This is a wonderful new application, and the developer is extremely responsive to bug reports and feature requests. Although at this point in time, Cartographica is unable to provide the same functionality as the other applications that I currently use, I trust that within a very short period of time(several weeks/few months), it will posses the functionality, features, and toolkit that will allow me to move to using it, instead of remaining using the curent applications I depend on, which are uDig, QGIS, OpenJump, and Merkaartor. I also use Safe FME, which is a paid application(and expensive to boot), but it is Windows based, and thus I must run Parallels in order to use it, plus it is a rather difficult application to master imho.

I started using Cartographica about 1 month ago, and since that time I have likely filed 30-40 bug reports and feature requests, ranging from mild to medium bugs, to advanced WFS functionality, and with the exception of some of the more difficult and time consuming fixes/implementations, the developer has promptly addressed the lion's share of them, and has done so in a very timely manner, with the end results actually working/satisfying the request(s). It seems to me that if any of you may be reading this post, and considering downloading and using this software, now is a good time to do so(early in the development cycle), so you can put in your two cents towards how you think this software should function, thus perhaps having some influence over it's GUI, functionality, and toolkit, perhaps helping you end up with a GIS desktop application that in fact serves your specific needs... similar to how my experience has thus far transpired, and assuming it is in-line with the developer's overall vision/direction, and programming(man hours) wherewithal.

I have not yet purchased a license, but intend on doing so shortly, when I am confident I can accomplish everything in Cartographica, that I am currently accomplishing using a handful of different applications, such as uDig, QGIS, and OpenJump... and as evidenced by the developer's rapid development, this will likely be much sooner then later(I hope!).

I will follow-up on this post and provide an update of my experiences with the software and the developer if/when I've made the switch from using a handful of free applications to get my GIS workflow processes completed, to using only the this application(paid). For me, if Cartographica can replace the need of having to use multiple free softwares, then the developer's asking price for a license is well worth it's cost, as it will serve to support the developer, who at this point, has seen fit to serve the bug reports and feature requests that I have personally filed, with admirable programming speed, and more importantly... working results!

So kudos to the developer(Gaige), and I hope enough OS X users download this software and give it a try, and start using it regularly and helping support it's continued development... I of course wish this for selfish personal reasons, as I would like nothing more then to have -once and for all- a capable native(Objective-C) OS X GIS application, instead of either Java or QT based applications(no offense to those apps or their developers) which are currently the only options for OS X users, unless you wish to run Parallels/Windows.

One final note; the developer has indicated to me that he is working on an iPhone/iPad application that will be complimentary to this desktop application, for the purposes of field data collection and geometry creation. Based on conversations with the developer, I believe the desktop application may serve as a control or command center of sorts, seamlessly working with the handheld iPhone/iPad devices(in the field over 3G or WiFi), whilst also working with the server-side of things, namely GeoServer and PostgreSQL/PostGIS. This is yet another reason I hope this developer succeeds with this project.

Regards,

Eric Jarvies
Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico