May 21, 2012 -- Frisco, TX—ThinkGeo has released version 6.0 of Map Suite, its full line of GIS software components for .NET developers. This major upgrade refreshes ThinkGeo's entire product line with a wide variety of enhancements that were requested by the Map Suite user base, including some very important performance improvements. Numerous bug fixes and stability improvements also contribute to making Map Suite 6.0 one of the company's most significant releases.

In addition to focusing on increasing map rendering speeds and improving memory utilization, ThinkGeo has continued to make the GIS development experience more robust for .NET developers. Version 6.0 of each Map Suite control includes enhanced XML serialization, a new Code Generator that creates source code from objects, more flexible label formatting and support for layer transparency. Users of Map Suite Web Edition and MVC Edition can take advantage of integrated Google Traffic and Street View. ThinkGeo has also fulfilled the wishes of its longtime user base by adding popular customer suggestions, such as support for WMS 1.3.0, the latest versions of MrSid and ECW imagery, and Out-Of-Browser support when using Map Suite Silverlight Edition.

Map Suite Desktop Edition 6.0 is also the first of ThinkGeo's .NET controls to feature full support for the company's own TinyGeo vector data format, which was purpose-built in response to requests from their customers. TinyGeo files offer numerous advantages over Shapefiles, including secure encryption, on-the-fly decompression, and distribution as a single file.

Other noteworthy enhancements in the Map Suite 6.0 release include improved Bing Maps performance in Silverlight Edition, support for MapQuest in Map Suite Web Edition, and new vector-based map legends for high quality printing. Beyond that, a variety of bug fixes and stability improvements have been added throughout the Map Suite GIS product range. Complete change logs are available at the ThinkGeo Wiki (http://wiki.thinkgeo.com), the company's official online source for Map Suite documentation, reference and learning material. The 6.0 update includes new builds of all of Map Suite's major editions, including Desktop, Web, MVC, WPF Desktop, Silverlight, Windows Phone, Services and WMS Server Editions, as well as the Map Suite Geocoder, World Map Kit and other Map Suite extensions.

ThinkGeo has also announced a change to their release strategy, moving from a twice-yearly release cycle to an annual release cycle, and focusing more on delivering interim bug fixes and new features via their "daily build" system. Developers will be able to receive fixes and enhancements between annual releases by simply downloading differential updates for their Map Suite products. Often, minor fixes and enhancements can be in the hands of developers just days after they request them.

The new Map Suite release plan puts ThinkGeo on track to unveil the next major milestone of Map Suite, version 7.0, in May of 2013, but developers can expect to start seeing (and testing) beta features from that release several months in advance via the daily builds. GIS professionals who wish to request specific features or enhancements for the next revision of Map Suite are encouraged to visit ThinkGeo's Enhancement Tracker at http://helpdesk.thinkgeo.com/EnhancementTracker, where they can vote on their favorite enhancement ideas and suggest new ones directly to Map Suite's development team.

For more information about Map Suite, or to download a free 60-day evaluation of any Map Suite 6.0 product, visit ThinkGeo's website at http://gis.thinkgeo.com. New users and existing users alike can discuss and get help with their Map Suite applications at ThinkGeo's official Discussion Forums at http://gis.thinkgeo.com/forums.

ThinkGeo is an industry leader in GIS mapping components and customizable GPS tracking solutions. The company offers a wide variety of high-quality geospatial products for software development, asset tracking and much more. They have clients from a wide base of industries ranging from agriculture to aerospace. For more information about ThinkGeo products or professional services, visit www.thinkgeo.com or contact a ThinkGeo sales representative at Email Contact or (866) 847-7510.