A professor I worked with in grad school recently asked me to help them with some maps and data products. They shared a folder with me for a map that a student had done and said they did not know what program the student used to create the map since they didn't recognize the file types in the folder. The folder has aprx files in it, so I am assuming that the student used ArcGIS Pro and that the professor is using ArcMap rather than ArcGIS Pro.
All of my mapping has been on ArcMap rather than ArcGIS Pro too, but I figure I should learn ArcGIS Pro to have more robust mapping and analysis capabilities than I would have with ArcGIS Online. I'm not sure though whether it would be more or less accessible for them if I used ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Pro. They are planning to make the data available in a repository, so I think I'll have to make ArcGIS Pro versions of everything available since people are migrating to ArcGIS Pro; I'll have to also make everything available for ArcGIS Online and/or QGIS for people who don't have ArcGIS Pro. Several of the data products though the professor wants to use in GIS for their own further work: if they use ArcMap, would it be easier if these data products are built for ArcGIS Online or do we both just really have to migrate to ArcGIS Pro now?
I do see that ArcMap will enter "mature support" March 2024. I will certainly let them know that ArcMap is being phased out: I'm just not sure if they want to upgrade now or wait. If ArcGIS Online has been adapted to ArcGIS Pro (and if it no longer works well with ArcMap) then I think we will have to both just upgrade now-- even if I can still access ArcMap, if anything created in ArcMap will just be obsolete when it comes to making data publicly available, then I think they will want to upgrade now.
Thanks for any insights people might be able to share on whether ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Pro is easier for someone currently using ArcMap, as well as any insights people might be able to share on how compatible ArcGIS Online still is with ArcMap.
