Laptop GPS World

Hey everyone

i have a question concerning Microsoft Streets and Trips... And like I have seen there are a few people which know the world of Streets and Trips very well... so i am asking here... I am planning a Road Trip in the US starting in August 2008. For that i need a gps software on my laptop like MS Streets and trips... What i don't know i wheter i should bus the 2008 version or waiting for the 2009 one. I could not find a release date of MS Streets and trips 2009 in the internet. Perhaps anyone of you know that?
Or is there a better alternative to MS?

Thank you for your answers

Toby

Hi Toby,

Welcome to Laptop GPS World.

If you are planning your trip in the US in August, I'd suggest not to wait for Microsoft Streets and Trips 2009, but buy the current 2008 version instead. That will give you enough time to familiarize yourself with the program. New versions usually come out at the end of summer / start of fall.

The following is a list of approximate release dates of previous versions:

Streets & Trips 2005 - August 31, 2004
Streets & Trips 2006 - October 6, 2005
Streets & Trips 2007 - October 11, 2006
Streets & Trips 2008 - August 20, 2007
Streets & Trips 2009 -

Vary many users believe Microsoft Streets and Trips is the best trip planning tool available. And very many users believe the same of DeLorme Street Atlas. These two products are most feature-rich trip planning software programs. Each has some strengths and weaknesses:

S&T = better road map data
SA = better data for geo-features, such as lakes, rivers, parks, etc
S&T = easier to use for a first time user (imho)
SA = just released new version 2009, which seems to have a better driver-friendly GPS navigation screen

Perhaps others will give you more user feedback on one or both programs.

__________________
Marvin Hlavac

Laptop GPS software reviews | Stores offering discounts to our members: Semsons & Co. Inc. and Deluo Electronics

now is ready microsoft streets and trips 2009?

Hi robertico-2007,

Welcome to Laptop GPS World.

Microsoft usually doesn't announce when next version of Streets & Trips will release, but judging by the past versions, Microsoft Streets and Trips 2009 will likely be released to stores some time in August, September, or October of 2008. However, past is not a guarantee of future.

__________________
Marvin Hlavac

Laptop GPS software reviews | Stores offering discounts to our members: Semsons & Co. Inc. and Deluo Electronics

Streets & Trips sells way more copies than Delorme Street Atlas.

Neither actually releases figures, but you can get a rough sense by, e.g., going to Amazon.com and looking at the sales ranks. Rule of thumb is that sales numbers are inverse to sales rank. The products both share two categories, and the rank in both categories are more-or-less consistent.

The old 2008 S&T sells approximately five times as many copies as the new 2009 SA. I imagine the advantage will grow when S&T 2009 comes out. You should pick the product that suits your needs, but as with many other things, there's an intangible benefit to using software with a larger user community.

Thx, Marvin. I asked the same question in different thread. Now I found the answer

I would definitively go with SA. It's much better navigation program then S&T. Only if someone is not planning on using GPS, but needs it to plan a trip, S&T may be better. However just for planning a trip google's maps may be sufficient.