The navigation screen with GPS pane. A blue progress bar counts down to the next maneuver. View larger.

Find all points of interest within a given radius. View larger.

Acquire your location with the Wi-Fi Location Finder. View larger.

Taking advantage of the enhanced trip planning software is easy. To create a route and generate directions, you simply type in the starting and ending locations and click on "Get Directions." It's that simple. Your trips can include multiple segments, and you can instruct the software to customize your route by telling it what types of roads you want to travel, how much gas your car has, and the general area where you want to stop to gas up. Streets and Trips 2006 will do the rest, giving you your optimal itinerary, down to the precise gas station. Overall you'll have access to over 1.8 million local POIs such as hotels, restaurants, gas stations and ATMs, and by planning ahead, Streets and Trips 2006 will help you avoid delays with construction updates and other recent changes to your route.

Microsoft's "Locate Me" technology uses Wi-Fi hotspots to pinpoint your location, so you'll know precisely where you are as you're traveling. If you drive past your planned exit, a single click will get you back on track. The "Re-route from Here" feature quickly recalculates directions if you miss a turn.

To find a certain POI, such as a restaurant or gas station, you simply select from 35 POI types to display on the map. You have the option of searching within a certain radius of an address that you choose, your current location, a specific direction within a planned route, or all of the POIs along the entire route. Your results are displayed in a directory-tree listing. When you click on a POI, a balloon box pops up on the map with detailed information, including an address and phone number, and if you right-click on the POI icon, you can add it to your route list.

MSN Virtual Earth and Other Extras
To enhance to your travel experience, Microsoft Streets and Trips 2006 offers a link to MSN Virtual Earth, Microsoft's online repository of satellite maps. Let's say you're viewing a map of the theater district in Manhattan. If you want to see a bird's-eye view of it, just click the Virtual Earth icon and a satellite image of the area will load into your browser. Another convenient feature is the "Night Map Style" which makes reading your routes at night or in other low-light conditions a breeze. The map's background is black, and roads and street names are shown in shades of green for easy viewing. Also included with Streets and Trips 2006 is Pocket Streets for your Pocket PC or Smartphone, which you can load onto your compatible Windows-based Pocket PC or Windows-powered Smartphone for greater travel convenience.

And best of all, once you register your software, you can access a full year of email and toll-free customer support, and you'll also have access to an online knowledge base dedicated to Streets and Trips 2006. So no matter where you're travels are taking you, you can drive with the confidence that you'll have Microsoft's extensive support and software behind you every click of your odometer.


Customer Reviews Average rating - 3.5

Rating - 5 Date: 2008-08-14
Content: I use this software mainly to calculate mileage & gas cost while on the computer. Ill switch to a portable GPS unit on the road.
Summary: Great!

Rating - 4 Date: 2007-10-05
Content: The USB GPS unit works great. It also works in Microsoft MapPoint (NA and European versions). The 2006 version of S&T now provides voice guidance which lets you set up your laptop in the front seat before your trip, pop the GPS in the front window and let it give you guidance hands free while driving.
Summary: I bought this just for the GPS

Rating - 3 Date: 2007-06-07
Content: Save your money and buy the Garmin Nuvi 350. MSST 2007 has managed to let me dwon, again. or rather it is MS. My BIGGEST complaint among many (and I will spare everyone)is the inability to take my planning as I set it up in route planning. It overrides my coices I add and reroutes me. VERY aggravating as the direction they give me is NOT the correct way! Another complaint is why should everyone have to buy a new version EVERY year. We should have the ability for a small fee to obtain updates, product maintenance and ACCURATE directions. My neighborhood isn't even on the map yet and we have been here 3 years!
Summary: Aggravating

Rating - 5 Date: 2007-05-25
Content: Great for finding anything. Where the others are wrong, this is right on.
Summary: Better than any other mapping program.

Rating - 4 Date: 2007-03-06
Content: Needs full screen mode, especially for those of us who have smaller displays... This is fixed in 2007 edition, so I recommend getting that one rather than this one... Other than that, this product is awesome... Easy to use, and works great with the GPS receiver that comes with it (optional)...
Summary: Lacking