The most commonly used proprietary GIS software at Michigan Tech is Esri's ArcGIS Pro. All students, faculty, and staff at Michigan Tech have access to download and use Esri's ArcGIS Pro desktop software on their own personal computers using their MTU SSO login. If you are interested in installing ArcGIS Pro on your own personal or off-domain computer, please see my guide on Installing ArcGIS Pro Desktop Software.
ArcGIS Pro is also available on computers in several Michigan Tech Computer Labs through AppsAnywhere. For a complete list of computer labs with access to ArcGIS Pro software, please visit the Computer Labs page at Michigan Tech IT.
Computers with access to ArcGIS Pro at the Van Pelt and Opie Library can be found in the following zones:
If you need an installation of ArcGIS in your office on a computer that is managed by Michigan Tech IT, please contact the help desk at 7-1111 or email it-help. One drawback of ArcGIS Pro software is that it will only run on the Windows operating system.
There are also several free and open source (FOSS) GIS desktop software applications available. These applications typically will need to be installed as they are not available at Michigan Tech Open Computer Labs or through AppsAnywhere. Some FOSS GIS applications require programming knowledge in languages such as Python, R, and SQL. One of the biggest advantages of FOSS GIS is that the software can typically be installed on a variety of different operating systems such as Windows, Mac, or Linux.