Review by H. Wang

This review is for the non-GPS version of Microsoft Streets & Trips 2009. I have the Streets&Trips 2006 for couple of years and I also have a portable Garmin GPS. The purpose of owning the Streets&Trips is mainly for trip planning. I prefer to use MS Streets&Trips than Google map or yahoo map for following reasons:n1. Speed: I have high-speed internet connection (10Mbps down/6Mbps up), but the speed of MS Streets&Trips is still far faster than any internet-based map service. I like the instantaneous response in zooming in/out, and quick panning movement.n2. Control: I can save my map with directions and locations as a file. Every planned trip becomes a single map file that can be easily reviewed at later time. Just double click the file when I am ready to use it. This is especially useful when I am on a multi-day trip. At night, I just open the map file to review tomorrow’s trip.n3. Off-line: No need to worry about the weak and slow wireless connection from the hotel.n4. Point-of-Interest: The MS Streets&Trips shows point-of-interest with clear icons. That makes trip planning life much easier. I can easily see how many hotels/restaurants are around my destinations.n5. Tools: MS Streets&Trips is especially good if you have more than 3 stops on a trip. You can organize your stops in the order you want and the program will generate detailed directions from one stop to next stop.

In summary, GPS is very helpful while you are on the road, but GPS is not a tool for trip planning. The MS Streets&Trips is definitely a great software in trip planning. I highly recommend it.