Microsoft Streets and Trips 2013

✔SALE: 63% OFF Microsoft Streets and Trips 2013 3.5 out of 5 stars CONSUMER REVIEWS(52) Updated street-level maps of the United States and Canada with more than 2.5 million points of interest from America's #1 travel and map software. Plan your trip including multiple destinations, rest stops, scenic detours, fuel stops and more-all with no Internet connection required. New! See customer ratings and reviews on businesses and take the guesswork out of deciding where to go when online. View the quickest routes with one-click trip optimization; add notes for planned stops, reservations, phone numbers, and more. Change your plans on the go, with no Internet connection; choose specific roads by dragging and dropping the route. Price: $39.95 Deal Price: $14.95

Description Find adventure on the open road with Microsoft Streets & Trips. With America's #1 travel and map software, explore new places, generate maps and directions and even add your own contacts - all without an Internet connection. As seems to be the pattern with new editions of Streets and Trips, there is nothing revolutionary about this upgrade, though it was almost two years in the making. While I find it a useful program, it is still quite limiting in ways I wish would be addressed.I use Streets and Trips almost daily. In addition to maintaining several thousand points, I receive addresses several times a day from people whereby I find their location and give them directions to the closest point in my database. And, like most people, I use Streets and Trips to plan my road trips. What has forced me to upgrade from 2007 is the new map data so I can match newer addresses.Here is a summary of different features, the good and the bad.Searches: The address search still needs improvement. When an address does not match anything in their database, the suggested alternatives are often far off. For example, I typed in an address and town containing "Penn Rod Rd." The search... Updated from the 2009 version. All recently new and modified local roads/intersections have been updated. (The most recent local road modification was done about 18 months ago.) The only other modification to the software that I see is that MS has changed the menu icons from multicolor and eye appealing to very flat, basic two-tone blank and white. This obviously doesn't impact the functionality of the software but it just looks like a step backward.I also have a Tom-Tom which my wife and I use for short trips and to get directions from point A to point B within the state. Local travel is what the Tom-Tom and Garmin units are designed for. But where S&T beats the small units hands down is when planning long distance trips. There are many congested areas of the country I refuse to drive through (I-95 through the CT-NY-NJ area.) With S&T all I have to do is tell it to avoid this area by dragging the mouse over the map and the planned route is instantly modified. S&T... While I have been a big fan of Streets and Trips over the past decade, Microsoft failed 64 bit users with a flawed DVD. The online free trial download followed by an activation works.**************The benefits to using software versus ad-supported online maps are many. In particular, the user has more control over how the information is displayed. Moreover, maps can be saved and annotated. Yet, with Google Maps getting better by the day, Microsoft has really let its user base down.Frequent users of Google Maps notice that it provides driving, public transportation, walking and bicycling directions. Streets and Trips 2013 *still* only has driving directions. What Microsoft needs to do is offer more sophisticated real-time data inputs such as those from public transit and traffic congestion sources. It surprises me that Microsoft has not made a bigger investment in this software. The product is not much different from the previous six versions. It is...