From: Joseph Kerski <jkerski@ESRI.COM>
Date: January 10, 2007 12:39:09 PM PST
To: SCGIS@LISTSERV.URI.EDU
Subject: Re: ArcGIS on a Intel Mac: Parallels vs Bootcamp
Reply-To: Joseph Kerski <jkerski@ESRI.COM>

Will et al.:
 
Below is a paper written by the ESRI Education Team about ESRI GIS for Macintosh Users.  I hope it is helpful.
 
Joseph Kerski
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joseph J. Kerski, Ph.D
Education Industry Curriculum Development Manager
Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. ESRI
1 International Court
Broomfield CO 80021-3200  USA
jkerski@esri.com
303-449-7779 x 8237 Voice
303-449-8830 Fax
For information on ESRI software and services: http://www.esri.com
For ESRI software support: http://support.esri.com
For ESRI customer care: http://customers.esri.com
For ESRI Primary and Secondary Education: http://www.esri.com/schools
For ESRI College and University: http://www.esri.com/highered
For ESRI Libraries and Museums:
http://www.esri.com/libraries/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
www.esri.com/k-12
ESRI GIS Options for Macintosh users
 
There is a common misconception that there are no options for Macintosh users who want to use GIS.
ESRI has several. There are indeed more options, and more robust options, for Windows users, but there
are still several choices available for Mac users:
• web-based GIS
• ArcView 3 and ArcVoyager on OS9
• ArcView 3 and ArcVoyager on OSX
• ArcExplorer Java Edition for Education (AEJEE) on OSX
• Windows-based tools under Virtual PC
• Windows-based tools under BootCamp
• My World
 
I. web-based GIS
Online mapping is the way that many students and teachers are now getting engaged with GIS. It is a
powerful option, totally appropriate and satisfactory for many. Using web-based interactive mapping
tools, students and teachers can learn that they get to control the map, and begin to understand some
important principles of cartography (scale, projection, symbolization, etc) simply by seeing lots of maps.
Examples here include:
• National Geographic Map Machine http://www.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine
• The National Atlas http://nationalatlas.gov
• Geospatial Onestop http://geodata.gov
• The Geography Network http://www.geographynetwork.com
These and other sites can typically be viewed from either Windows or Macintosh machines. Interactive
websites in general are often sensitive to browsers, and online mapping sites can be a challenge for some
brands of browsers while working well on others. Frequently used mapping sites such as these usually
respond well to at least one brand of browser on Macintosh, but users may need to do some
experimentation.
 
II. ArcView 3 and ArcVoyager on OS9
Built back in the days of MacOS7, ArcView 3.0a for Macintosh has been surprisingly long-lived. It runs
well under OS9. It has substantial GIS capacity, including creating and editing shapefiles and attributes,
conducting robust and complex queries, doing a wide variety of classification and symbolizations, and
integrating a variety of image data sets. The Mac version does not have the wide variety of extensions that
was created for ArcView 3 for Windows (e.g. Spatial Analyst, 3D Analyst, Network Analyst), but native
extensions work and some key extensions were written, including a geoprocessing extension. ArcView
3.0a for Mac is available to schools in a building site license.
http://www.esri.com/software/arcview/arcview3x.html
ArcVoyager (full version, for full ArcView 3) and ArcVoyager Special Edition (containing a runtime
engine) are both based on ArcView 3, and there are Mac versions of each edition of ArcVoyager. These
still operate nicely for MacOS9. ArcVoyager is available to anyone for free.
http://www.esri.com/arcvoyager
ESRI GIS for Macintosh Users – page 2
www.esri.com/k-12
 
III. ArcView 3 and ArcVoyager on OSX
There can be some issues with pre-OSX software running on OSX machines, but it can be accomplished
for both ArcView 3 and ArcVoyager. The key here is that the OSX computer must "cold-boot" (i.e. start
from being totally off) directly into OS9 to conduct the installation, to ensure that files get written into the
proper system folder. Once the installation process has been completed, the computer can return to coldbooting
directly into OSX; after that, calls to ArcView or ArcVoyager will engage "Classic" (OS9) and
then begin the software; users can switch back and forth between ArcView and OSX applications in a
normal operation.
Not all OSX computers can cold-boot into OS9. It is important to confirm that it is possible for the
machines in question before beginning the installation.
 
IV. ArcExplorer Java Edition for Education (AEJEE), for OSX
A new cross-platform tool for educators was introduced in 2004. Built in Java, AEJEE runs fine under the
latest MacOS. (OS9 cannot run the Java necessary for AEJEE.) This free, downloadable, lightweight tool
allows users to view GIS data from local sources (hard drive or LAN) or ArcIMS servers over the
Internet, similar to ArcGIS desktop products. It has several classification options, substantial flexibility
for symbology, and can do complex queries. It can create point shapefiles from XY tables. The new 2006
version will include hotlinks and a layout function. For many Macintosh users, this tool has all the power
they will need. You can download versions for both Windows and MacOSX here:
http://www.esri.com/software/arcexplorer/download-education.html
The VERY IMPORTANT intro set of lessons is available within the installation. Assuming the install is
to the default location, the lesson document is in the \ESRI\AEJEE\DATA\LESSONS folder
 
V. Windows-based tools under Virtual PC
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/virtualpc/virtualpc.aspx
Microsoft sells a product for Macintosh called Virtual PC. This allows a Mac user to load a full copy of
Windows OS (such as Win2000 or WinXP) and then install and run PC-based software. ArcView 3 and
extensions and even ArcView 9 and extensions are able to operate under Virtual PC. There are some
tradeoffs here. There is a significant performance hit as the Mac runs an emulator which runs the
software. Also, the current version 7 creates what amounts to a Pentium II computer, rather below current
true PC machines. Finally, the user must have a properly licensed OS (such as WinXP) and software, and
be facile with running Windows under a Mac environment. It can be done, and processes can be tested
and demonstrated effectively in a classroom setting, if the data sets engaged are of modest sized. The
more analysis that is called for, the slower the operation is.
 
VI. Windows-based tools under BootCamp
http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp
Apple has released a product called BootCamp (currently under Beta, but reported to be included within
MacOS 10.5 and higher) which allows the Intel-based Macs to load a full version of WinXP, and run
Windows applications at "full speed." Upon boot-up, the user chooses to boot into MacOS or into
Windows. The testing done by ESRI staff and others seems to confirm that such a setup is indeed able to
run Windows and applications at "full speed", and that ArcView and ArcGIS are able to run even
analytical operations very swiftly. The key here is that the user must have a properly licensed copy of
WinXP and must be facile with running Windows.
ESRI GIS for Macintosh Users – page 3
www.esri.com/k-12
 
VII. My World
http://www.geode.northwestern.edu/myworld/
Northwestern University has developed a GIS called My World, which now engages ESRI MapObjects
Java technology. My World is distributed by Pasco Scientific (http://www.pasco.com/myworld/). Built in
Java, My World runs on Macintosh OSX and Windows environments. It provides a subset of capacities
from a professional GIS environment, including multiple projections, table and map view, hyperlinks, and
a common language approach to conducting analyses. It provides a powerful alternative for schools
seeking tools customized expressly for education.
 
Recommendation: For folks just getting started with GIS on Macintosh OSX, AEJEE is a good choice,
as a free, lightweight, introductory tool.
ESRI Schools & Libraries Program
www.esri.com/k-12
k12-lib@esri.com