QGIS Dufour (2.00) released in Sept. 2013
The review is of version 2.01 - Oct. 2013
A major release of QGIS is an important event in the GIS universe. QGIS is arguably the most capable open source desktop GIS. Recent releases have provided solid features with good data interoperability and starting with 1.8 QGIS can be extended using scripts written in the Python programming language. Python is something of a standard for scripting in high-end software and it's easier to use then the previous methods that required C++ coding. I like QGIS and this first look is coming from the perspective that this product is a good choice for a wide range of GIS/geodata related tasks.
A few things to note:
I'm running QGIS on a high-end laptop running Windows 7
I have the complete install including GRASS, SAGA and other products bundled in the full installer
The QGIS team has revamped and modernized the product website
You can download QGIS 2.0 here.
The main documentation site is found here
If you need help you can ask questions and obtain support at several different user-supported sites. One of the best is gis.StackExchange.com. It's not QGIS specific, but many QGIS questions are asked and answered there. There is also an active IRC channel but this tends to be more developer oriented.
Download and Install
MS Windows users face two choice before downloading the installer. You will choose between installers for 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows and between the "QGIS Standalone Installer ..." and the "OSGeo4W network installer". If you have Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8 you'll want the 64 bit installer. For the second choice, casual users will want the QGIS standalone installer. The OSGeo4W installer includes server-oriented software that adds complexity to the installation.
After downloading the installer program, the installation itself is straight forward. At the end of the installation you'll be asked if you want to install sample data sets. If you want the sample data give it a try. I have had problems with the sample data installs for the last couple of releases but it may work for you.
The code name for the QGIS 2.0 release is Dufour and the installer (assume Windows 7 from here on) creates a Start Menu folder named QGIS Dufour. As with previous QGIS releases, the 2.0 installer leaves earlier versions in place. I have Lisbon (1.8) on my system and a quick test following the install of 2.0 shows that it runs with no problems.
Opening Workspaces Created in Past Releases
Using Dufour (2,0) I opened a workspace created using Lisbon (1.8). This resulted in a warning telling me that saving my workspace in Dufour would probably make the workspace unusable by earlier releases. This is expected. Workspaces need to be forward compatible but backwards compatibility hinges on whether or not you use new features that were not in the previous release. After acknowledging the warning the workspace opened with no problems.
New Look and Feel
If you've used previous releases of QGIS you'll immediately notice that Dufour has an updated look and feel.
I expect that most users of QGIS will welcome this change. The user interface was looking a bit dated and the new icons and UI elements have a modern look. More importantly, they use precious screen real-estate more effectively. There are UI changes that go beyond just icons and colors, but I'll have to come back to those in a future post.
You can download QGIS 2.0 here.
The main documentation site is found here
If you need help you can ask questions and obtain support at several different user-supported sites. One of the best is gis.StackExchange.com. It's not QGIS specific, but many QGIS questions are asked and answered there. There is also an active IRC channel but this tends to be more developer oriented.
Download and Install
MS Windows users face two choice before downloading the installer. You will choose between installers for 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows and between the "QGIS Standalone Installer ..." and the "OSGeo4W network installer". If you have Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8 you'll want the 64 bit installer. For the second choice, casual users will want the QGIS standalone installer. The OSGeo4W installer includes server-oriented software that adds complexity to the installation.
After downloading the installer program, the installation itself is straight forward. At the end of the installation you'll be asked if you want to install sample data sets. If you want the sample data give it a try. I have had problems with the sample data installs for the last couple of releases but it may work for you.
The code name for the QGIS 2.0 release is Dufour and the installer (assume Windows 7 from here on) creates a Start Menu folder named QGIS Dufour. As with previous QGIS releases, the 2.0 installer leaves earlier versions in place. I have Lisbon (1.8) on my system and a quick test following the install of 2.0 shows that it runs with no problems.
Opening Workspaces Created in Past Releases
Using Dufour (2,0) I opened a workspace created using Lisbon (1.8). This resulted in a warning telling me that saving my workspace in Dufour would probably make the workspace unusable by earlier releases. This is expected. Workspaces need to be forward compatible but backwards compatibility hinges on whether or not you use new features that were not in the previous release. After acknowledging the warning the workspace opened with no problems.
New Look and Feel
If you've used previous releases of QGIS you'll immediately notice that Dufour has an updated look and feel.
I expect that most users of QGIS will welcome this change. The user interface was looking a bit dated and the new icons and UI elements have a modern look. More importantly, they use precious screen real-estate more effectively. There are UI changes that go beyond just icons and colors, but I'll have to come back to those in a future post.
That's all for now...
No comments:
Post a Comment