Prerelease for ArcGIS 10.6 or ArcGIS 10.5 Enterprise?

[AlexP_]

Prerelease for ArcGIS 10.6 or ArcGIS 10.5 Enterprise? What is the different? Which do you recommend? I am looking into purchase product related gov. I am not clear about pre release but it sounds risky. Please advise. Thank you.

[DanPatterson_Retired]

any documents for pre-release versions?

EDIT

Blog post on the prerelease.... but no details

[AlexP_]

Thank you, Dan.

[JayantaPoddar · Accepted solution]

I would recommend to go for ArcGIS 10.5 now. You will be eligible for 10.6 (final release) as well. We can expect the final release by end of Dec. 2017.( dlaw-esristaff: Please correct me if I am wrong.)

Don't go for pre-release (unless you want to test it), as you won't be able to upgrade it. 

Also the pre-release won't have all the features that would come along final release of 10.6.

Also the documentation of ArcGIS 10.6 will be released when the final release comes out.

The 10.6 prerelease is primarily an early preview of the upcoming release. It is not intended as a ‘release candidate’. ArcGIS Enterprise 10.6 prerelease is not feature complete. Several additional new features and many quality enhancements will be in the final release.

[AlexP_]

Thank you for your reply, Jayanta.

[DerekLaw]

FYI, ArcGIS 10.6 is scheduled for release by the end of this year - but this date is NOT final and may change.

Hope this helps,

[DanPatterson_Retired]

Derek... is there any information on what is there (so far, I know it isn't done)?  Is it just bug fixes?

Just announcing a release date isn't very exciting if there is nothing to get excited about . 

It is like saying 'more of the same...just a new number'

[DerekLaw]

Hi Dan,

If you download and install the 10.6 software, the included help documentation should have a "What's new" topic. I do know that there are some enhancements for ArcGIS Enterprise, not sure about ArcGIS Desktop.

Hope this helps,

[DanPatterson_Retired]

Yes, I was hoping they had a sneak peak at the what's new before one downloaded and installed it, just in case what's new might suggest a 'just wait'

[Anonymous User]

Dan Patterson‌ They have posted it here http://gisupdates.esri.com/ArcGIS/106pr/ArcGIS_106_ArcMap_Whats_New.pdf  

My favorite new item is they added D-infinity to the hydro tools.  Thomas Colson‌ (Tom not sure if you received my PM a few years ago but I worked off of your NC research, applying this and more physiographic variables through logistic regression. Interestingly, accuracy in the slate belt was not increased that much, albeit but a bit.)

Excerpt:

Hydrology toolset

• A new tool Flow Distance is now available for calculating the minimum downslope distance for each cell to the stream into which they flow.

• The Flow Accumulation tool now supports a new output data type of Double, to provide more accurate accumulation values.

• The Flow Direction tool now supports two new algorithms for determining the direction of flow. A new parameter, Flow direction type, allows you choose between the original algorithm (D8), multiple flow direction (MFD), and D-Infinity (DINF).

• The following tools now support parallel processing for enhanced performance: Basin, Fill, Flow Accumulation, Flow Direction, Sink, Stream Link, and Watershed