Dear Mr.Graham:

  TNTmips is a commercial software and not a shareware (like ILWIS) , so I couldnot appreciate the word 'shame' in this context, however to add my comments on "Why TNT? " my observations as a user are

  a) It doesnot have innumerable plug-ins or add-ons , hence not very confusing as to which to buy ?

  b) Pricing is fixed as a policy, open to public and not a variable factor depending upon propsect type ,as I observe with other vendors.

  c) The tech-support is an "icon", just click it and it serves your purpose , trust me it is one of the best in industry.

  It is unfortunate that TNTmips may not be known to many, the reason of which needs to be researched but as we all know in Industry, "being technically good" and "high market share" is not always directly proportional.

  Balen Basu.

  Graham Smith <myotis...@gmail.com> wrote:
  Jack,

Many thanks for the detailed reply. I certainly like the completeness of the program and the downloadable tutorials are impressive in their coverage.  TNTLite is also extremely useful to fully explore the program.

From a teaching point of view however, I am using ILWIS as I cannot develop any realistic ecological projects that fit in the size constraints. Which is a shame as it is a wonderful teaching resource.

Any way thanks again, for the useful comments.

Graham

  On 17/09/2007, Jack Paris <jpari...@msn.com> wrote:        Graham,

  I have been using TNTmips since 1989.  

  At that time, it was a DOS-based program called MIPS (Map and Image Processing System).  I had just taken a university teaching job at Fresno State after having been at JPL where a scientist like me was not allowed to do his or her own processing and programming.  Eventually, it became a Windows (X-Windows) based package ... called TNTmips.  

  When paired with the free TNTlite program (which is great for students who need to have a GIS software package at home for doing homework), TNTmips in my educational lab was a perfect way to handle teaching and learning situations.  TNTmips includes ALL of the processes that are now related to geospatial information handling:

  -        Raster data
  -        CAD data (not the same topology requirements as vector data)
  -        Vector data (with points, polylines, polygons, and more in ONE file)
  -        Database data (stand alone or at "attached" attributes to GIS elements
  -        Hyperspectral data (a special class of raster data ... hypercube format)
  -        Surface modeling tools
  -        Unsupervised and supervised classification tools
  -        A scripting language (SML) (that I use daily ... many written in just a few minutes for special purposes)
  -        Direct access to many external files: Raster, CAD, vector, database, text (and spreadsheets) files

  Today, I am an independent consultant.  I use TNTmips to serve all of my clients.  I give guest lectures to university students and teach them, in the space of a 3-hour lab, how to use TNTlite to do a practical project ... from start to finish.  

  When MicroImages, Inc., added export to TNTview, then this $500 program could be used to export TNTlite-created objects to external files.

  Other GIS software packages, which do what TNTmips does, cost much more than TNTmips.  Many of them do not include all of the elements in the list above.  TNTmips is a complete package.  

  TNTmips does not time out.  You can, if you wish, use the purchased package for the rest of your life.  Or, you can pay a small annual maintenance fee to keep it up to date.  

  And, when I call technical support at MicroImages, a live person always answers and quickly addresses my need for information or for changes to the software.  Some of the processes now in TNTmips are ones that I created.  

  I now work mostly for commercial ag companies.  They use TNTmips almost exclusively.  

  Even though I have had almost 20 years of experience with TNTmips, I don't use but a fraction of the total capabilities in it.  And, I never found a GIS-processing need that could not be done with TNTmips.  The extensive documentation on the MI Web site is all I need to learn how to do some new process ... new to me ... as I might need to know how to do for a specific new situation.

  I have worked also in a GIS environment where many different GIS software packages were being used.  TNTmips always was my "secret weapon" for solving development problems that arose ... ones that other software could not address.  

    Jack

  Jack F. Paris, Ph.D.
  Geospatial Technology
  2407 Maplewood Circle East
  Longmont , CO 80503
  303-775-1195 (cell)
  jpari...@msn.com

---------------------------------

  From: TNTtalk@googlegroups.com [mailto: TNTtalk@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Graham Smith
Sent: Monday, September 17, 2007 4:41 AM
To: TNTtalk@googlegroups.com
Subject: [TNTtalk] Why TNT?

  As TNT isn't that well known  I wondered if users could find the time to explain why they use TNTmips.

Is it part of a GIS toolkit, or is as much of an "all in one" program  as it appears.

My areas of interest are natural resources and ecology, based in the UK, and the GIS programs I have some familiarity with  are ArcView, Mapinfo, Idrisi, ILWIS and Manifold

I  am beginning to make more use of GIS and reviewing my options for updating my software, particularly as I am moving away from Windows towards a Mac/Linux mix.

I know this is a rather open ended question, but would appreciate some comments.

Many thanks,

Graham

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