Microsoft MapPoint 2006

It's been two versions of MapPoint since I've seen the software and I regret that it's been so long since I have enjoyed such a wonderful program.

Microsoft's MapPoint 2006 is GIS for personal or business use. It's GIS for those that don't need layer upon layer of GIS data. It's GIS for the masses.

MapPoint 2006 is a powerful piece of software. I had the opportunity to review the North American version of the software, which include street-level data for the United States and Canada.

The major new features of MapPoint 2006 revolve around the incorporation of GPS into the software. A version of the software comes with a USB-based GPS device that plugs into your computer and allows MapPoint to provide driving directions. This functionality isn't really effective if you don't have a laptop (because driving around with your desktop in your car can be pretty challenging) and even so, the laptop isn't a great tool for turn-by-turn directions, which MapPoint 2006 provides, along with a cheerful voice to guide you on your way.

GPS in MapPoint 2006 can be used to plot locations in your map but for most users, it's probably just easier to make an Excel file of addresses and import that into MapPoint. I created a list of locations to plot in Excel, using the name of the place, street address, and ZIP code, and upon importing that data into MapPoint, the software found and marked each location flawlessly.

A really fascinating feature in MapPoint is the drive-time zone function. Within the "Tools" menu is this feature, which allows you to highlight all areas within a certain driving time distance from a specific place. It then creates a shape based on the travel distance from your specified location. Sometimes the polygons don't seem to be very realistic and the feature definitely works better in cities with dense street patterns. Nonetheless, it's an impressive feature and lots of fun, too.

There is a ton of demographic data that comes with MapPoint 2006. Using the data mapping wizard, there are an infinite number of maps you can create using the data that comes with the software. Of course, Census-based demographic data is available down to the tract level but additional demographic and other data, such as shopping habits, stock ownership, levels of insurance, movie attendance, and even precipitation. Worldwide country-by-country data is a standard feature of MapPoint 2006 as well.

It takes less than a minute to create a fabulous demographic map of a region, providing decision-makers with excellent geospatial data and information instantaneously. In addition to maps shaded by geographic area, MapPoint produces dot maps, pie charts, shaded or sized circle maps, and more.

While MapPoint is a whiz at finding addresses in North America, I was not impressed with its database of businesses and other points of interest. I found that if I needed to find the address of an establishment, I would need to look it up online and then type the address into MapPoint if I desired to use the GPS routing feature.

Since MapPoint is a Microsoft product, utilizing maps in programs like PowerPoint or on the web is fairly straightforward, simply copying and pasting moves the image.

Overall, MapPoint 2006 is a great piece of geographic software for personal or business use - if you need to use spatial data to determine potential new business sites, determine information about your customer base, or even just want to make great presentations with maps, MapPoint 2006 will do the trick.