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Rating: 
Summary: Primitive Software
Review: Having worked in the IT industry for the better part of a decade, I consider myself fairly adept at navigating software. Almost nothing in this application is designed for easy, quick, or intuitive use and the help feature is of very limited value. I purchased SA 2004 Plus primarily for being able to upload multiple addresses from a spreadsheet and then computing the most efficient route. While the software does technically perform this function, the user interface is just so incredibly counter-intuitive that as a practical matter it was nearly impossible to get a route computed. We retained the software for a few months hoping that familiarity would breed usability. It did not. We switched to the less expensive Microsoft Streets & Trips and have been very happy since. It is very disappointing to see a respectable firm such as Delorme deploy such a primitive product.
Rating:
Summary: Very disappointing!
Review: I rarely have trouble using software. (I'm an IT person, so these things should come easily for me, right?) This goofy (can't think of a better word) user interface is throwing me for a loop. I don't think DeLorme knows the definition of the word "intuitive". Almost every feature I've tried to use is a mystery until I look in the help file. The features all seem to be there, but with all the work involved in finding out how to use them, this is going to be a long, painful project. I travel for my company, and setup and troubleshoot remote offices. My original plan was to both use the product for route-planning, and create useful interactive maps for reference (click on a remote site, and up pops all their information). I still think I will be able to do this, but no longer have any illusions about knocking it out in an afternoon. Maybe in my spare time over several weeks..... A colleague recently showed me Microsoft MapPoint 2002. What a difference! Intuitive, easy to use, and predictable with normal pull-down menus instead of these weird tabs that just get in the way. It even downloads updated road-construction information over the internet to help plan your routes. MapPoint is expensive, and doesn't have the same feature set (really overkill for me), but the DeLorme folks should buy a copy and start taking some UI design pointers.
Rating:
Summary: Poorly Designed User Interface
Review: We've used Delomre's Street Atlas software in our business on a daily basis since Version 4 (1996?). Upgrading to each new version was a no-brainer since we were happy with how easy it was to use. However, when Delorme redesigned the interface with Street Atlas USA 2003, we continued using the older (version 9) edition. The interface is non-intuitive and extremely difficult to use. Other comments here describe the problems well. In addtion to the interface, we found the software to be innacurate. For some reason many of the routes are wrong. Sometimes it will not allow you to cross a railroad crossing on certain routes and will route you around it. No matter how much you try with VIAs you cannot make it cross certain railroad crossing. In addition, we found that sometimes it routes you off an interstate, and back on at the next intersection. It appears that it thinks you can't go on I-80 westbound at certain cities. As a result, the software is just plain unreliable. Numerous contacts with Delorme's support desk and product manager has resulted in no resolution. Product manager refuses to acknowledge. DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT!!!
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