The goal of this page is to serve as a starting point for a non-objective comparison of ArcGIS Desktop 9.2 to components of the Open Source Geospatial Stack that offer desktop functionality. I say "non-objective" because this comparison uses ESRI's documentation in ESRI's own terminology as the framework for comparison. Go to the ESRI site to get the official document as a PDF: [http://www.esri.com/library/brochures/pdfs/arcgis92-functionality-matrix-list.pdf ArcGIS Desktop 9.2 Functionality Matrix] The document attached below extends the listing of relevant features of the !ArcReader = > !ArcInfo spectrum of products found in the above PDF by adding columns for selected open source applications with desktop functionality. This allows for an easy comparison, on a feature-by-feature basis, to see where open source alternatives to ArcGIS do and do not offer matching functionality. A general caveat: * Because of fundamental differences in software terminology and design in some cases it is difficult, meaningless, or impossible to make relevant comparisons. For example, is it relevant whether a given application can perform geoprocessing on [http://www.gdal.org/ogr/drv_avc.html ArcInfo Coverages?] My assumption is no: this is not an important feature to 99% of GIS professionals, and the more meaningful question is whether a given application can convert !ArcInfo coverages and e00 interchange files to different format in which to perform geoprocessing actions. However, I have retained all the original features (including 'Coverage Geoprocessing') listed in the ESRI Functionality Matrix and leave it up to the reader to deduce which features are of most importance. A few additional caveats: * Currently QGIS, uDIG, GDAL, and PostGIS are listed in comparison to ArcGIS Desktop 9.2. If you are interested in a comparison of Server or Web-based geospatial features go to the ArcGisServerComparison page. * Grass, gvSIG, Mapwindow, Mapnik, and several other applications with relevant desktop features will be added in the future as time permits. * This listing does not attempt to speak to the quality, ease of use, or stability of a given feature or functionality. Therefore this is not meant to be a definitive or precise guide to usability, but rather a helpful quick reference targeted at GIS professionals familiar with ESRI software but curious how open source alternatives do and do not stack up at first glance. * This listing does not compare the way a feature is available to the user, ie what interface is used to access the feature. In some cases GUI (graphic user interfaces) are used to access the feature and in other cases the feature is only accessible via a CLI (command line interface). * This listing does not take into account features available in ArcGIS through extensions but does take into account features available as free and open source plug-ins to QGIS and uDIG and high quality contrib scripts to GDAL and PostGIS. Examples of this include the Geoprocessing Plugin for QGIS, the PGRouting scripts for PostGIS, and Dan's GDAL Scripts. * GDAL is a widely used library that can be extended easily through a variety of programming interfaces to manipulate raster and vector data, however this listing was built only with the functionality of the GDAL utility programs in mind. * PostGIS in concert with PostgreSQL offers a powerful storage, management, and analysis system for vector spatial data that can be extended though scripting indefinitely, but this listing was built with only the analysis and editing capabilities of currently available functions in mind. In other words, this takes into account only the functionality exposed through basic use of PostGIS functions and operators, most of which are possible by accessing the GEOS library. Please get in touch if you are currently testing an open source application and you'd like to contribute to this listing, or if you have any comments and suggestions. Email dane.springmeyer - at - gmail.com See the attachments below to download the listing as a .csv for excel and as .sql for loading into postgis. Here is a sample of what the csv contains (taken from the first section on GUI Map interaction): ||'''ID'''||'''Feature'''||'''!ArcReader'''||'''!ArcView'''||'''!ArcEditor'''||'''!ArcInfo'''||'''Qgis'''||'''uDig'''||'''GDAL'''||'''PostGIS'''|| ||1||Pan and Zoom the Map||yes||yes||yes||yes||yes||yes||no||no|| ||2||Find an X,Y (Latitude-Longitude) Location on a Map||yes||yes||yes||yes||yes||yes||no||no|| ||3||Zoom to the Full Study Area of the Map||yes||yes||yes||yes||yes||yes||no||no|| ||4||Zoom to the Extent of a Layer||yes||yes||yes||yes||yes||yes||no||no|| ||5||Zoom to the Visible Scale of a Layer||yes||yes||yes||yes||?||?||no||no|| ||6||Zoom to a Specific Map Scale||yes||yes||yes||yes||yes||yes||no||no|| ||7||Use Spatial Bookmarks||yes||yes||yes||yes||yes||yes||no||no|| ||8||Access Hyperlinks||yes||yes||yes||yes||yes||no||no||no|| ||9||Use Dynamic MapTips||yes||yes||yes||yes||yes||no||no||no|| ||10||Use Magnification Window||yes||yes||yes||yes||no||no||no||no|| ||11||Interactively Reveal Areas beneath a Specific Layer (Swipe)||yes||yes||yes||yes||no||no||no||no|| ||12||Save and Manage Locations for Use with Multiple Maps (My Places)||yes||yes||yes||yes||no||no||no||no|| ||13||Pan and Zoom the Map with the Mouse Wheel||no||yes||yes||yes||yes||yes||no||no|| ||14||Pan and Zoom to Selected Features||no||yes||yes||yes||yes||yes||no||no|| ||15||Switch Any Tool to a Pan/Zoom Tool Using Hot Keys||no||yes||yes||yes||no||no||no||no|| ||16||Create Hyperlink to External Application,Macro, or URL||no||yes||yes||yes||yes||no||no||no|| ||17||Create and Manage Spatial Bookmarks||no||yes||yes||yes||yes||yes||no||no