ClueTrust is readying the next major version of Cartographica—the Macintosh GIS would like to invite everyone to participate in the beta process. We have reached the point where all the features are in and we believe the product to be stable and within a few weeks of final release.

In commemoration of this, we are inviting anyone who has previously tried Cartographica to give the beta a try, extending the trial period for an additional 30 days. If you have a current key (either because you are a paid user, or you are within your original 30-day trial period), you can visit the Beta Page and download the latest beta from our servers. If you have previously tried Cartographica, but your evaluation key expired, please visit the Lost Key page and a new key will be issued to you for another 30 days.

Version 1.2 contains a large number of new features, increasing our feature set substantially over 1.1. Key features include:

• Live Maps in a layer, providing access to imagery from Bing Maps and road information from Bing Maps, OpenStreetMap (and servers using the OpenStreetMap protocols) and WMS servers.
• Computed Columns–now compute result columns in Cartographica (including the use of geometry information, such as centroid coordinates and area) without having to go to an outside program.
• Custom Symbols for point layers. Now you can use the point markers that we include, or add your own just by dragging an image onto the image well in the style window.
• Color palettes for thematic maps. Use the built-in palettes, create your own, or paste data in from other sources, such as the popular ColorBrewer web site to apply colors to your map themes.
• Multi-variable, multi-line, and multi-style labels. Now you can choose to have more than one variable in a label, or add text to a label, all while using the font and formatting control that you expect on a Macintosh.
• Massive Geocoding overhaul. Now, you can make changes to your data and re-code anything that was missed the first time. We are also supporting the Bing online geocoder.
• Image Georeferencing. Use your mouse (or your multi-touch trackpad) to align and scale imagery to match up with your vector data, or select geotransforms by entering values directly or providing specific ground control points.
• Projection improvements, including new projections, the ability to add custom projections using WKT, Proj4 and ESRI formats, and improved search.
• Revamped Adobe Illustrator export. Raster layers now export correctly, styles are maintained in text labels, text labels on lines use Adobe's line algorithms, and legends are now exported.
• Web Feature Server (WFS) support
• And many more changes under the hood.

Full release notes for 1.2 Beta can be seen at Beta 1.2 Release Notes

If you would like to try out the beta, just go get your new key and download the beta from our server

When you start the beta, you will be prompted by the software to check for new versions each time you start it. We strongly encourage you to do this, as new releases come quickly during the beta period.

Since it is a beta version, there may still be significant bugs, so we strongly suggest that you save and make backup copies of your data often, as a precaution.

We also ask that you report any anomalies or crashes using the built-in "Report A Bug" menu item in the Help menu in Cartographica or by allowing the program to submit the log information. If you submit a log with the automated system, please help us further by filling in the bug report afterwards to provide us with an idea of how the bug occurred.