Microsoft Streets and Trips 2005 with GPS

I was first introduced to this great program in 2000 when I was working in Seattle, for AT&T|Broadband. I was a cable internet installer at the time, and after about a week or so driving around with a coil map book,I realized that being the geek that I am, there must be a better way. And there was MS Streets and Trips.

I tossed this new fangled map thingy on my trusty laptop. To my surprise, it worked great. I'm sure that having Bill Gates in his office just across Lake Washington helped with the accuracy of the maps in Seattle. But for whatever reason it was just what I had been looking for, and saved me about an hour every day in my hunting for homes. My only problem was that I had no way of knowing just where I was at any given time. At that time even GPS wasn't all that fantastic, with the US military only allowing us civilians to have a few meters accuracy.

Things have changed.

With the opening up of accurate GPS, and affordable receivers, Microsoft has answered my only problem with a fantastic update to a great program. For me the biggest improvement is most certainly the GPS. I had no trouble setting it up at the initial installation MSaT, a definite plus, as I've had trouble with GPS device installs in the past. The actual unit is a Pharos iGPS-350 receiver, and can be interchanged to hookup with several other device adapters such as those for PocketPC.

This brings me to my next favorite feature. The PocketPC version of MSaT'05 is included so you can export maps to your PPC, and walk around with a little handheld device rather than a full out laptop. Not everyone will find this a really useful tool, as many people don't have PPC's and the program is not PalmOS compatible, but if you are lucky enough to have yourself a PPC, and need to get around new places, or just want to use it to track addresses of contacts, and maybe your favorite restaurants/coffee shops; then this is the program for you.

The interface has changed little in 4 revisions, and this is not a bad thing in any way. All of the different panes are set up logically; with the legend and overview to the left, and the main map on the right, much like you would see on a print map. With the exception that this map dynamically updates. The toolbars are pretty standard fare for a Microsoft program, making it feel much like an MS Office program. This is good if you like the toolbars in Word, but they are pretty plain, which for me is good, as I like minimalist interfaces that don't get in the way of the function. Really the only visible difference in the interface is the addition of the GPS button, which opens the GPS pane, otherwise I'd be hard pressed to tell the difference from my 4 year old version.

The GPS tracking matches up quite well with the street maps, although on a few off-ramps it looks like I took my sebring off-road. These little things were quite few and far between. I live outside of a major center, (although I work in one), and the streets in my little town are up to date, to a few months ago at least. This is better than I expected, as with most programs I've tried, their maps are about a year old. MSaT automatically updates construction information from the internet, this is probably my biggest problem with the program. Major highway construction was going on between where I live, and where I work and not once did MSaT find out about it from the internet. It was a disruption for about 25 miles, on the TransCanada Highway, not a minor affair.

The only real problem that I have is with my favorite feature, the GPS. The usefulness of this is lessened by the fact that if you are using it as a driving aid, it gets to be a bit distracting. Especially when you turn on the GPS pane, which displays your speed, (it shows a couple kph slow). But if you are using it as a tracking device it is great, or if you just need to know where you are in relation to your preplanned route. Just remember to pull over to flip open the screen to stare at it.

Overall I like it, and for the $149.99CAD that I paid it was not too expensive, considering the cost also includes the compatible GPS receiver. I hate buying things, and not being able to find compatible accessories.

Next time, I'll be reviewing the Creative I-TRIGUE 2200 speakers.

T.