Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Reduced functionality, features, and kludgy interface, October 8, 2008
My workplace just upgraded to 2009 from 2006, and while 2006 was easily the best version of this software I've ever used, the 2009 version is easily the worst and has gone backward in functuality.
For one thing, the program doesn't support Windows 2000, which all of the computers where I am run. I know, they should upgrade to XP, but they won't do that, so I'm stuck using this on a VPN running Server 2003, which is acceptable, though slow.
Guiding myself around the interface is now a pain; instead of giving you a choice between panning and zooming via the toolbar, you're stuck with the left mouse button panning, and the right button dragging the box to zoom in. Nobody uses the right mouse button for click and drag interaction, and I never use the panning feature, preferring to use the arrow keys, so this works horribly for me. The interface also defaults to an ugly black background within the toolbars instead of the cool blue of Office 2007 in XP/2003 or basic grey of Mappoint 2006 (I know in Vista it's probably translucent), which makes the program seem more intimidating than friendly.
Pushpin choices are extremely reduced, and you're stuck with only a few landmark pins and a few colored pins (up to 20) which seemed to be designed on the rush. In 2006 to pinpoint a destination, I could differentiate it as a business or home by using a pin to do so; that's no longer the case here. It's either one of the basic pins, slowly adding custom ones, or you're out of luck.
Searching has been seriously kludged. I used to be able to type an address in the style [123 Sample Rd, WI] to save time and unneeded keystrokes to get to the address I needed within my state without having to type the city, and go right past matching addresses in other states. No longer does it default to WI with the [, WI] command. It lists every address from the beginning in Alabama, and if it's a common number/street combo, you'll be hitting Page Down quite a few times. Then you also get the blended listings from Live Search. This should be a good thing, right? But it slows down the search process, and often it's redunant and uneeded if you're just searching for a basic address, not a business name or type.
I'm also finding it hard to zoom the map to a certain geographic area, such as a county after a click on the county's name, and I have to pan the map into frame and zoom manually to place an entire county or city in focus of the window. Zooming options have seemed to lessen too, as my favorite default of 18 miles has seemed to change to 20 miles, losing street grid information within that view.
This program is wonderful and my favorite map program, but things that weren't broken were 'fixed', and have ruined the user experience for me. I would love to see a software update to address these problems, but for now I'm going to use a combo of paper maps, Google Earth, and the kludge of Mappoint 2009 to search for maps rather than depending on this alone.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
2004 Mappoint version was easier to work with., September 29, 2008
2004 version had the pan or select mode to move around the map. The select mode enabled you to "square" off or "size" the viewing area to the best fit. Also bringing in the custom pushpins is a pain. Best thing was the updated addresses which decreased the number of addresses that could not be mapped.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not your mom's map!, May 27, 2009
First off, Microsoft MapPoint 2009 is NOT a Google Maps wanna be. Yes they can both be used to map out trips. Yes, they can both be used to find nearby businesses. But for me, that is where the similarity ends. Only a few years ago to map out demographic data took months of research and the hand recreation of data onto a map. With MapPoint 2009 a click of a button imports select US Census data and automatically overlays that information on the map. Tie this with the software's ability to define territories and companies can now many valid decisions on where best to spend its time and effort. What I wouldn't have done for this 10 years ago!
Other reviewers have said that the interface is "not fluid" and "kludgy". While I have not used any previous versions of MapPoint, I can truthfully say that I cannot disagree more. I am an avid gamer and the map controls are very similar to those that have been developed for real-time strategy gaming. I found the controls to not only be fluid, but to make more sense than the control schemes mentioned in other reviews. That said, I do wish there were more options for push pins. I find the existing options greatly lacking. Perhaps as I use the software more I will find ways to make the pins and their tags easier to identify at a glance.
The Route Planner function has already proven very useful. Do you need to make a lot of deliveries? Create push pins for all of the locations you service, then active the Route Planner. You can then add the locations you need to visit that day. When you are done, select "Optimize Stops". That is all there is to it.
After your route is planned, click on "Find Coupons". After all, a person's got to eat. Restaurants and other businesses located along your path will be displayed. Click on the business and you'll be given the option to print a coupon. Even 20% off of fast food can add up pretty quick.
Overall I give Microsoft MapPoint 4 out of 5 stars. If I had a GPS, perhaps it would earn the full 5. However, the cost versus what I am using it for is a little steep when compared to similar products. Still, it's a great product if you are going to use it for all that it has to offer.
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