How do I do that in ArcGIS and QGIS - Learn both ArcGIS and QGIS Simultaneously

According to WikiPedia, there are two major categorization of Desktop GIS software namely:-
1- Commercial or Proprietary GIS software
2- Open Source GIS software

Over the years, the leading Desktop GIS software for the two categories above are ESRI ArcGIS and QGIS.

In this blog post, I will show you how to do basic GIS operations in both ArcGIS and QGIS. If you are interested in knowing the difference between the two software, here are some interesting articles on the internet I have found:-
a) QGIS v ArcGIS
b) 27 Differences Between ArcGIS and QGIS – The Most Epic GIS Software Battle in GIS History
c) ArcGIS vs QGIS – 10 Most Important Differences Between ArcGIS and QGIS
d) How does ESRI ArcGIS (proprietary) compare with Quantum GIS (QGIS) (open source)?
e) GIS lounge - QGIS versus ArcGIS

So, this post isn't about which is the best GIS software, instead it will address common questions in the form of "How do I do that in ArcGIS and QGIS". I will go over how you can perform some of the very basic GIS tasks in both ArcGIS and QGIS, and you will decide at the end which software approach is easier and better for you.

Along the way, you will be learning both ArcGIS and QGIS software simultaneously.

Lets get started...

Downloading and Installing the Software

You can get a copy of the each of the software from their official websites: ArcGIS Desktop (www.esri.com) and for QGIS desktop (www.qgis.org).

Software Interfaces

After downloading and installing the software, the respective interfaces is as seen below:-

For ArcGIS

Note that after the installation of ArcGIS, you will have a collection of software installed like this: ArcMap, ArcGIS, ArcSDE, ArcIMS, ArcWeb services and ArcGIS Server. The one we are after is the "ArcMap" and that is how the interface looks as seen above.

For QGIS

Note that after the installation of QGIS, you will have a collection of software installed like this:
QGIS Desktop, GRASS GIS, OSGeo4W Shell, QGIS Browser, Qt Designer, SAGA GIS. The one we are after is the "QGIS Desktop" and that is how the interface looks as seen above.

Downloading and Installing the Software - Software Interfaces

Learn more by watching this video:

Creating and Saving Empty Project file

All you will do here to create and ave a new empty project file, is to click on the save button for each software and enter a name for the file. ArcGIS/ArcMap files is save with the extension .mxd while the for QGIS desktop project files is .qgs

Projection and Coordinates Reference System (CRS) - Creating and Saving Empty Project file - Loading Existing Shapefile vector data

Learn more by watching this video:

Open attributes table - Query by attributes - Save selection to new shapefile

Learn more by watching this video:

Adding Satellite basemap (background map) and Saving and publishing the map

Add and convert CSV file to shapefile

Basic and Advanced Labeling using Python Expression

Loading Existing Image raster data - Geo-referencing an Image raster data

Creating a New Shapefile vector data

Thank you for following