MapWindow GIS

MapWindow GIS - Home

Recent Announcements: (view all announcements)

March 21, 2008	MapWindow Plug-in Writing Contest Announced! Win an iPod Nano from the ISU Geospatial Software Lab! We are looking for a some GREAT plug-ins to include in the next release of MapWindow GIS Desktop Application. Submit yours for a chance to win an iPod Nano!!! Read about the contest...
March 8, 2008	MapWindow 4.5 Release Candidate 2 Posted! The next major release of MapWindow, Release Candidate 4.5 2, has been posted to the download page. Major changes are listed in the release notes.
	Get the Book! A Practical Look at MapWindow GIS (1st Edition) by Gary Watry and Dan Ames can be purchased here. This is a 316 page book that targets both novice and experienced GIS users who want to become familarized with the open source MapWindow GIS environment. The tutorials cover use of all of the key functions and plug-ins.
April 16, 2007	BASINS 4.0 is Released by the U.S. EPA. The BASINS Version 4.0 system runs on MapWindow GIS. Download the BASINS 4.0 software off of the BASINS website. http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/basins/.

MapWindow GIS 4.0 Open Source Software
The MapWindow application is a free, extensible, geographic information system (GIS) that can be used in many ways:

As an alternative desktop GIS
To distribute data to others
To develop and distribute custom spatial data analyses

MapWinGIS ActiveX Control
At the core of the MapWindow application is the MapWinGIS ActiveX control. Using this control, you can program custom mapping functionality directly into your own software.

Open source component (free distribution)
Complete GIS API for shapefile and grid data
Many built in GIS functions

What makes this GIS tool different than the others?
MapWindow is free to use and redistribute to your clients and other end users.

Unlike other free tools, MapWindow is more than just a data viewer, it is an extensible geographic information system. This means that you can write plug-ins to add additional functionality (models, special viewers, hot-link handlers, data editors, etc.) and pass these along to any number of your clients and end users.

MapWindow includes standard GIS data visualization features as well as DBF attribute table editing, shapefile editing, and grid importing and conversion.

MapWinGIS ActiveX includes a GIS API for shapefile and grid data with many built in GIS functions.

MapWinGIS ActiveX can be redistributed royalty-free. No fee is required, although we happily accept donations to help support this effort. See Why MapWindow?

If You Are New to MapWindow:
Start by viewing the Overview document as well as the Why? document. These should help you better understand the purpose of MapWindow, what it is used for, and how you can use it to build GIS enabled applications.

Please sign up for our mailing list to receive an occasional e-mail about new upgrades, features and downloads.

If you have any unanswered questions, please contact the ISU Geospatial Software Lab.