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Even if you don't own a copy of Autoroute, you've probably seen what it does, either on someone's screen, or as exported or printed maps and routes from a friend. Arguably the premier route-planning tool, it makes mapping your travels and finding everything from beauty spots to cash machines a doddle. Its maps are sharp and accurate, its directions concise and easy to follow, and its interface up to the high standard we've come to expect from Microsoft, incorporating the now familiar Office look and feel. It covers 13 European countries down to street level - unfortunately excluding Ireland - and supplements them with city plans of Oslo, Prague, Helsinki and Dublin.
If you only want to plan your travels, it couldn't get much simpler. Mark out your start and end points from the right-click menus and you're just one more click from a swiftly mapped-out route. Repetitive instructions, such as following the signs on five or six roundabouts, are collapsed into expandable sections so there is less to distract you when you're out on the road.
By default, the on-screen results are split so you can see the directions and map together, and clicking any point on one highlights the same on the other. This layout can be replicated in the printed equivalents, although turn-by-turn maps, or strip maps where the directions run along the side of the road, may be of more use.
The two new features in this release are one-way street arrows - great for city centre maps - and the new driving-time zone. The latter will work out how far you could travel in every direction from a given point in a set timeframe. The results are more accurate than drawing a circle with a compass, but make no allowance for time of day; a 10-minute journey in the rush hour is of a shorter distance than one in the middle of the night, after all. Still, it's handy if you're house hunting and must live within five minutes of the station.
Plotting a route from London to Stockholm, Autoroute points out when you are crossing national borders - useful for anyone trying to keep the kids amused, or avoiding an international arrest warrant - and although it doesn't have access to updated ferry times, it does plot their routes and remind you to check the timetable. A web link would be welcome here.
We were particularly impressed by what Microsoft calls snap rerouting, which takes a lot of the work out of correcting your mistakes or avoiding known trouble spots. Put simply, it allows you to double-click on the route map and drag its path to another point on the screen. Autoroute will snap it to the local roads that most closely match the path you have defined, then update the directions as appropriate. We tried it on several obscure journeys and it worked perfectly, with each snapped point being added as a 'via' point to the journey.
As you'd expect, Autoroute 2004 knows all about fuel consumption, and if you tell it the capacity of your tank it will even mark out petrol stops in your journey. This, combined with the option to specify petrol prices, gives a more accurate overview of just how costly it is to visit a relative you'd rather forget.
GPS support has been beefed up, with Microsoft promising that on-screen positions will update once a second. This is fine for car use and, if you stick to the speed limit, should be near enough real time.
Maps can be exported to a handheld device using Pocket Streets, but only if you use Pocket PC. Palm devices have been frozen out, which is a shame, although not entirely unexpected. On a more positive note, the PDA versions of each map will work with a GPS add-on, and there is a discount voucher in the box should you feel the need to splash out.
More widely accessible than the Pocket PC maps are exported web pages, which can include not only maps and directions but also any annotations or illustrations you have added to your files. This would be of particular use if you were planning a party and wanted to build an info site for your guests.
Taken as a whole, there is not a lot here to warrant an upgrade from last year's edition. Roads change, of course, but if you've been driving around with the 1998 edition of your printed atlas in the boot since its pages were pristine you'll know that they don't change that much. The one-way street pointers are a boon, but should only be an inducement to upgrade for city-centre couriers or getaway drivers, not casual cruisers.
Contact: Microsoft 0870 601 0100
www.microsoft.com/uk
Specifications:
- Windows 98/ME/NT4 SP6/2000/XP
- Pentium II or higher processor
- 64MB of Ram (128MB for Windows 2000 and XP)
- Colour monitor capable of 800 x 600 or higher resolution
- 1GB hard drive space
- Quad-speed or faster CD-Rom drive
- Mouse
See also:
You can find great holiday deals online, not to mention local information a travel agent will never tell you. And all without having to leave your chair ... 14 Jun 2004
Take the pain out of journey planning with this handy tool. 18 Feb 2004
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