PlanetGIS is a fast, friendly and compact Geographic Information System (GIS) software suite that improves on mainstream GIS software in terms of graphic rendering speed, usability, database connectivity, manageability of extremely large vector and raster datasets, cost effectivity and productivity. Development on PlanetGIS started in 1993 and the software has been in extensive use by GIS practitioners since 1994. “Planet” excels where mainstream GIS products usually frustrate because it has been designed specifically for those tasks used most often in a GIS. Planet requires Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista, and there are plans to port Planet to Linux, ’Mac, .NET and portable platforms.

PlanetGIS is the easiest GIS to learn and use and was designed to enable anyone to start and manage a GIS project from the ground up. All stages from data capture, data manipulation through thematic mapping to map production are simple and efficient.

Vector data formats
PlanetGIS reads all popular GIS data exchange formats including ESRI ArcView shape files (.SHP), MapInfo MID/MIF, AutoDesk DXF, ESRI ArcInfo Export files (.E00), MicroStation DGN, MapGuide SDL and ReGIS Feature files (.FEA). PlanetGIS can also export GIS data to all of these formats except .E00 and .DGN.

Raster image formats
PlanetGIS will import JPEG and TIFF/GeoTIFF images into a native super-fast indexed image format and will utilize World files if available. MrSID and ECW images will be displayed directly. PlanetGIS can also create JPEG and GeoTIFF files.

Database connectivity
PlanetGIS can connect to file-based databases (DBase, Access, ODBC) and SQL servers (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Firebird, SQLite, Oracle, SQL server, Informix, Sybase, Interbase).

PlanetGIS Explorer
PlanetGIS Explorer is a free viewer for PlanetGIS maps and GIS exchange files (eg. shape files). PlanetGIS Explorer allows you to navigate through maps, query map elements and view attribute information from linked database tables. PlanetGIS Explorer allows you to customize the appearance of maps for purposes of creating hardcopy printouts, but does not allow you to save any changes to maps. PlanetGIS Explorer may be downloaded from here.

PlanetGIS Cartographer
PlanetGIS Cartographer is a new lightweight edition of PlanetGIS aimed at the non-expert user who needs to work mostly with existing GIS data. PlanetGIS Cartographer allows you to create maps from scratch by capturing features or by importing GIS exchange files, but does not include feature manipulation tools (eg. moving or rotating map elements) or spatial analysis tools. PlanetGIS Cartographer will allow you to set up database connections for attribute information and create sophisticated thematic maps.

PlanetGIS Professional
PlanetGIS Professional is aimed at the GIS professional that needs all the available tools for manipulating GIS data and Planet's spatial analysis functions. PlanetGIS Professional can export to all supported GIS exchange formats and import/export features to database tables.

PlanetGIS Enterprise Edition
PlanetGIS Enterprise is aimed at goverment organizations and large corporates where multiple users will be accessing the same GIS data. The Enterprise Edition can import features from SDE and Oracle Spatial and keep changes to GIS data synchronized through SQL tables. The Enterprise edition is normally bundled with training and support agreements.

PlanetGIS Web Server
PlanetGIS Web Server is an extension for Internet Information Server or Apache HTTP server on Windows to publish PlanetGIS maps on the Internet. An example of a PlanetGIS Web Server in action is here.

PlanetGIS ActiveX Control
PlanetGIS ActiveX Control (PlanetX) is a component that will add GIS functionality to your software application.

PlanetGIS Intranet
PlanetGIS Intranet is an Internet Explorer browser plugin for use on large intranets.