According to ESRI, ArcView 8. 1 is the most significant release in the history of ArcView. Particularly significant about this release is the notable jump from the 3x release series to the 8x series. When you dicuss ESRI products from now on, you must think of the ArcGIS family. For a good overview of the ArcGIS suite the article Unlock Worldwide Resources with ArcGIS provides a good overview.
Users are able to create and edit simple geographic features.
The core components of ArcView include ArcMap, ArcCatalog, and ArcToolbox. ArcInfo - includes all the functionality of ArcEditor and adds advanced geoprocessing capabilities. ArcView 8.1 has been designed with a completely new architecture, which will provide a significantly enhanced user experience. ArcView 8.1 maintains the base functionality of ArcView GIS 3.x, but with a host of improvements. One of the most noticeable additions to the new product suite is the ability to add data directly from the Geography Network.