130 replies to this topic

[Jimbo]

I got Manifold 8 two years ago I want to upgrade my Manifold now but version 9 has still yet to be released, & after a couple of computer crashes I don't have many key activations left. How many Manifold users on this forum are getting antsy?

[sitesatlas]

I got Manifold 8 two years ago I want to upgrade my Manifold now but version 9 has still yet to be released, & after a couple of computer crashes I don't have many key activations left. How many Manifold users on this forum are getting antsy?

I sure am. I check their forum daily to see if there's an announcement or even a rumor. It's really unprofessional how they're keeping their customers in the dark, especially after telling us version 9 would be released in the first half of this year...

[rudy]

I got Manifold 8 two years ago I want to upgrade my Manifold now but version 9 has still yet to be released, & after a couple of computer crashes I don't have many key activations left. How many Manifold users on this forum are getting antsy?

I sure am. I check their forum daily to see if there's an announcement or even a rumor. It's really unprofessional how they're keeping their customers in the dark, especially after telling us version 9 would be released in the first half of this year...

Put me on the antsy list. I agree - it is unprofessional how they promise a date and then don't deliver anywhere near that time. But it is what I've come to expect from Manifold - big promises, big boasts on how they are so much better, faster and cheaper than the competition and so on. They are cheaper and it is a good value for what you get but anything they (i.e. Dmitri) put forth MUST be considered with a healthy dose of skepticism. Version 9 will come to be followed with many minor upgrades. I'd be happy if they included some intelligent text/annotation capabilities.

[paul]

Like many others, I'm really looking forward to v.9. But version 8 is quite good for what I do, so I'm still pretty satisfied. In general, I use ArcMap for cartography and Manifold for geoprocessing, SQL, and number-crunching. Hopefully v.9 of Manifold will feature better cartography, but I'll still use ArcMap anyway.

[mika]

I don't think they ever gave a fixed date. Regarding the update you can always go x64 which is 50$ i think or go a level up on the licensing ladder

[Jimbo]

Since I started this thread there is some hot debate going on the forum demanding what's going on with Manifold 9. There's even a suggestion that Manifold 9 may not even come out because simply the company is out of business & they haven't told the truth. Of course this would be bad news for those of us looking for a cheaper alternative to ArcGIS.

[KlausDE]

This is an old thread and Manifold 9 still not knocking at the door. But there is substancial news: They added 'Extra Activation Keys' for version 8 users that ran out of keys to the product list.

[Hans van der Maarel]

This is an old thread and Manifold 9 still not knocking at the door. But there is substancial news: They added 'Extra Activation Keys' for version 8 users that ran out of keys to the product list.

That doesn't bode well...

[Jimbo]

If the prediction is correct & the market crash that makes the economic down turn officially a depression it will likely be the final nail in the coffin for Manifold & other GIS software companies. We may be entering into a new era where open source software becomes the new main stream software in this field with the likely exemption of ESRI.

[Hans van der Maarel]

If the prediction is correct & the market crash that makes the economic down turn officially a depression it will likely be the final nail in the coffin for Manifold & other GIS software companies. We may be entering into a new era where open source software becomes the new main stream software in this field with the likely exemption of ESRI.

Not necessarily, but if open-source intiatives get their act together and start offering comprehensive documentation it might be a scary time for some GIS companies.

[vW Maps]

I'm raising my hand in reply to the year-old question "who's waiting for v.9." Sigh.

[mdsumner]

If the prediction is correct & the market crash that makes the economic down turn officially a depression it will likely be the final nail in the coffin for Manifold & other GIS software companies. We may be entering into a new era where open source software becomes the new main stream software in this field with the likely exemption of ESRI.

Not necessarily, but if open-source intiatives get their act together and start offering comprehensive documentation it might be a scary time for some GIS companies.

Really? Which ones? I thought I didn't use QGIS because it's just not as slick as Manifold, not because of lack of documentation. I don't have any problem using GDAL for example. Which open source spatial software is so good it would upset Manifold if someone wrote some good help? We could do that for them.

[KlausDE]

Second Quarter of 2011 and still no sign of a movement. Public activity continues to be responsive but focussing on sweeping threads off their forum that would only rize fruiteless rumors. No problem, I don't need baseless speculation and got friendly PM last time.

Yet what determines consciousness is not meaning well but being. And it's clear that we Manifold users haven't been their source of income for the last years. The continued responsiveness in terms of communication gives hope to a continued usability of the product - still my favorite. Though I had to reenter ArcGIS 10 subscription. I can't build a business model on this frozen Mfd base!

[mdsumner]

I'm a vampire baby . . .

"Good times are coming, But they sure coming slow" ~ Neil Young

[mika]

You're not the only one waiting for the v9 Klaus and not the only one forced to extend your toolkit just in a case... Not sure whether that cheers you up though ;-)
We decided to abandon manifold for our web dev and are quite happy with the new tools while we are still patiently (more or less ;-) waiting for an upgrade. Manifold is still our tool of choice for heavy lifting. Having seen it a while ago does not help - one of the preview versions was a great piece of software and I hope that when 9 hits the market eventually it will kick ass again. It ought to happen soon... I believe...