Is GeoTIFF really platform interoperable?
The TIFF structure is the only image format which is extensible, allows private implementations and has the flexibility to support geographic information. For users, GeoTIFF files provide the possibility of a single image format compatible with all GIS vendor softwares. At present, many GIS softwares do implement the ability to read the exact same GeoTIFF specification for any compliant image file. This means that users of different softwares can now exchange and share raster files without needing to run translators, assuming they are exchanging between softwares that read GeoTIFF format. The TIFF tag structure is designed to be simple and platform independent, so any GIS software developer can make use of the tags in just a few hours of program development. TIFF files which use the proposed GeoTIFF tagset can be transported from one display environment to another, provided both system softwares support the GeoTIFF spec. For the user, this means greater ease of use of images, less hass
