Rating: 
Summary: Good for planning but GPS-related functionality is weak
Review: I got this as a substitute for Rand McNally's SteetFinder (with NavMan receiver) which sucks at trip planning (read my review). My primary use is in conjunction with a GPS receiver.PROS:
- In the short time I've had it, S&T's strengths are planning, routing, and on-th-fly rerouting.
- It has MapQuest-like features for finding addresses location and plotting directions. You can save it for reloading later.
- While using the GPS tracking, it can plot a route from your present location to any designated location but not in real-time (see below).
- The planning is nice with estimated travel times, estimated refueling stops. CONS:
- In general, all the GPS-related features are very weak.
- It can only tell you your present location.
- Doesn't provide speed or direction.
- No "snake" to indicate the path you've travelled.
- If you created a trip plan with a routing you'd like to follow, tough! It doesn't track your progress. As a result, it doesn't provide distance or time remaining or est time of arrival to destination or next turn.
- Your car icon does not stay centered on the map until you reach the edge of the screen; annoying if your next turn is just off the screen. Docs say it should but it doesn't work.
- Map has a fixed orientation, North is always up. It would nice if the map rotated based on on your direction of travel with the map always pointing ahead.
- Minor point: color of car icon is too similar to map colors and makes it hard to see.
- Minor: Not enough contrast in some map colors, roads are white and urban areas are light gray, thus hard to tell apart. I guess So. CA. needs more parks and lakes.
- GPS position wanders in hilly areas.
Rating:
Summary: Satisfied, but not impressed.
Review: I got this mainly for the pda software(pocket streets) with the desktop software to be used to provide the data maps for the pda. Overall, I think the software is stable, reasonably intuative, and does the basics well. The routing functionality on the desktop does not always choose the best route, but it can be easily tweaked by inserting stopping points on streets that you want it use and then recalculate. In regards to Pocket Streets, what functionality that is there works well, but it is limited. Selecting a region from the desktop and exporting to the pda was very simple and worked well. Pocket Streets connected to my bluetooth gps and diplayed my location without a hitch. The pda software could be better: - no route capabilities whatsoever on the pda. It only shows your current location. - when selecting a map region to download on the desktop, you cannot specify what level of detail to include. You get it all. As such, the area you can select at one time is very small(about 30x30 miles). You cannot create a map of a large area(like a entire state) with less detail(say highways only). You have to create lots of small files, export them to the pda, and manually select with one to use. - no trip data(such as miles to destination and eta ) on the pda - no prompting for upcoming turns. For $30(after rebate), I cannot complain. There may be better products out there(like teletype world navigator), but you'll have to pay much more for it.
Rating:
Summary: Frustrated
Review: I have been using Streets and Trips for 6 years, getting a new version when it came out. When reviewing past releases, they have almost always deserved 5 stars. This year, it gets 1 star (at best). Okay, it is still great for new users (it is my map software of choice), but I am tired of reporting errors and nothing is corrected. We have a street that is NOT a thru-street (not even connected) and has been that way for 8 years. When people use S&T, they end up going out of the way, if not getting lost, and wasting a lot of time. I reported this 9 months ago and was hopeful. Dang! They still got it wrong! This is not my first time with incorrect maps. About 4 years ago, I ended up having to drive an extra 30 miles because the maps on S&T were wrong. This is getting infuriating. Is it because it got outsourced or something? I mean, come on, something that I notified them of (with GPS coordinates no less!)? Add that to the other complaints and I might do what I did with Money 2004 this year -- skipped it for the first time in a long time. Microsoft, if you treat your customers like this, you will find yourself losing revenues and market share. And NO, it is NOT due to piracy. Geez. Edit: okay, I got to give some credit for the new changes. With the addition of clear exits on highways and one-way indications, it boosts its rating.
Rating: 
Summary: I love this program, no problems yet
Review: I have read all the other reviews, but I have to say that I don't agree with them. I have used the previous items and I love the new version 2004. To me, it is just like the older versions,just with a few more details. I can use it the same as they other one. We are getting ready for a trip from Texas to New York (DRIVING!!) and I have the route all planned out. In fact, I am going to add a GPS system to my laptop and use 2004 with it.
Rating:
Summary: I love this program, no problems yet
Review: I have read all the other reviews, but I have to say that I don't agree with them. I have used the previous items and I love the new version 2004. To me, it is just like the older versions,just with a few more details. I can use it the same as they other one. We are getting ready for a trip from Texas to New York (DRIVING!!) and I have the route all planned out. In fact, I am going to add a GPS system to my laptop and use 2004 with it.
Rating: 
Summary: Great, easy to use mapping software!
Review: I love this program. We use it alot at work and at home for making maps. I used to use mapquest, but you can do so much more with this. I especially like the feature of searching for hotels, restaurants, etc within a certain distance of a point on the map.
The only con I can think of is that the addresses arent exactly in the right position, but not everything is built exactly where the address should be!
I highly recommend this or any other year of this software. The only reason to upgrade if you already have one of the previous versions of this software is the newer roads (which I need being a road contractor).
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Waste Your Money
Review: I really liked "Streets 98" so I thought the 2004 version would be even better. Ha! It's considerably worse. They've apparently decided to remove the subway (Metro) line from the Washington, D.C. area, and also remove the public schools. The old version showed both just fine. The 2004 maps are harder to read, and the icons are often tiny, so you don't know what you are looking at. The old version showed parks in a nice green color. The new version has a more neutral color so it's harder to know where the parks end. Stupid me for not reading these other reviews first. Apparently there are a lot of other complaints I haven't found yet, but other users have. I would like to know how mighty Microsoft can screw up like this
Rating:
Summary: Don't Waste Your Money
Review: I really liked "Streets 98" so I thought the 2004 version would be even better. Ha! It's considerably worse. They've apparently decided to remove the subway (Metro) line from the Washington, D.C. area, and also remove the public schools. The old version showed both just fine. The 2004 maps are harder to read, and the icons are often tiny, so you don't know what you are looking at. The old version showed parks in a nice green color. The new version has a more neutral color so it's harder to know where the parks end. Stupid me for not reading these other reviews first. Apparently there are a lot of other complaints I haven't found yet, but other users have. I would like to know how mighty Microsoft can screw up like this
Rating:
Summary: Serious user should not upgrade to Streets & Trips 2004
Review: I recently upgraded from MS Streets & Trips 2002 to the new 2004 verison. Everything looked great until you tried to use it and find my custom push pins with their corresponding data. Everything scattered all over the USA. I have worked online with Microsoft for about three weeks and their final correspondence recommended that I send the program back to them. Some customer service!! Time to switch to Delorme
Rating:
Summary: Serious user should not upgrade to Streets & Trips 2004
Review: I recently upgraded from MS Streets & Trips 2002 to the new 2004 verison. Everything looked great until you tried to use it and find my custom push pins with their corresponding data. Everything scattered all over the USA. I have worked online with Microsoft for about three weeks and their final correspondence recommended that I send the program back to them. Some customer service!! Time to switch to Delorme
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