ArcGIS 10, which is now available from Esri, is transforming the way people use geographic information system (GIS) technology. With this release, users will be more productive with their work and will be able to take advantage of GIS everywhere: via individual local desktops, across desktops and browsers leveraging central servers, and in the cloud.

"ArcGIS is a complete system that enables you to solve your most challenging issues," said Damian Spangrud, ArcGIS product manager. "This release provides greater ease of use, more powerful analysis tools, additional Web GIS applications, and new mobile platforms. It also promotes collaboration via an online system for using, sharing, and organizing geographic content."

Perform GIS Work Faster-ArcGIS 10 dramatically improves and simplifies the user experience, streamlines editing, and integrates productivity tools to support the workflows of GIS professionals. This release makes map creation and production much easier and provides best practice templates to help users get started quickly.

Users can search by keywords or data types to find data and maps. They can also use the search function to quickly and easily find symbols to use in their maps and tools for analysis.

Powerful Spatial Analysis-ArcGIS has always been the premier software for spatial analysis, and with this release, Esri continues to advance geographic science with new tools. ArcGIS now includes Python scripting for automating common tasks and analyses. Using Python, the capabilities of ArcGIS can be combined with other scientific programming to create powerful solutions.

Among the new analyses offered in ArcGIS is location-allocation, which helps users understand how their facilities' placements in a given network impact their ability to serve their customers.

This release also makes it much easier to see data in 3D and introduces the notion of time in both visualization and analysis. Users can create, manage, and visualize time-aware data. They can also display and animate temporal datasets as well as publish and query temporal map services. The ability to see data over time opens opportunities for more in-depth analysis.

Improved Imagery Use and Management-ArcGIS 10 enables better use and management of imagery on the desktop and the server. This release lets users efficiently serve dynamic image mosaics to many applications and easily manage massive image collections with dynamic mosaicking and on-the-fly processing.

Moreover, users will experience faster performance with accelerated image display and save time by using the new image analysis window for image interpretation and processing.

New Ways to Share-ArcGIS now offers tight integration with ArcGIS Online search and share capabilities, making it easy to create and distribute projects that may include data, layers, maps, tools, scenes, globes, diagrams, and add-ins.

Additionally, it is easy to discover and organize geographic data throughout the enterprise via the new Search service in ArcGIS Server. ArcGIS 10 also allows the expansion of volunteered geographic information or user-generated content on the Web.

Cloud GIS-An exciting aspect of ArcGIS 10 is that users can leverage online maps and tools that are a built-in part of the ArcGIS experience, whether they are using ArcGIS Desktop, mobile devices (e.g., smartphones), browsers, or applications developed using the ArcGIS Web Mapping APIs.

Users can also now find, share, organize, and use maps, apps, and other resources via the new ArcGIS.com site-a Web-based gateway into the ArcGIS system. Furthermore, users can discover, share, and present geographic information using ArcGIS Explorer Online, a new browser-based version of ArcGIS Explorer.

ArcGIS Server can now be used on the Amazon cloud. Running ArcGIS Server on Amazon allows organizations to take advantage of multiple cloud services and features.

GIS in the Field-ArcGIS Mobile now has a customizable, ready-to-deploy application that allows users to extend mobile projects to tablet-based PCs. Esri is extending this concept to Apple's iOS platform. Customers will be able to access a mapping application directly from the Apple app store.

ESRI is also providing an ArcGIS for iOS API so organizations can build their own focused iPhone and iPad applications.

Availability-"By making ArcGIS 10 available as a download, Esri hopes to dramatically reduce the packaging waste that is associated with typical software releases," said Spangrud. "We are hoping that most of our customers will join us in this effort." Those who need to receive the software on media can still request it and expect to receive it in the next few weeks.

In the United States, maintenance contacts will receive information by e-mail on how they can download ArcGIS 10 for their organization. They may also contact Esri Customer Service at 888-377-4575; outside the United States, customers should contact their local Esri office.