Collaborative Open Source Software Development Environment Also Launched on Foundation's Web Site

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., March 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK) today introduced the new version of MapGuide Open Source, its next generation web mapping software originally called MapServer Enterprise, and made it available on the new MapGuide Open Source site hosted by the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (http://mapguide.osgeo.org). MapGuide Open Source is free software licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL). It enables users to quickly develop and distribute spatial and design data over the web, as well as reduces their total cost of ownership for a web mapping solution. The company plans to offer a commercial version called Autodesk MapGuide Enterprise 2007 later this year. Moving forward, MapGuide Open Source will be an Open Source Geospatial Foundation project.

The new MapGuide Open Source project site provides developers with an open and collaborative software development environment featuring software downloads, a framework for code contributions and bug reporting, mailing lists and discussion forums for sharing ideas and getting support.

"The ability to access an effective community site where developers can work together and collaborate to help each other is a great thing for the developer community. By making this site available at the start of the project, the Open Source Geospatial Foundation has shown significant foresight," said Andy Morsell, P.E., of Spatial Integrators, Inc., a MapGuide developer already working with the new code.

Open Source Geospatial Foundation

In late November, Autodesk worked with key members of the open source web mapping community to establish a foundation, originally known as the MapServer Foundation, dedicated to driving innovation and expansion of new web mapping technology. Since then, the goals and membership have both grown to encompass the broader open source geospatial community.

The Open Source Geospatial Foundation, or OSGeo, held its first meeting in Chicago on February 4th and representatives of more than 17 organizations and more than 20 different geospatial projects attended in person or via Internet Relay Chat (IRC). During the meeting several geospatial project representatives expressed interest in migrating their projects to the OSGeo site (http://www.osgeo.org) and others have already joined them for a current total of eight. The group also decided on the new foundation name, selected an initial board of directors for the foundation and began to address governance, legal and budget issues. Among the initial board members is Gary Lang, vice president of engineering for Autodesk's Infrastructure Solutions Division.

MapGuide Open Source 1.0 and Autodesk MapGuide Studio

MapGuide Open Source enables developers to rapidly develop and deploy valuable spatial applications. The new version simplifies the installation process by providing the option to auto-install and configure the Apache HTTP server, the PHP scripting language, and Tomcat, the Apache servlet engine. It works with the latest PHP, .NET, and Java tools to quickly build applications for Windows or Linux server environments. Developers can also publish spatial views internally, over the web, or using Autodesk's DWF viewing technology for offline portability. Applications built using MapGuide Open Source give users a faster and more flexible way to query, analyze, and view critical spatial information.

In addition, Autodesk MapGuide Studio is the company's new proprietary authoring environment for MapGuide Open Source and MapGuide Enterprise which handles all aspects of collecting, preparing, previewing and publishing maps and geospatial data for distribution via the Internet. A new preview version of the software is available at http://www.autodesk.com/mapguidestudio and the commercial version will be available later this year.

The MapGuide Open Web Mapping Contest

Autodesk also announced today The MapGuide Open, its upcoming web mapping application contest for developers using MapGuide Open Source. It will be hosted by Directions Magazine and will formally begin in mid-March. More information on contest rules, guidelines and prizes is available at http://www.directionsmag.com/mapguideopen.

About Autodesk

Autodesk, Inc. is wholly focused on ensuring that great ideas are turned into reality. With seven million users, Autodesk is the world's leading software and services company for the manufacturing, building, infrastructure, wireless data services and media and entertainment fields. Autodesk's solutions help customers create, manage and share their data and digital assets more effectively. As a result, customers turn ideas into competitive advantage by becoming more productive, streamlining project efficiency and maximizing profits.

Founded in 1982, Autodesk is headquartered in San Rafael, California. For additional information about Autodesk, please visit http://www.autodesk.com.

NOTE: Autodesk, Autodesk MapGuide and DWF are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and/or other countries. OSGeo is a trademark of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

Contact for Autodesk: Cassie Stevenson, 415-507-6629

Email: cassie.stevenson@autodesk.com

SOURCE: Autodesk, Inc.
03/07/2006
CONTACT: Cassie Stevenson of Autodesk, +1-415-507-6629, or
cassie.stevenson@autodesk.com
Web site: http://www.autodesk.com
(ADSK)