GRASS GIS 6.4.3 released on the 30th Anniversary of GRASS 1.0 30 July 2013 http://grass.osgeo.org Thirty years to the day that GRASS GIS 1.0 was released on July 30th 1983, the GRASS Development Team is proud to announce the immediate release of GRASS GIS 6.4.3! This is the major new release for 2013 and a continuation of the long-running GRASS 6 stable series. Source code and selected installers for Linux, MS Windows, and MacOS X are available for download now at http://grass.osgeo.org/download/ Over 800 new features and bug-fixes have been applied since last year's 6.4.2, with the primary focus being on stability and efficiency. The most user-visible changes are in new wx-based GUI, which has had a major update and is now both more mature and featureful. With this new release the MS Windows version (WinGRASS) is nearing feature-parity with the UNIX and Mac versions of GRASS and is now far more stable and bug-free than in earlier releases. Backwards compatibility at the module level is maintained with all earlier GRASS 6 releases, so there is no need to modify any of your existing user-scripts or workflows. Users of 6.4.2 can install this version with full confidence. A number of new modules have been added for processing LANDSAT and MODIS satellite data, and a new vector statistics module is also introduced. Many new symbols and north arrows are available, and the user will find an improved and easier to use wizard for creating custom project locations with precise map projection and datum support. Community-contributed add-on modules are now more easily and robustly installed from an online archive. Other major developments include enhancements to the Python scripting library and numerous software-compatibility fixes and translation updates. We welcome Romanian as our twenty-fourth language! For a detailed description of the major technical changes, visit http://trac.osgeo.org/grass/wiki/Release/6.4.3-News For more information on GRASS's three decades of development, visit http://grass.osgeo.org/history/ Meanwhile, the development of GRASS 7 is now in full swing with its many new features, modules, and cross-platform enhancements coming along nicely. Stay tuned for an early feature-preview pre-release coming soon! About GRASS GIS The Geographic Resources Analysis Support System, commonly referred to as GRASS, is an Open Source Geographic Information System (GIS) and geospatial analysis toolkit. For three decades GRASS has provided powerful raster, vector, and geospatial processing engines in a single integrated software suite. GRASS includes tools for spatial modeling of raster and vector data, visualization, the management and analysis of geospatial information, and the processing of satellite and aerial imagery. It also provides the capability to produce sophisticated presentation graphics and publication-quality hardcopy maps. GRASS has now been translated into twenty-four languages and supports an extensive array of data formats. It is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). GRASS differs from many other GIS software packages used in the academic and professional worlds in that it is developed and distributed by users for users, mostly on a volunteer basis. Its extensive collection of code and spatial processing algorithms are open and transparent, and the software is distributed free of charge. The source code is also freely available, allowing for immediate customization, examination of the underlying algorithms, the addition of new features, and faster identification and patching of bugs. -- The GRASS Development Team http://grass.osgeo.org