incorporating many of the CGIS features, combining the first-generation approach to separation of spatial and attribute information with a second-generation approach to organizing attribute data into database structures.

In 1986, Mapping Display and Analysis System (MIDAS), the first desktop GIS product, was released for MS-DOS. It was renamed in 1990 to MapInfo for Windows when it was ported to Windows. This began the process of moving GIS from the research department