In an ideal world--the world promised to us by previous generations of futurists--all of our journeys could follow the same path “as the crow flies.” We’d slip into our jet packs, set the compass for the destination’s coordinates, and zoom along without a care. There’d be no need to know about construction on Route 80, or the mudslide on 101, or any such mundane considerations.

 

Alas (or perhaps for the best), most of our personal travel still involves four wheels, pavement, and a map. But where cars and roads have evolved very little over the last half-century, mapping has leapt forward in a big way. Of course, it’s still possible to make one’s way with only paper maps for guidance, but it’s good to be aware of the computer-based alternatives.

 

Computer mapping and routing programs have been around for many years, but they only began to be truly useful as CD-ROM technology became mainstream. Just one or two discs can hold a street-level atlas of the entire country, along with a handy database of restaurants, hotels, and other attractions. Today’s huge hard drives can store much or all of that data, which enables the programs to operate more smoothly.

 

Inexpensive GPS receivers allow mapping programs to provide, in real time, a moving vehicle’s position, and even its progress along a precalculated route. The Internet provides the means to update the program’s database with timely construction, weather, and event information, and to use that information as part of the trip-planning process. Today’s travelers, armed with the relatively inexpensive arsenal of laptop, GPS receiver, and mapping software, have a wealth of information at their fingertips, and may never again need to stop for directions, no matter where they go.

 

For this review, we tested six popular mapping and routing applications. As might be expected, the programs that are best suited for the frequent traveler are the costliest. Each of the others has its strong and weak points, but the weak points are, for the most part, insignificant. Only one of the programs--Rand McNally’s Street Finder Deluxe--lacks internal route generating capability, but that capability is available both via the Internet and through the company’s companion TripMaker Deluxe.