A kml to shapefile converter

Tool: FWTools
Download link: http://fwtools.maptools.org/

At the command line prompt, use the following syntax
Syntax:
Ogr2ogr -f “ESRI Shapefile”

Example 1:
To convert sample.kml located in C:\Test and save the converted shapefile in the same folder,
C:\>Ogr2ogr -f “ESRI Shapefile” C:\Test\sample.shp C:\Test\sample.kml


Things to remember:
1. Only KML files can be converted to *.shp. If the file is in KMZ format, save as “KML” before conversion.
2. The KML file name should not contain white spaces. The best practice is to use “_” or “-“ as separators instead of a space.
3. The coordination system of the shapefiles may need to be changed because Google Earth's native coordination system is
• Geographic Coordinates (latitude/longitude) GCS_WGS_1984
• Datum: D_WGS_1984

Free GIS application

MapWindow GIS Application

http://www.mapwindow.org/download.php?show_details=1

Description:

MapWindow GIS desktop application is a free, open source, standards-based standalone software package that you can use to view and edit GIS data in many file formats.

The software includes plug-ins for various geoprocessing tasks (e.g. buffer, merge, etc.), watershed delineation, accessing online data sources, and an experimental geodatabase plug-in. The attribute table editor can be used to write simple queries, and there is a complete scripting editor that allows you to write and run scripts in VB.NET and C# directly in the MapWindow program.

Download MapWindow GIS if you need a simple map viewer, or if you want to write your own custom plug-ins to distribute to other users.

The installer includes sample data and is compatible with Windows 98 and up. Source code can be downloaded using SVN code repository.

My Comment:

I really like those plug-in tools.
For example, the coordination system converter is really convenient!
From that GIS Tools menu, select Vector => Reproject a Shapefile.