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Manifold® System Hardware and Software Requirements

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Hardware and software requirements vary considerably depending on the tasks undertaken. The following minimum configuration allows installation of Manifold for work with small components. Recommended configurations are noted in parentheses for work with anything other than small drawings.

Users are strongly advised to utilize Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista. At some point, even Windows XP may no longer be supported by Microsoft or by Manifold.

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Manifold is not supported for use in Macintosh or any other non-native PC environment using Windows emulators. It is only supported in true PC compatibles with direct access to the PC hardware not mediated by middleware such as virtual machine emulators, remote consoles, timesharing console servers, attempts to allow "floating" use of Manifold installed on one machine to be used by a variety of client machines and the like. If you want to use floating licenses, acquire a Manifold License Server license and use that.

Internet Recommended - Manifold products are delivered by download so you must have access to Internet to download the installation files, either to install them on the target computer or at least to be able to copy them to a USB drive or some other media to bring to the computer upon which they will be installed. Internet access will also be required to obtain activation keys for your serial number. This is more convenient and can be done automatically if the target computer is connected to Internet. Although Manifold does not require direct connection to Internet while operating, some features such as the use of Image Servers and Geocoding Servers will require Internet connectivity for operation.

Manifold IMS (Internet Map Server) - Manifold IMS is published for use in Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2003, or Windows XP systems that have Internet Information Server (excludes XP "home" edition, which does not have IIS and cannot function as a web server). Although IMS can work in Windows systems with non-IIS HTTP servers that are capable of instantiating and using a COM object, only IIS is supported by tech support for developer support incidents. Please note that Manifold System Personal Edition does not include IMS. Only Manifold System Professional Edition and higher editions include IMS.

64-bit Requirements

Only a 64-bit Manifold edition can run in 64-bit mode on 64-bit x64 processors running 64-bit Windows editions. Manifold x64 is not supported for Itanium or other non-x64 bit architectures. To run Manifold in 64-bit mode you must do the following:

Manifold x64 serial numbers will enable Manifold installations to run in either 64-bit or 32-bit systems. However, if you use a Manifold 64-bit serial number to activate a 32-bit Manifold installation it will run in 32-bits only.

Recommended Hardware Configurations

Some suggestions when assembling a system:

Memory Requirements for Large Projects - Manifold is designed for an era where RAM memory is cheap and personnel costs are high. Undo and many other user-friendly features require a lot of memory to implement. For best performance we recommend installing lots of RAM and having plenty of free disk space for temporary files. RAM is so cheap in modern times it is "penny wise and pound foolish" not to load up your system with the maximum amount of RAM it can hold. This will help all your work go faster and not just Manifold. As always, keep in mind that to really use lots of RAM effectively you should be running 64-bit Windows such as Windows Vista x64, Windows Server 2008 x64 or Windows XP x64.

Tips for Learning Manifold

Learning Manifold requires reasonable familiarity with computers and with Windows software applications. A typical new user feels comfortable with Microsoft Office applications like Excel, Word and Access and often knows other applications such as PhotoShop as well. Although prior familiarity with GIS is helpful, what is more important is the ability to read documentation diligently in the recommended order. Most beginners are comfortably productive in two days of attentive study.

The primary resource for learning Manifold System is the user manual. It contains thousands of pages providing general introductions as well as numerous detailed topics, and hundreds of step-by-step examples and procedures. The user manual is built into Manifold System as Help, and it is also reprinted in web form. Manifold provides a vast array of capabilities for your benefit: that's good value for your money, but it does mean that getting aquainted with all that will take at least some effort invested into reading the documentation.

To save time it is essential to not skim Help topics but to actually read them attentively and to apply them with care. Folks who try to save time by neglecting the recommended reading will encounter unnecessary frustration and will end up taking longer to learn the product. Beginners who attentively read the documentation in the recommended order will learn faster and easier than GIS experts who refuse to read any documentation or who just skim. Of course, GIS experts who do read documentation as recommended will become even more productive at advanced tasks at a faster pace than beginners, because they alreayd know what projections are and are already familiar with other common GIS concepts.

Advanced work with Manifold, such as development of custom applications or web programming, will of course also require expertise in the accessory technologies involved. This is usually straightforward for Windows people, since Manifold utilizes Microsoft standards whenever possible. This assures the accumulated wisdom of the Microsoft ecosystem as well as your existing expertise in standard Microsoft development environments like Visual Studio, or Microsoft web technologies like IIS, ASP and ASP .NET will be directly relevant to your advanced work with Manifold.

Questions?

Please contact us at sales@manifold.net. We would like you to be happy with your licensing of Manifold products, so please do not hesitate to ask any questions before placing an order.