I got a free copy given away at a MS conference and I installed it on my home desktop (Win 98, 256 Mb RAM, AMD 450 MHz) and my work laptop (Win NT, 224 Mb RAM, Pentium 333 MHz). It has been stable on both for the last 2 months.

Once I started using it, I could not go back to web based maps (Yahoo Maps, etc).
Its far more accurate and flexible.

I don't even use most of the advanced features but at driving directions, its excellent.
It can update over the net with construction info and route you around it.

It gives time & distance in 4 different print formats.
I prefer the Turn by Turn directions with an Overview map.
You can also format it for easy faxing.

You can enter additional options like usual driving speeds on Interstate, state, and local highways and city streets.
I have set it at 65, 55, 45 and 35 respectively.
You can enter the avg cost of gas and your car's mileage and get warnings to refuel on your road trip.
You can also build in breaks after every x miles or y minutes.
It can also tell you the total cost of gas for your trip.

The full install takes over 1 Gb but you'll never need the CD after that.

Sometimes tourist attractions are not listed in the database which should be a little more comprehensive.

The directions have been wrong about 5-10% of the time compared to about 15-25% for web based directions.


Recommended: Yes