Microsoft Streets and Trips 2009 worse than version 2006?

Because it is absolutely impossible to communicate with, or contact Microsoft on the Internet or through email without paying a fortune, I decided to write them an old fashion letter hoping for the best and some sort of response.
I just got back from a 3,030 mile round-trip from Portland, OR to Phoenix, AZ. I spent about two weeks laying out the route on their trial edition of Microsoft Streets and Trips 2009. In a nutshell, it was a DISASTER.
I have an earlier version of S&T from 2006 and used the GPS locater from it. The problem(s) I had with the 2009 version were almost too many to list on this page. Here are a few.
Even though I selected my preference for “main highways” the software directed me to MANY secondary or worse roadways. Several times it took (or tried to take me) onto dirt or “motorcycle rutted” trails that went on for 10-15 miles. I had to turn around and stay on the main highway to get to my destination. Other times it said (the voice) you’re “off route” and to turn around and GO BACK TH E WAY I CAME. When I checked the map that I brought with me, (thank God) I was right and S&T was wrong.
And why may I ask when they developed the “speaking” voice for S&T’s, did they program it to say, “Senior” instead of “State Road”? Same with “U.S.”, it’s not ‘us”. Wouldn't you think it's more logical that there would be more State Roads then Seniors in software such as this? Why did they program it to say, “Turn onto the local road” what does that mean???? I need the NAME of the street to turn on, not some generic local road. And yes, I know I could have turned it off, but when it said that I was off route, it began to recalculate a new route which was up to three times as bad as the original plan. When going through a tunnel or high trees, it would go crazy looking for the GPS signal. Why not just have the screen go blank and say, “Lost Signal” until it connects again? Why don’t they have a wireless connection between the computer and the GPS locator?
By the way, I re-installed my 2006 version of S&T’s and now I cannot open it. I get a message that reads, “Your registry settings for this application were not copied correctly. To correct theses settings, run Setup again for this application from the location where you originally installed it.” I have done that several times and I still cannot open or use my 2006 version. What NOW?
I would NEVER purchase this product as is and will make the same recommendation to my friends and colleagues. I hope that future development will correct these problems, or perhaps a better option for me would be to purchase a Garmin navigator for my car.
JSINC

It is unfortunate you saw so many problems in your first use of S&T 2009. The mapping data from NavTeq is quite good but errors do occur. A bit of pratice with the road type sliders also may have given you a better trip. The directions must be used in conjunction with your view and experience. Use it just as you would a map.

A wireless connection between the GPS and computer is available by using a Bluetooth GPS. However, that would not solve your problems in tunnels. A better quality GPS might help in trees and buildings though. Also placement of the GPS receiver is very important. It must have as clear a view of the sky as possible.

Many people use this product on a regular basis, both for local and long distance routing. Familiarity and lack of dependance on the awful voice pronunciations will go a long way to increasing your enjoyment of it.

Terry

Check this thread and see if UAC is your problem reinstalling 2006.
Streets and Trips 2009 quit working

Terry

Will do, thanks.

If you were having GPS connection issues, then check your receiver. If it's a Pharos GPS-360, then you would have benefitted from a more modern receiver. Newer versions of S&T come with the GPS-500 receiver, which has a far-superior chipset. This will not help you in tunnels, but it substantially improves reception in cities and around tall trees.

If you don't like the route that S&T generates for you, then you can use Avoid Areas to force it to take an alternate route. Highways should look different from small roads on the map (if they don't, then clearly there's a map error).

A letter might get to the right place, or it might not. The Help-->About dialog box gives you an email address that for sending suggestions for product improvement. The routing problem is the main point. A few things you may want to leave out for a more focused and effective email:

(1) Pronunciation of "Senior" and "Us" is not deliberate, but a byproduct of using a TTS engine without any changes.
(2) "Local roads" may or may not have a name on the map. Without the specifics, it is unclear whether S&T is at fault here.
(3) Wireless GPS, as Terry has pointed out.

On the unlisted gripes, you should use the search feature on this forum -- they may have been already discussed in other threads. Sometimes people have suggestions for workarounds, or at least explanations. Sometimes it is very helpful to know why things are as they are, even if there isn't a solution yet.

Finally, welcome to the board. Many people join because they're having some problem. But you can learn a lot by sticking around; this board's membership has a huge amount of expertise here on GPS systems and software. You can really learn a lot about the software that you use, and keep tabs on other software. S&T is not the only navigation package for PCs; moving to a Garmin navigator is not your only other choice.

jsinc said:

I am always driving with this option OFF and i am very happy to live without it. The reason: i am never blindly trusting any maps software (neither online maps software). I want to validate the proposed route before for "approval". The problem with the auto route recalculation is that if you let it ON, it may calculate a very bad route and when you are driving, you want usually to minimize this. And most often, this route recalculation process can occur because you changed your mind and go off route for a second for any reason, and often you are quite capable of going on route yourself without having to recalculate a new route live, that can make you drive an additionnal x km more because of the bad new route.

I am not saying here that the new route would be bad (it is usually as good as the initial route), but it is very easy to get into troubles. Especially if you forgot to delete old stop points you already went by. Your new route could get you back there!!! I have got many cases of errors because of this situation. I got one case that the new routes was 4-5 km longer and just a turn back in 30 secs was able to get me on the old original route. So i prefer the human controlling the machine than the opposite. When i am really into problem, i am stopping, pressing tbe F3 key and verifying the route to see if it is logical as compare to the original route before continuing driving.

Happily, S&T 2009 can do that. You can just disable the auto route recalculation and press F3 when needed. The previous version 2008 didn't have this option and was a no go for me.