Here are answers to some of the most common questions that we are asked about the Map Suite WinForms Desktop Edition .NET GIS control. If you still have questions after reading these, feel free to post them in our Desktop Edition discussion forum. Our forums are monitored by our development staff in order to provide detailed and technical answers when you need them.

Yes, absolutely. Map Suite WinForms Desktop Edition is a control, so you can easily integrate it into your application just like any other control from the Toolbox. We expose a large amount of APIs that allow you to customize every aspect of the map and the user interface so that they fit in with the look and feel of your application.

To work with Map Suite WinForms Desktop Edition, you will need a copy of Microsoft Visual Studio or alternatively, Visual Studio Express for Windows Desktop to build the code for your custom application.

Map Suite WinForms Desktop Edition lets you use virtually any map dataset of your choosing. If you have your own map data you can use it, or you can utilize our Map Suite World Map Kit extension or other base maps like Google Maps*, just to name a few options.

*Use of Google Maps within a Map Suite developer SDK requires a Google Maps API For Business license and is subject to Google's licensing terms. For more information, please visit: https://developers.google.com/maps/licensing

Map Suite WinForms Desktop Edition comes with native support for the most popular vector and raster file formats, and includes a free extension that enables support for more than a dozen more vector formats and more than 80 raster formats. If you have spatial data or imagery, chances are you can use it with Map Suite. Check our wiki for the master list of data formats that Map Suite currently supports.

Map Suite WinForms Desktop Edition was designed to be easy to understand and easy to use. While mapping/GIS controls typically have a larger learning curve than other simpler controls like grids or charts, we feel Map Suite has taken the complexity out of mapping and allows you to develop your application in days or weeks instead of months or years.

We have a very active Developer Community discussion forum, a large number of “How Do I?” sample applications with source code in VB.NET and C#, and we also offer professional services if you need to talk with a developer one-on-one.

What is the difference between Map Suite WinForms Desktop Edition and Map Suite Services Edition? Map Suite WinForms Desktop Edition comes with built-in functionality to construct a robust user interface in a desktop environment, while the Services Edition is designed for back-end applications like web services, Windows services and console applications where no user interface elements are needed.

Yes. We offer a number of Map Suite add-ons that extend the functionality and map coverage of your application, including the World Map Kit SDK and the Routing extension that generates routes, turn-by-turn directions and more. Additionally, check out the code samples on the ThinkGeo Wiki for an ever-expanding number of add-on projects that bring new features and ideas to your Map Suite projects.