New MapPoint 2002 More Customizable

MapPoint 2002, a new version of Microsoft’s business mapping software, is now available in North America. Although its core mapping functionality is unchanged from MapPoint 2001, MapPoint 2002 includes broader coverage, updated and enhanced demographic data, customizable territories, programmability improvements, additional ways of representing plotted data, and the ability to calculate driving distances based on a given drive time.

However, files created with the new release are not compatible with earlier versions of MapPoint, and the product is still based on static data—it lacks any service that provides up-to-date cartographic and demographic data, other than monthly Web updates of U.S. road construction information. A future release, MapPoint.NET, will have much more reliance on geographic and demographic data delivered as Web services.

Microsoft’s GIS Strategy

Microsoft’s MapPoint product is aimed at a very different market than has traditional geographic information system (GIS) software. Conventional GIS systems are targeted at industries and professions such as natural resources, utilities, land development, earth sciences, ecology, and government. Applications from GIS software companies, such as AutoCAD, ESRI, Intergraph, and MapInfo, allow nearly any type of spatially and geographically oriented data to be mapped and visualized, but can cost tens of thousands of dollars and have a long and difficult learning curve. Some companies have created “lightweight” versions of their GIS products, but they are still expensive and are oriented at professionals that work with the program regularly. For instance, ESRI’s ArcView 8.1, although simpler and cheaper than its flagship ArcInfo product, still costs US$1,500 for a single-user license and does not include maps and demographic data, which are additional purchases.