Is Microsoft Streets And Trips Still Available

[Giulia Satmary]

MicrosoftStreets & Trips, known in other countries as Microsoft AutoRoute, is a discontinued[2][3] mapping program developed and distributed by Microsoft. Functionally, the last version is a subset of Microsoft MapPoint targeted at the average consumer to do a variety of map related tasks in the North American region including the United States, Canada, and Mexico, such as route planning.

The European version is branded as Microsoft AutoRoute and covers all of Europe, including European Russia, as well as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Cyprus and all of Turkey. AutoRoute was also produced in several European languages besides English.

Originally released by NextBase Ltd in the 1988,[4] a UK company, under the name "Autoroute", it was sold for DOS based PCs and later for the Apple Macintosh, Atari ST and Psion PDA. In the early 1990s, it was ported to the Microsoft Windows operating system. The company created a version for the United States called Automap Road Atlas which it sold through its American subsidiary Automap Inc. in Bellevue, Washington. In 1994, the product was sold to Microsoft. Microsoft combined the Encarta World Atlas Mapping Technology with new routing technology derived from Autoroute to create Automap Streets/Streets Plus and Automap Road Atlas products. In Europe, the Autoroute brand was retained.

The initial products were 16-bit with Automap Streets Plus 5.0 (1997 version) being the first 32-bit version. Automap Road Atlas was later rebranded in a future release as Automap Trip Planner.[5] These were produced as two distinct products under the Microsoft Home division and were later rebranded for a few releases as Expedia Streets, Expedia Streets Deluxe and Expedia Trip Planner.[6] During these early versions, core new features were added like updated maps, pushpins, weather, traffic and construction updates. In 2000, they were merged into a single product called Microsoft Expedia Streets & Trips 2000. After Microsoft spun off Expedia, later releases were rebranded as Microsoft Streets & Trips. In 2000, Microsoft also developed Microsoft MapPoint as a business mapping program for geographic analysis, based on this technology. The technology was also used in MSN Maps which later became Bing Maps.

Streets & Trips 2000 was the first version combining the 2 separate products.[7] Like Expedia Trip Planner, it also included a travel guide [8] with pictures and information on points of interest and tourist spots for a particular address. Streets & Trips 2001 dropped the travel guide but added the ability to run without the CD by copying all the map data to the disk drive.

Streets & Trips 2002 added a Pocket Streets for Windows CE devices. Like every yearly update, Streets & Trips 2002 [9] and 2003 were also database updates with Streets & Trips 2003 adding more than 300,000 miles of streets and highways.[10] Streets & Trips 2004 added drive-time zones, a feature to see on a map how far you could travel within a specified amount of time.[11] Streets & Trips 2005 significantly improved the GPS features with an on-screen compass and support for USB plug and play GPS receivers.[12]

The GPS version of Streets & Trips 2006 introduced voice-prompted directions, a hands-free option with turn-by-turn directional information/ [13] All versions starting with 2006 and later install the new text-to-speech voice, "Microsoft Anna" on Windows XP, which is part of Windows Vista, for the voice-prompt direction feature. Version 2006 of both Streets & Trips as well as AutoRoute is the last version for Windows 98 / Me and version 2007 is the last version for Windows 2000.

Streets & Trips 2008 added online services integration like MSN Direct and Live Search Maps for current traffic updates, and an automatic re-routing feature if the driver missed a turn or took a wrong turn.[14] Streets & Trips 2008 (and older) included 336 pushpin symbols and they were easy to spot due to the use of bright colors. Streets & Trips 2009 replaced these symbols with a new set of 46 pushpins and removed many pushpins, besides reducing their contrast. In response to this, the Streets and Trips user community created a default map template[15] which has the 2008 pin set in order to re-add them to the program. The former pushpins were restored in the 2010 version but still with the newer visual styling.

Streets & Trips 2009[16] also added pronunciation of street names, as part of the voice directions prompts. The map of Mexico now includes street-level data of even small towns, but the address-find feature still has not been enabled for there. This release saw the first user interface update in many years with new colorful and optionally, large toolbar icons.

Streets & Trips 2010 [17] added hide/show pushpinsets, hide/show information balloons, import/export GPX files, export to GPS navigation device, export to mobile phone, and 348 new pushpin symbols were added, the majority restored former pins as mentioned above.

Streets & Trips 2011 [18] is mainly a database update adding 88,000 miles of new mapping to the program and the removal of support for the ending MSN Direct service and coupon data, while allowing direct map correction feedback to maps provider Navteq and the addition of cardinal direction guidance and alternate road names to direction data. This version came out in February rather than the traditional August/September release date. No reasons were given. There was no release called Streets & Trips 2012.

The last version, Streets & Trips 2013 was released on July 1, 2012 with a new online custom ratings and reviews feature[19] and Metro UI-style icons.[20] Despite previous reports that the 2013 version did not accept data from older versions, the 2013 version converts the old files for usage and the user can save them in that format.

A separate version of the product was always sold with a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver to allow users to use the product as a satellite navigation system. Since version 2008,[21] Microsoft started requiring Product Activation for the retail versions of Streets & Trips,[22] although Volume License (VL) versions available through MSDN did not require activation.

All versions of Windows 10 include a free GPS-ready mapping app similar to Streets & Trips. This can be used offline, though the map data must be initially downloaded before use on a state by state, province by province basis. In the U.S. and Canada, actual (not calculated) residential and commercial street addresses are included. Voice navigation is provided to GPS-enabled devices. The drawing tools from Streets & Trips have been removed, however.

The software had an incompatibility with Advanced Vector Extensions in x86 processors causing it to hang/freeze on the splash screen on Windows 7 SP1 64-bit.[24] Microsoft patched Windows 7 with hotfix KB2643882.

The leaders will be joined by President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. They will discuss the latest developments in Russia's war against Ukraine, the global impact of Putin's war, showing support for Ukraine and Ukraine's future, and demonstrating continued G7 unity and our collective response, including building on our unprecedented sanctions to impose severe costs for Putin's war.

On Monday, President Biden and Vice President Harris will deliver remarks from the Rose Garden on how the Biden-Harris administration is lowering the cost of high-speed Internet for millions of American families and expanding access through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

On Tuesday, the President will welcome Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy to the White House. They will reaffirm the strong bilateral relationship between Italy and the United States. They will discuss their ongoing coordination with allies and partners on measures to support the people of Ukraine and impose economic costs on Russia for its unprovoked aggression. They will also discuss our close cooperation on promoting global economic prosperity, increasing Europe's energy security, and combating climate change.

On Friday, the President will participate in a summit with the ASEAN leaders at the State Department to recognize ASEAN's central role in delivering sustainable solutions to the region's most pressing challenges and commemorate 45 years of U.S.-ASEAN relations.

Q: I just want to ask you: Congress has limited the President now on some of his -- the administration's biggest ideas. Build Back Better and the Voting Rights Act has been a frustration. And now, many in the base with -- since the Alito leak -- are eager for him to push for codifying Roe. But as you pointed out this week, easier said than done.

MS. PSAKI: Well, I would first say that the President is incredibly proud of what he has already accomplished to date in 15 months of his presidency. And not only did he get the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed, but 80 bills -- bipartisan bills that he has helped lead the effort to move forward and sign into law.

And today he's going to talk about the Bipartisan Infrastructure -- or Innovation Act, and the need to move that forward in order to build more things in the United States, manufacture, make us more competitive here at home, and help address costs for the American people.

He was in the Senate for 36 years. He knows and understands it sometimes takes more time than he would like to get -- to get his agenda forward, to get your agenda forward. He also understands that with such a slim majority in the Senate, it requires having either every single Democrat prepared to move forward on, say, the reconciliation package, which we're still working to move forward, or it requires working in a bipartisan way.

So while I'm not -- while I'm not getting into politics here, I would just refer you and also point you to what the President said in his statement about the leaked document the other night, and how -- and how having more senators and House members in Congress who support his agenda will help him move it forward.

MS. PSAKI: The President believes in peaceful protest. He believes that's part of our democracy and part of the history of the United States and this country. But he also respects and understands the independence of the third branch of government, and -- I mean, obviously, the Justice Department -- but also the role of the Supreme Court and what they play.

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