Review: Microsoft AutoRoute

AutoRoute 2010

Microsoft AutoRoute 2010 has been released, or should we say "resurrected", since MSFT has skipped two version years, AutoRoute 2008 and AutoRoute 2009, leaving us believing the excellent trip-planning & GPS navigation software program was discontinued.


Let's look at some of the new features of version 2010 that were not present in the last version of AutoRoute 2007.

What's new in AutoRoute 2010

Improved map coverage


The new Microsoft AutoRoute 2010 comes with street-level map data of 43 European countries versus the previous version of AutoRoute 2007 which contained detailed map coverage of only 36 countries.

Detail road map data is included for the following European countries: Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Gibraltar, Germany, Greece, Guernsey, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Jersey, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Isle of Man, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and Vatican City.

However, I only see the following countries listed on the drop down menu of the find dialog box: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom. So despite the fact that many more countries do have excellent street-level maps, still only the above 16 listed countries have the address find feature implemented. My wish for AutoRoute 2011, or AutoRoute 2012, would be to add address search capability for all countries that have street-level map data.

The limitation of the address find feature would not prevent me from using Microsoft AutoRoute while vacation in any of the other countries. Users can set destination by searching POIs (points of interest), or simply by selecting the destination(s) by clicking on the particular spot(s) on the map.

In total, the new 2010 version contains 8.3 million kilometers or 5.1 million miles of routable roads. Version 2007 had 6.3 million km / 3.9 million miles.

Microsoft AutoRoute 2010 is for Europe. For USA/Canada/Mexico use Microsoft Streets and Trips 2010.

Navigation view


This feature is also known as "perspective view" or "3D" view. Many drivers may find it more suitable than the old style "2D" view. This feature is optional. Turn it on if you like it, Don't use it if you don't. I personally do like it.

Automatic route recalculation

AutoRoute 2010 will reroute automatically if you miss your turn. This feature can be enabled/disabled by users.

Voice direction prompts include street names

Earlier versions of AutoRoute said: "Turn left in 300 meters". The new Microsoft AutoRoute 2010 will say: "Turn left in 300 meters on Main street". Even this feature can be turned off by users who prefer to hear the shorter version, or those who have lower tolerance for mispronunciation of the text-to-speech engine .

On the following screen shot you can see where some of these new features can be enabled/disabled:


"Pan" and "Select" tools

S&T Team wrote an article about this feature: Where did the "Pan" and "Select" tools go on the Toolbar in S&T 2009?

The article applies to the European version of Microsoft AutoRoute as it does to the north American product of Microsoft Streets & Trips.

Driving Time, Next Stop, Distance To End


The new 2010 version of AutoRoute now shows remaining driving time to destination, distance to next stop, and distance to end destination, all in the bottom right corner of the Navigation pane.

Save custom map settings and reuse them when the map reopens




AutoRoute 2010 now gives users an easer way to save some of the application's default settings. You can save such items as your desired default map view, which pane is shown when the program starts, etc.

Import/Export .GPX files


Microsoft AutoRoute 2010 is capable if exporting .GPX files that can be used in other GPS applications and even in personal navigation devices. AutoRoute can also import .GPX files.


Send to mobile phone


You may send location information, such as POI info, from Microsoft AutoRoute 2010 to a mobile phone.

POIs (Points of Interest)




The "Find nearby places" feature in AutoRoute 2010 has been expanded slightly by the addition of 6 categories: Border crossings, Civic and Community Centers, Entertainment, Ferry Terminals, Pharmacies, and Post Offices.

Previous AutoRoute version had all restaurants in one category. AutoRoute 2010 has separate categories by cuisine: Asian, BBQ, Chinese, Delis, French, Greek, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Mexican, Other, Pizza, Seafood, Steak, and Thai.

In total, the new 2010 version of AutoRoute contains 1,452,348 POIs. The previous 2007 version had 747,318 points of interest.

In addition to searching the built-in database of POIs, AutoRoute 2010 can search a much larger database if/when connected to the Internet. Searches then can be performed even outside the categories of the "Find nearby places".

Show/Hide pushpin set, Show/Hide pushpin information


Microsoft AutoRoute 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. This feature has been requested by users, and thanks to Microsoft for implementing it.

In earlier version it might have not been very practical to keep too many pushpins in one Autoroute file, but it may start being quite practical now. Tom Bernardi has observed that the new export and hide/show functions are connected:Delete visible pushpins inside or outside of a selected area


This is another new AutoRoute 2010 feature which will help users manage their pushpins.


The 10,000 addresses import limit has been removed

Earlier versions of MS Streets & Trips, MS AutoRoute, and MS MapPoint, allowed up to 10,000 addresses to be imported at one time. This hard coded limit has been removed in the new 2010 versions of the software.


Back/Forward
Earlier versions of AutoRoute had Back/Forward buttons. Those buttons have been removed , but the functionality is still present, and it can be accessed either by going to the View menu, as shown on the above picture, or by using keyboard shortcuts Alt+ LeftArrow and Alt+RightArrow.


Rename Route Stops

Pause Windows Media Player during spoken navigation instructions.

Configure AutoRoute to turn off your music while voice instructions are spoken. This is an excellent feature, and I wish all other GPS navigation software products would have it. Actually, at the moment I cannot think of any that does!

Perhaps a future enhancement of this functionality could include the muting of all sound sources, not just be limited to controlling Windows Media Player.


Improved discoverability of "Click 'n' Drag Routing" feature


Microsoft AutoRoute 2010 with GPS Locator



If you have a USB (or Bluetooth) GPSreceiver that has worked well with an earlier version of Microsoft AutoRoute, then save yourself money, and buy only the software program. However, if you do need a GPS receiver for your laptop, it may be convenient to buy the Microsoft bundle that included the "GPS Locator". This year the included unit is the one depicted on the above photo. It is Navation GPS 168, and it is based on uBlox 5 chip. it works well, but do use the included USB GPS extension cable. Otherwise, if the unit is pluged directly into ypour laptop computer, there may be RF interference preventing the GPS stick from working satisfactorily.

Related information

AR Team blog - Blog by the developer of Microsoft AutoRoute
Forum - Share experiences with other AutoRoute users
Tips & Tricks - A collection of tips and tricks by many users and from many sources

Download trial version

Buy

• Buy Microsoft AutoRoute 2010 - Buy this one if you already have a compatible laptop GPS receiver, or if you use AutoRoute for trip-planning only (without GPS receiver).
  

• Buy Microsoft AutoRoute 2010 with GPS Locator - This package includes a USB GPS receiver.

Questions? Comments?

Thanks for your insightful review. I am going to London tomorrow and I'll give it a try on the ground. I am glad that it looks and feels so similar to Microsoft Streets and Trips 2010.

Early impressions.

First, to repeat, the interface is the same as S&T 2010 which is overall a very good thing.

I immediately appreciate the fact that the London Congestion Charge zone is coloured differently (and identified as such in the Legend) on the four (I think) lowest zoom levels. It is important to know that because it costs 8GBP (+/- $13) per day to operate a vehicle within that zone weekdays. And if you neglect to pay it, it ramps up to a 45GBP fine or something ludicrous. The zone is to be avoided but it is not exactly intuitive or always well-marked; so thanks for highlghting MSFT. An unfamiliar driver can easily recoup the cost of the app with a few 'saves' in this department. Obviously, one could take things a step further by marking his or her route with the "Avoid Area" function to overlap with the zone parameters.

I can see also many more POIs (and they seem accurate) in the vicinity of my flat here than was the case for 2007.

One small demerit, however. Tom-Tom seems to be the dominant in-car nav vendor here. I looked at one site (Shell Oil UK) in the hope of downloading their station POIs. While they have such a thing, it is only formatted in Tom-Tom-friendly code. So, the Data Import Wizard cannot cope with it. The built-in POIs of AR 2010 for petrol stations seem pretty good, at least for the Shell stations I know. Therefore, I would like the Data Wizard enhanced to be able to cope with "ov2" formatted data bases.

All for now...

If you have access to an internet connection you can use the GPS Babel Online form to convert TomTom OV2 format to something you can use in AR.

GPS Visualizer: Web interface to GPSBabel

...ken...

Gladwin and I just created a Free POI: Microsoft AutoRoute 2010 Mega File. It makes me wish I was on vacation in the UK!

There are lots of resources for EUR POI collections on the web here are a few I found:

Motorhome Parking - PoI Download Page
GPS Data Team
Archie’s Camping

SpadesFlush and I have discussed POIs for Microsoft AutoRoute just before he left for the UK. I bet he will be the very first one to download it.

Thanks for that, Larry. I will play with it a bit.

Thanks, Ken, I was completely unaware of that utility. It worked just fine for the Shell UK station POIs.

I still would like the Data Wizard to handle .ov2 files.

Thanks Marvin for the info'

My iGuidance Europe is way way outdated. It is still in my pda ASUS.

And the feel of S&T is familiar . That comes in handy if I have enough money for another W Europe trip

Daniel

AXE files (Microsoft AutoRoute files) can now be uploaded to this site as attachments. Thanks to SpadesFlush for the suggestion. If the allocated 5MB size is not sufficient, please let me know and I will increase it.

Daniel, yeah, the European version of iGuidance is now a few years old. It's a pity iNav discontinued it.

Attached Thumbnails

 

Thanks for that, Marvin.

See attachment for Shell UK pushpins on AutoRoute map.

Attached Files

Shell Stations.axe (496.0 KB, 501 views)

Just had a quick look at Autoroute 2010 and my local petrol station is still showing but flats have been on the site for a least 2 years!
In France the A19 just north of Orleans to Les Bretons has been open a while but has NOT been enabled in Autoroute 2010.
Transmarck near Calais road to "All4Trucks" is not there either.

Come on Microsoft keep your UPDATES up to date!
I will support you by buying the product but not if its so far out of date.

Hi Ossie!

Long time no see!

IMHO it takes on average 2 to 3 years for any change to appear in navigable maps, no matter what product. Online maps, which may update more frequently than software sold on DVDs, may have updates a bit sooner. Printed maps are the first to show new streets, but mapping software has more features.

The best Microsoft can do is to license map data from the most reliable map data provider(s), and that has been done.

I have opened a route (attached) that I did 30 months ago in AutoRoute 2007 and I thought it would be interesting (to me at least) to see how it fared in AR 2010.

The one thing that pops out most is the richer POIs that are built into 2010. Most of the places I went to were not even shown in 2007, whereas they all were in 2010. Even AR 2007 was pretty good on the roads I drove. This is not necessarily a good sample, however; it is just what I have done. There are still some oddities, however. AR 2010 has a distinct bias to using the Eurotunnel, for instance. It will go so far as to suggest you make a U-turn mid-Channel to go back and take the Eurotunnel if you insert a waypoint on the ferry cross-Channel route. No thank you.

In a sense, this is more of an upgrade than S&T users are used to. Starting with the jump from 2007 to 2010 that feels quite material. But the big catch-up in POIs is quite impressive.

Attached Files

Rotterdam May 2007c.axe (208.0 KB, 507 views)