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Microsoft Streets and Trips is a mapping software product. It contains street-level map data for USA, Canada, and Mexico. The European version is marketed as Microsoft AutoRoute.
The basic features of Streets & Trips include address search, route creation, multiple-stop route optimization, GPS navigation, import and export of data, and it includes numerous map annotation tools letting users add text and draw on the map.
Streets and Trips software offers many more features than the various free online maps do. All the map data is installed on the computer’s hard drive, so the use of the program is not dependent on the Internet connection.
Microsoft targets Streets & Trips at the consumer market, yet it is being used widely by professionals and companies. A more expensive version of the software, which can be controlled programmatically, is targeted specifically at the professional market, and is called Microsoft MapPoint. MapPoint also comes in separate versions for North America and Europe.
Streets & Trips 2012 release date?
For the benefit of those inquiring when Streets and Trips 2012 becomes available, the following are approximate release dates of a few previous versions:
Version 2005 – August 31, 2004
Version 2006 – October 6, 2005
Version 2007 – October 11, 2006
Version 2008 – August 20, 2007
Version 2009 – August 23, 2008
Version 2010 – August 31, 2009
Version 2011 – February 11, 2011
Version 2012 - ???
In earlier years, new versions had their release dates set for the end of summer / beginning of fall, but the current version released months later, in the February, making it more difficult to predict the Streets and Trips 2012 release date.
UPDATE: The following was posted here by Microsoft on January 13, 2012:
New in the current Street & Trips 2011 version:
Updated street-level maps for the United States, Canada, Mexico, US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico – Version 2011 includes approximately a year and a half fresher map data than the previous version, 6,538,642 miles of navigable roads (up 88K miles from last release), 1.9 million points of interest.
Get notified of new products and services - This is Microsoft's 3rd iteration of this feature. In 2009 there was a simple implementation that popped up a small dialog box letting the user know that a new version is available. In 2010, it was expanded so the text in the message could be changed and messages could be displayed to any version of the product including the multilingual versions of MapPoint and AutoRoute. Now in 2011, Microsoft has the ability to show the user an image on launch. It can alert users to a new version or a special promotion or to a cool new tip on laptopgpsworld.com LOL.
Send map feedback - Send missing data/road information directly to NAVTEQ, the map data provider, rather than via Microsoft. On the menu bar, click Help, then select Send map feedback. On a couple of occasions in the past, I sent map data corrections to Navteq, and I was delighted to find out they had a system in place that would actually let the user know the result of their investigation.
Simplified setup/installation - The installer no longer prompts the user to set Bing as the homepage for the web browser, and there are no more Bing Toolbar options, etc.
Some improvement in the driving instructions over previous releases - One of the subtle improvements is the richer "towards" signpost data.
This shows up in the Itinerary and is also displayed in the bottom Navigation pane in square brackets [].
Here is a quick side by side screenshot of version 2011 vs 2010 for the same route:
You can see on the LEFT (Streets and Trips 2011) there is directionality or cardinal directions associated with the Highways. For example "I-15 N" versus as it was in 2010 "I-15". It doesn't seem like a big deal but when you are traveling in unfamiliar territory and taking on-ramps and exchanges between highways - direction DOES make a difference.
Many additional alternate names have been added to S&T 2011. In the screenshot above, see an example where I-90's alternate name is also given ("Mountains To Sound Greenway").
History
Driving Time, Next Stop, and Distance to End, are now all displayed in the bottom right corner of the Navigation pane.
Save upon close feature has been added. When enabled, Streets and Trips automatically saves custom map settings, and reuses them when the map reopens.
Import/Export .GPX files ability has been implemented to allow users to export waypoints (pushpin data), route points and GPS trail (tracks) into a GPX file.
Export to a GPS navigation device / Export to mobile phone - A trip planned in Microsoft Streets and Trips 2010, and later versions, can be exported to a GPS navigation device either via a USB connection or wirelessly via MSN Direct.
Show/Hide pushpin set, Show/Hide pushpin information - Version 2010 adds the ability for users to easily hide/show individual pushpin sets. When pushpin sets are shown, users can toggle show/hide all pushpin information balloons.
Delete visible pushpins inside or outside of a selected area is yet another pushpin management feature added to the trip planning software in the 2010 version of Streets and Trips.
The 10,000 addresses import limit has been removed. Earlier versions of Microsoft Streets & Trips, Microsoft AutoRoute, and Microsoft MapPoint, allowed up to 10,000 addresses to be imported at one time. This hard coded limit has been removed in the 2010 versions of the mapping software.
Rename Route Stops is one of those new features added in v. 2010 that is comparatively minor, but really adds a lot of usability to route planning. Right-click an item in the Route Planner, and select "Rename".
Pause Windows Media Player during spoken navigation instructions. Configure the software to turn off your music while voice instructions are spoken.
Please, read our Streets and Trips 2010 review for more details.
Free trial version – Starting with the 2009 version of Streets & Trips, Microsoft introduces free 60 days trial. Try before you buy.
Mexico – Version 2009 adds street level map coverage to most of Mexico.
Voice direction prompts that include street names - Previous versions of the navigation program would simply say: "Turn right", the new 2009 (and later versions) will say: "Turn right on Main Street".
"Pan" and "Select" tools
Automatic re-routing can now be user enabled/disabled
Automatically start GPS when application starts – users can enable/disable this feature starting in 2009 version.
Temporarily disable Windows screen saver while GPS is running – users can enable/disable this feature
Location Sensor - The location sensor has been moved to the status bar. Latitude and longitude are always visible in the new 2009. Users no longer need to enable Location Sensor.
Please, read our Streets and Trips 2009 review for more details.
Perspective Map View – Version 2008 adds “Perspective map view”, a feature which users of other products call simply 3D-view, and in later version of Streets & Trips the feature will be named “Navigation view”.
Automatic re-routing is introduced in v. 2008.
Connected Services – Microsoft Streets and Trips with Connected Services edition adds the ability to visually display traffic flow by color coding road segments green (normal), yellow (moderate) and read (heavy). It shows traffic incident locations, and it lets users to search for current fuel prices of nearby fuel stations. However, the Connected Services edition was later discontinued.
Activation – V. 2008 adds software activation.
Full-screen navigation mode – The 2007, and later versions, can be optionally switched to full screen mode while navigating.
Estimated Drive Time feature - Driving Guidance Pane now shows remaining time to destination (in addition to distance to turn).
Integration with Windows Live Search – In addition to search for POIs (Points of Interest), ST2007 and later, can search much greater POI database online, if users are connected to the Internet.
Voice-Prompted Directions – ST2006 is the first version that adds voice direction prompts.
Driving Guidance Pane is a new feature in S&T 2006 and it includes text-prompted turn-by-turn directions, enlarged arrows indicating where to turn, and distance measurement as drivers get closer to their destination.
Dynamic Turn View, also known as auto-zoom, added in version 2006.
Night Map Style – useful while navigating at night.
Keep Position Centered. This is a feature that didn’t work well in previous versions. Even though Streets & Trips still cannot show your GPS position in one constant place on the screen without moving, it now at least does a better job at it then before. The icon no longer travels all the way to the edge of the map before the map refreshes, but instead it appears there is some "invisible" border close to the centre of the map and when the icon reaches it the map refreshes and icon goes back to the centre. Not a perfect solution but a great improvement.
Rotate Map to Follow Travel Direction - When this feature is enabled, north is not constantly the top of your map, but instead your heading will be the top.
Recalculate Route from Current Location. A click of a button recalculates the route from the current GPS location.
Create GPS Trail feature added in v. 2005
Configure GPS - Starting in the version 2005, users can easily configure the connection between the GPS receiver and the Software by clicking the new “Scan” button. The feature automatically checks which communication port is the GPS receiver connected to.
GPS Pane, introduced in v. 2005, houses all GPS features: Track Position, Keep Position Centered, Rotate Map to Follow Travel Direction, Recalculate Route from Current Location and Configure GPS. It also displays your traveling speed, compass, altitude, latitude and longitude coordinates, and the time of day
The basic features of Streets & Trips include address search, route creation, multiple-stop route optimization, GPS navigation, import and export of data, and it includes numerous map annotation tools letting users add text and draw on the map.
Streets and Trips software offers many more features than the various free online maps do. All the map data is installed on the computer’s hard drive, so the use of the program is not dependent on the Internet connection.
Microsoft targets Streets & Trips at the consumer market, yet it is being used widely by professionals and companies. A more expensive version of the software, which can be controlled programmatically, is targeted specifically at the professional market, and is called Microsoft MapPoint. MapPoint also comes in separate versions for North America and Europe.
Streets & Trips 2012 release date?
For the benefit of those inquiring when Streets and Trips 2012 becomes available, the following are approximate release dates of a few previous versions:
Version 2005 – August 31, 2004
Version 2006 – October 6, 2005
Version 2007 – October 11, 2006
Version 2008 – August 20, 2007
Version 2009 – August 23, 2008
Version 2010 – August 31, 2009
Version 2011 – February 11, 2011
Version 2012 - ???
In earlier years, new versions had their release dates set for the end of summer / beginning of fall, but the current version released months later, in the February, making it more difficult to predict the Streets and Trips 2012 release date.
UPDATE: The following was posted here by Microsoft on January 13, 2012:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry
The team is working on the next version we don't have anything ready to demo yet.
Updated street-level maps for the United States, Canada, Mexico, US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico – Version 2011 includes approximately a year and a half fresher map data than the previous version, 6,538,642 miles of navigable roads (up 88K miles from last release), 1.9 million points of interest.
Get notified of new products and services - This is Microsoft's 3rd iteration of this feature. In 2009 there was a simple implementation that popped up a small dialog box letting the user know that a new version is available. In 2010, it was expanded so the text in the message could be changed and messages could be displayed to any version of the product including the multilingual versions of MapPoint and AutoRoute. Now in 2011, Microsoft has the ability to show the user an image on launch. It can alert users to a new version or a special promotion or to a cool new tip on laptopgpsworld.com LOL.
Send map feedback - Send missing data/road information directly to NAVTEQ, the map data provider, rather than via Microsoft. On the menu bar, click Help, then select Send map feedback. On a couple of occasions in the past, I sent map data corrections to Navteq, and I was delighted to find out they had a system in place that would actually let the user know the result of their investigation.
Simplified setup/installation - The installer no longer prompts the user to set Bing as the homepage for the web browser, and there are no more Bing Toolbar options, etc.
Some improvement in the driving instructions over previous releases - One of the subtle improvements is the richer "towards" signpost data.
This shows up in the Itinerary and is also displayed in the bottom Navigation pane in square brackets [].
Here is a quick side by side screenshot of version 2011 vs 2010 for the same route:
You can see on the LEFT (Streets and Trips 2011) there is directionality or cardinal directions associated with the Highways. For example "I-15 N" versus as it was in 2010 "I-15". It doesn't seem like a big deal but when you are traveling in unfamiliar territory and taking on-ramps and exchanges between highways - direction DOES make a difference.
Many additional alternate names have been added to S&T 2011. In the screenshot above, see an example where I-90's alternate name is also given ("Mountains To Sound Greenway").
History
Driving Time, Next Stop, and Distance to End, are now all displayed in the bottom right corner of the Navigation pane.
Save upon close feature has been added. When enabled, Streets and Trips automatically saves custom map settings, and reuses them when the map reopens.
Import/Export .GPX files ability has been implemented to allow users to export waypoints (pushpin data), route points and GPS trail (tracks) into a GPX file.
Export to a GPS navigation device / Export to mobile phone - A trip planned in Microsoft Streets and Trips 2010, and later versions, can be exported to a GPS navigation device either via a USB connection or wirelessly via MSN Direct.
Show/Hide pushpin set, Show/Hide pushpin information - Version 2010 adds the ability for users to easily hide/show individual pushpin sets. When pushpin sets are shown, users can toggle show/hide all pushpin information balloons.
Delete visible pushpins inside or outside of a selected area is yet another pushpin management feature added to the trip planning software in the 2010 version of Streets and Trips.
The 10,000 addresses import limit has been removed. Earlier versions of Microsoft Streets & Trips, Microsoft AutoRoute, and Microsoft MapPoint, allowed up to 10,000 addresses to be imported at one time. This hard coded limit has been removed in the 2010 versions of the mapping software.
Rename Route Stops is one of those new features added in v. 2010 that is comparatively minor, but really adds a lot of usability to route planning. Right-click an item in the Route Planner, and select "Rename".
Pause Windows Media Player during spoken navigation instructions. Configure the software to turn off your music while voice instructions are spoken.
Please, read our Streets and Trips 2010 review for more details.
Free trial version – Starting with the 2009 version of Streets & Trips, Microsoft introduces free 60 days trial. Try before you buy.
Mexico – Version 2009 adds street level map coverage to most of Mexico.
Voice direction prompts that include street names - Previous versions of the navigation program would simply say: "Turn right", the new 2009 (and later versions) will say: "Turn right on Main Street".
"Pan" and "Select" tools
Quote:
Originally Posted by taoyue
The single greatest improvement in usability is the integrated pan/select cursor. Left-drag to pan, right-drag to select. You no longer need to keep switching back-and-forth between the two tools when moving around the map. Saves a huge amount of clicks and mouse travel in normal usage. Nitpick: discoverability of feature.
Automatically start GPS when application starts – users can enable/disable this feature starting in 2009 version.
Temporarily disable Windows screen saver while GPS is running – users can enable/disable this feature
Location Sensor - The location sensor has been moved to the status bar. Latitude and longitude are always visible in the new 2009. Users no longer need to enable Location Sensor.
Please, read our Streets and Trips 2009 review for more details.
Perspective Map View – Version 2008 adds “Perspective map view”, a feature which users of other products call simply 3D-view, and in later version of Streets & Trips the feature will be named “Navigation view”.
Automatic re-routing is introduced in v. 2008.
Connected Services – Microsoft Streets and Trips with Connected Services edition adds the ability to visually display traffic flow by color coding road segments green (normal), yellow (moderate) and read (heavy). It shows traffic incident locations, and it lets users to search for current fuel prices of nearby fuel stations. However, the Connected Services edition was later discontinued.
Activation – V. 2008 adds software activation.
Full-screen navigation mode – The 2007, and later versions, can be optionally switched to full screen mode while navigating.
Estimated Drive Time feature - Driving Guidance Pane now shows remaining time to destination (in addition to distance to turn).
Integration with Windows Live Search – In addition to search for POIs (Points of Interest), ST2007 and later, can search much greater POI database online, if users are connected to the Internet.
Voice-Prompted Directions – ST2006 is the first version that adds voice direction prompts.
Driving Guidance Pane is a new feature in S&T 2006 and it includes text-prompted turn-by-turn directions, enlarged arrows indicating where to turn, and distance measurement as drivers get closer to their destination.
Dynamic Turn View, also known as auto-zoom, added in version 2006.
Night Map Style – useful while navigating at night.
Keep Position Centered. This is a feature that didn’t work well in previous versions. Even though Streets & Trips still cannot show your GPS position in one constant place on the screen without moving, it now at least does a better job at it then before. The icon no longer travels all the way to the edge of the map before the map refreshes, but instead it appears there is some "invisible" border close to the centre of the map and when the icon reaches it the map refreshes and icon goes back to the centre. Not a perfect solution but a great improvement.
Rotate Map to Follow Travel Direction - When this feature is enabled, north is not constantly the top of your map, but instead your heading will be the top.
Recalculate Route from Current Location. A click of a button recalculates the route from the current GPS location.
Create GPS Trail feature added in v. 2005
Configure GPS - Starting in the version 2005, users can easily configure the connection between the GPS receiver and the Software by clicking the new “Scan” button. The feature automatically checks which communication port is the GPS receiver connected to.
GPS Pane, introduced in v. 2005, houses all GPS features: Track Position, Keep Position Centered, Rotate Map to Follow Travel Direction, Recalculate Route from Current Location and Configure GPS. It also displays your traveling speed, compass, altitude, latitude and longitude coordinates, and the time of day
Even though I'm happy with CoPilot, I was hoping the S&T 2011 would update the program for better use with touchscreens & tablets.
Thanks for this review, Marvin. Subtle enhancements, indeed. Mind you, I will not miss "Find coupons" or "Send to GPS device" and the improved directions will be welcome.
Don't take my word for this, because I've never used the "Send to Mobile device" "Send to GPS device" feature, but if I'm correct it was working in conjunction with MSN Direct service, and a couple of years back I heard MSN Direct was to discontinue, so this was to be expected. The GPX Import/Export functionality, that was added in Streets and Trips 2010, is the way to move stuff around.
I'm still downloading but have a question:
When the GPS is active and a route is planned, can you delete or rearrange stops in 2011? I know that in 2009 (my current version) you technically can, but you have to be REALLY fast to do it.
When the GPS is active and a route is planned, can you delete or rearrange stops in 2011? I know that in 2009 (my current version) you technically can, but you have to be REALLY fast to do it.
I think that "Send to Mobile Phone" is available in 2011. It's Send to GPS that's been taken out.
@Malaki86 - I just tested it for you. This behavior has not changed. When a route is plotted, and GPS Tracking has been enabled, and when you then highlight a Stop, End, or Start in the Route Planner, within a second or less, the Stop will lose focus, and you will no longer be able to move the Stop up or down on the list of Stops. So either you must be very quick, and manage to accomplish it in less then a second, or you have to turn off GPS Tracking while you reshuffle the Stops in the Route Planner.
@t923347 - Yes, thanks for correcting us. It's the "Send to GPS device" feature that we've been talking about. I edited the two posts above to prevent confusion.
@t923347 - Yes, thanks for correcting us. It's the "Send to GPS device" feature that we've been talking about. I edited the two posts above to prevent confusion.
Hummm. for all the things people wrote about and asked for in great abundance, I for one am really disappointed in 2011. New maps are not an enhancement to updated software, but IMO are just a standard must. Coupons button gone??? OK so you got rid of something that was a waste of time anyways. Improvements in driving instructions? You mean you fixed something that was not working properly. MS had a great chance here to put in some really useful enhancements and kick ass in the GPS race. They missed the boat on this one. This is nothing more then a 2010 version update and fix.
To be honest, if the software didn't say 2011 in it, I'd swear I was using the 2009 version.
I wish Microsoft would update their layout in the Navigation view mode, or at least add a "Laptop" mode.
I am a Professional driver that has been using Streets & Trips all day, every day for about 6 years now.
I know this mode was originally designed for PDA type devices, but everyone that I know uses it on a Laptop instead. Newer "widescreen" laptops are much wider than they are tall, unlike PDA's which were taller than wide. How about a PC and a Tablet mode.
I am a Professional driver that has been using Streets & Trips all day, every day for about 6 years now.
I know this mode was originally designed for PDA type devices, but everyone that I know uses it on a Laptop instead. Newer "widescreen" laptops are much wider than they are tall, unlike PDA's which were taller than wide. How about a PC and a Tablet mode.
- Please put the turn directions to the left or right, because with the directions shown at the bottom of the screen it blocks a large part of the usable map area.
- Please add an Avoid Toll Road button that can be turned on or off at will in route planning, without having to dive into the menus or manually route around.
- Please get rid of the large zoom rate on zooming in or out. The way it is now, a few clicks and you are looking at the "Earth" from outer space. The smaller zoom rate should be the default as it is all that I have ever needed. Press and hold (+,-) and it will still zoom faster than your eyes can adjust to. [I did have "registry entry" for an older version of S&T's that did just that, but it doesn't work on the newer versions.]
I must say that MS missed the boat on Streets and Maps 2011, not much difference from 2010...
@AJMJ
Actually, S&T 2007 and S&T 2010 worked rather well on both a tablet and a UMPC and I would expect the same for S&T 2011. I agree with your point about the excessive screen real estate dedicated to the Navigation pane when operated in landscape orientation, but that can be reduced somewhat by changing the screen orientation to portrait, if you are using a tablet or UMPC (but not a laptop with fixed conventional landscape orientation).
As for your Streets & Trips 2012 wishlist, there is a long unfulfilled wishlist from users of prior versions elsewhere on this Forum which, at the current clean-up rate, will require a few more decades.
Actually, S&T 2007 and S&T 2010 worked rather well on both a tablet and a UMPC and I would expect the same for S&T 2011. I agree with your point about the excessive screen real estate dedicated to the Navigation pane when operated in landscape orientation, but that can be reduced somewhat by changing the screen orientation to portrait, if you are using a tablet or UMPC (but not a laptop with fixed conventional landscape orientation).
As for your Streets & Trips 2012 wishlist, there is a long unfulfilled wishlist from users of prior versions elsewhere on this Forum which, at the current clean-up rate, will require a few more decades.
I won't even bother posting any more suggestions for Streets & Trips. It's pretty apparent that they don't pay one iota of attention to them.
The REALLY sad part is that it took them this long to get it released. Why would they need an additional 6 months to release a product that has 3 or 4 minor changes to it.
-1 Microsoft
The REALLY sad part is that it took them this long to get it released. Why would they need an additional 6 months to release a product that has 3 or 4 minor changes to it.
-1 Microsoft
Has the GPX import been changed so that time is also imported, and thus speed can be computed, or is it still only the lat-long that is imported?
Here's the route section of my current trip. I have a departure time set for each stop:
Code:
<rte>
<rtept lat="34.3469345010817" lon="-83.3192814420909">
<name>Flying J - Patriot Farms #877 (Carnesville) (Patriot Truck Care Patriot Farms Restaurant)</name>
<time>Invalid DateTime-05:00</time>
</rtept>
<rtept lat="32.3452105466276" lon="-88.7276048865169">
<name>Pilot #388 (Meridian) (Subway)</name>
<time>Invalid DateTime-05:00</time>
</rtept>
<rtept lat="32.5803587213159" lon="-93.2480009738356">
<name>Truckers Paradise - I-20 Exit 49 - Minden; LA - (L) Dubberly LA 71024</name>
<time>Invalid DateTime-05:00</time>
</rtept>
<rtept lat="32.9296015296131" lon="-97.0199092011899">
<name>8920 N Royal Ln, Irving, TX 75063</name>
<time>Invalid DateTime-05:00</time>
</rtept>
</rte>