#Best gis software for mac install#
#Best gis software for mac software#
#Best gis software for mac plus#

Files and directories on the Mac side can be shared with the VM so that programs in Windows can read and write those files. The benefit of a VM is that users can toggle back and forth between Mac and Windows programs without having to reboot. Both of these virtualization programs require that a licensed copy of Windows OS be installed. The two leading commercial options are Parallels and VMware Fusion.

#Best gis software for mac install#

Since the computer boots up fully as a Windows machine, memory is not split between the Windows and Macintosh partitions, enabling ArcGIS to run faster as compared to a virtual machine installation.Ī second option is to create a virtual machine (VM) on the Macintosh and then install Windows as the operating system that runs on that VM partition.

#Best gis software for mac plus#

The plus side is that the user doesn’t need to operate a separate Windows OS computer.

#Best gis software for mac software#

The downside to this option is that the Macintosh installed software and operations are inaccessible while the computer is booted up as a Windows machine accessing the Macintosh side requires a reboot and vice versa. Booting up as a Windows machine allows the user to run Windows compatible software, which would include ArcGIS. Apple offers BootCamp for free as part of its operating system for versions of MacOS that are 10.4 and higher, which, after installation of the software and a licensed Windows OS, gives users the options of either booting up the computer in Macintosh or Windows OS. The first is to set up a dual boot system. There are two main ways to accomplish this for Intel-based Macs. “We’ll probably start moving more towards supporting the Mac at the next release after ArcGIS 10.1.”įor those that want to stick with the most popular commercial GIS package, Esri’s ArcGIS software, a separate instance of Windows OS (Windows XP and above) needs to be set up on the Macintosh to run the GIS software. However, there is a teaser that, at some point ArcGIS will be Mac ready: But would you want us to slow down advancement of the basic tool in order to deploy on a Mac?”

In theory, we could spread our resources more on platforms and thus less on functionality. “That focus is very important and we want to make sure that we don’t spread our resources too thin. “We’d love to be on the Mac, but we have engineering priorities…so we have to ask ourselves what’s most important for our users,” said Jack Dangermond. From the closing session of the 2011 Esri User Conference: It doesn’t look like Esri will produce a native port of ArcGIS for the Mac in the very near future.

The last native effort by Esri to produce GIS software for the Mac was a ported version of ArcView in the early 1990s that never made it past pre-release. Running ArcGIS on the MacĪlthough Esri has released an app version of ArcGIS for iOS, ArcGIS unfortunately isn’t natively offered as a option for installing on a Macintosh computer. Other native Macintosh GIS software packages are listed further below in this article. Instructions for installing QGIS on the Mac are here. One of the most popular options for running GIS softly directly on within the Macintosh OS environment is QGIS, known formally as Quantum GIS, a free and open source (FOSS) software package. There are a few software packages and configuration options for those Macintosh users that are interested in running GIS software on their computers.