the software: presentation, logic/application and data are tightly coupled and present in a desktop computer that are not possible to separate into individual module and store in different computers. Architecture of this system is closed, centralized and single-user oriented.

Certain limitations of desktop GIS software are:

• Complicated user interface requires training so it usually disallows an immediate and fast solving of simple GIS tasks.

• Every user has to buy full license copy software, even if only a small part of available functions will be used. Although these users utilize only few functions of this software but have to pay for the full software, not for only those functions they require.

• Generally, Desktop GIS software are specific task oriented. So as a GIS user, one should have proper working knowledge in several GIS software which sometime become very difficult to acquire.

• It is accessible only from the computer on which it is installed.

• Major Desktop GIS software still follow a proprietary technology that uses proprietary data formats. Therefore, interoperability within data formats are missing.

To overcome the above-mentioned limitations, an important breakthrough in GIS technology was the deployment of GIS data and functionality in the Internet or more specifically on the Web and is popularly known as WebGIS. Major benefits of WebGIS technology are to allow any remote users at any time, using variety of client devices, to access distributed geographic data and processing tools present in different computers (servers). The client devices could be desktop computers, laptops, pocket PCs, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), mobile phones or hand-held Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers and all these devices should have internet connection. The GIS servers could be distributed at different locations.

Common examples of WebGIS applications (also called Geoportal) are Google Maps, Bing Maps or Yahoo! Maps that present interactive webmaps of the entire world to the user. These websites are also providing easy-to-use map navigation tools (zooming/panning etc.), map analysis facility and many more as a service to their users. For accessing these websites, user do not need to use any GIS software or formal training on GIS; what they require, are internet connection and any web browser program such as Internet Explorer, Mozila, Opera etc.

The use of the Web as a dissemination medium for GIS data, maps and functionalities (processing tools) can be regarded as a major advancement in GIS and opens many new opportunities, such as cheaper dissemination, more frequent and cheaper updates of data and software, personalized map content, distributed data sources, sharing of geographic information and GIS web services.

Desktop GIS can only serve the dedicated users with sophisticated software and hardware resulting in less or no impact to the public. Web technology as a digital communication medium enhance the capability of GIS data and software application by making them more accessible and reachable to wider range of users, planners and decision makers. WebGIS is a mechanism to deliver GIS data, maps and GIS services on the internet using a cheap and easy way. WebGIS users are able to access GIS applications by only using a web browser program, without purchasing any GIS software. In short, basic functions of GIS remain, but it gets online and everybody can use or access it. At this point, we should introduce another term ‘Web mapping’ that is closely related to WebGIS.

The Web mapping is the process of designing, implementing, generating and delivering maps on the Web and its product. WebGIS is similar to web mapping but with an emphasis on analysis, processing of project specific geographic data and exploratory aspects. Often the terms WebGIS and Web mapping are used synonymously, even if they don't mean exactly the same. In fact, the border between the web mapping and the WebGIS is blurry. Webmaps are often a presentation media in WebGIS and are increasingly gaining analytical capabilities.