Microsoft Kills Off MapPoint and Streets and Trips In Favor of Bing Maps

DroidJason1 (3589319) writes Microsoft has killed off two of its mapping products, MapPoint and Streets & Trips. Both of these services have received their last update and will soon be retired in favor of Microsoft's premier mapping product, Bing Maps. The company has yet to go public with a press release announcing the retirement of these two mapping services, but the Redmond giant has quietly mentioned the fate on both the services' websites. MapPoint was first released back in 1999 and made it easier to view, edit, and integrate maps into software. Streets & Trips was a route planning package. Microsoft is now pushing Bing Maps exclusively.

Comments

Re:Problem with proprietary 'free' offerings

[Mashiki]

The question is how many people actually know how to read a paper map these days. I'll be it's damned few since they don't even teach it in school anymore, let alone how to use a compass.

Re:Problem with proprietary 'free' offerings

[shutdown -p now]

HERE Maps (by Nokia) also work offline, at least on Win8 and WP8.

Re:Problem with proprietary 'free' offerings

[Bigbutt]

I have the 2004 version of Streets and Trips. I use it for mapping my motorcycle rides. Unlike google maps, I can set where I spend the night, start and stop times, how much gas cost, how often to stop, and even set weights for various aspects of my trips so it'll pick the optimum route for what I want to do (for instance, Beartooth Pass).

And yea, I thought they stopped making it years ago. I'll have to snag the newest version. My 2004 version has worked just fine since I got it.

[John]

Re:Problem with proprietary 'free' offerings

[CODiNE]

Surprised at all the responses with no mention of OpenStreetMap.

Unlimited data download in various formats. Convert to Garmin/Tom Tom/whatever if you like and have custom GPS maps. Print PDF maps, wall maps, tour books, etc... Plenty of mobile apps to download entire cities and even countries with no time limits.

The key point to remember is that OpenStreetMap is open DATA and there's hundreds of apps and projects built around it letting you do just about anything you can think of. Including several routing APIs and services.