BUDGET ROUTE PLANNERS
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Microsoft AutoRoute 2001
Not always part of the Bill Gates empire, Auto Route in fact began as a product of the true-Brit Nextbase outfit before it was bought out by Microsoft. The first couple of versions under new ownership saw a noticeable reduction in usability, but considerable improvements have now been made.
In a similar way to many Microsoft products, AutoRoute has become something of an industry standard, and is definitely the one to go for if you frequently need to swap routes outside your immediate operation. AutoRoute also scores extra points if your horizons are rather broader. Although sold as the UK edition, it also includes detailed coverage of Western Europe with restricted coverage of the whole world. They even throw in a handy ui-language phrase book.
The maps can be viewed in roads, terrain or political formats with a choice of five font sizes. This system can be linked via a laptop computer to a GPS receiver so your actual position can be established in real time.
Planning a route entails nothing more than right-clicking on the start and finish points and any intermediate stops. Target locations can be sought by address, place name, latitude/longitude or OS grid reference, or by referring to AutoRoute's usercustomisable markers, known as Pushpins. These can be created individually or by importing database files in .mdb, .csv and .xls formats, among others. Microsoft Outlook Contact files can also be imported, as long as they have valid postcodes.
AutoRoute offers a wide range of options, with speeds configurable for five different types of road and fuel consumption set for motorway or city driving. Journey costs can be calculated by fuel cost per mile or a predetermined fixed cost per mile. Metric or imperial units can be used, if required in a mixture such as fuel cost in pence/litre with consumption in mpg. It also accounts for driving hours, allowing for stops after a certain driving time, length of working day and even the need for fuel stops.
When calculating routes, intermediate journey stops can be in a specified order or can be automatically optimised. Routes can be calculated on the usual fastest, shortest or cheapest basis: areas to be avoided are chosen simply by dragging a box around the relevant area on screen. Among AutoRoute's many other features is an extensive database of local attractions and services. If you need features such as connectivity and foreign content, then you must have AutoRoute, but at around f55 it is the most expensive of the three. Contact: www.microsoft.com/uk/homepc/autoroute/.