MapR, one of the leading early big data tool developers, hopes to have stolen a march on its competitors this week with the release of its latest software instalment, promising increased connectivity and simple to use features.

MapR Technologies – a fast growing tech startup based in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley in the city of San Jose – develops and manages big data tools based on the open source Apache Hadoop framework.

Big data refers to the tools and processes used for working with massive or complex data sets and it is growing industry, with the introduction of new ways to capture data and new areas to source it from.

MapR is privately owned but has a licensing agreement in place to distribute EMC specific Hadoop tools.

The key new development in the release of version 1.2 of its flagship software this week is that it can be operated on Windows and Mac systems (previously the software could only run on Linux) and also has the functionality to support Google’s MapReduce big data framework.

A complete MapR Version 1.2 cluster is available as a free virtual machine, supplied by VMware, to allow users to familiarise themselves with the software. The programme can be fired up quickly and easily on any device, including laptops and tablets, to allow users to train and experiment.

Jack Norris, vice president of marketing at MapR Technologies, said: “MapR Distribution Version 1.2 vastly expands the selection of developed and deployed applications. These applications will also benefit from MapR’s continued innovations providing high availability, dependability and increased performance.”

In August this year, MapR announced that it had secured $20m of venture capitalist funding. This put it on the map as one of the front running big data companies out of a plethora that have sprung up in Silicon Valley looking to make their mark in this arena.