Comparing the Advantages and Disadvantages of Web and Desktop GIS. Geographic information systems are a tool for visualizing, querying, analyzing, interpreting and understanding data to identify relationships and trends. This study was designed to identify the advantages and disadvantages of Web-GIS compared to Desktop GIS. This was important in order to determine future trends in GIS. After comparison, Web-GIS was found to have more advantages than desktop GIS and future directions were identified. Geographic information system (GIS) is a tool containing information about a certain geographical area where this information can be analyzed for different purposes (Khan and Adnan, 2010). GIS software allows users to visualize spatial data in different formats, which then allows the data to be interpreted simply and in an understandable manner (Alesheikh et al, 2002). There are four types of GIS, namely desktop GIS (creation, analysis, editing and visualization), server GIS (management, creation, sharing, distribution and review), mobile GIS (collection and navigation) and web GIS. line/web which is directly related. to the GIS server (Schuble, 1990). GIS has the ability to convert diverse and complex amounts of data into simpler, easier to read and access maps and information. With the rapid expansion and development of the Internet and the World Wide Web, Web-GIS (Web Geographic Information System) has become more popular (Kou-gen et al, 2000). Using Internet GIS applications, users can view, analyze and download spatial information from anywhere and at any time. Web-GIS emphasizes the analysis and processing of project-specific geospatial data (Schuble, 1990). This Internet based GIS emerged and developed...... middle of paper ...... its advantage of desktop GIS over Web-GIS means user can add/overlay data additional over others and user can use it anywhere without internet connection required. In the future, Web-GIS will likely be used more as much recent attention has focused on the development of GIS functionality on the Internet, the World Wide Web, and private intranets. Looking at the current benefits (benefits) of Web-GIS over desktop GIS, it is likely that future generations will rely solely on Web-GIS for applications as they are currently moving in that direction, such as reducing costs and flexibility. Many GIS databases are now distributed over a local or wide area network, which allows easy use of Web-GIS and is therefore likely to evolve in this direction in the coming years. Remote sensing will become an important source of GIS data as data costs decline and new types of data emerge..