Mapping Products Updated

New versions of the business-oriented MapPoint and the consumer-oriented Streets and Trips offer updated mapping information and minor feature improvements, such as more customizable maps, support for the global positioning system exchange (GPX) format used by many GPS devices, and the ability to export maps to a GPS device via a USB connection or the subscription-based MSN Direct service.

MapPoint is a desktop client that helps businesses visualize data geographically (for example, creating a map with representations of sales in particular geographic regions) and plan trips and deliveries. In addition to the MapPoint 2010 update itself, several free add-ins improve MapPoint’s integration with SQL Server and high-end geographic information systems (GIS) products. First, a new MapPoint Add-in for SQL Server lets users of MapPoint 2009 (and later) create maps from data stored in SQL Server 2008 and perform simple queries and edits of spatial data stored in the database from within MapPoint. Second, Microsoft has rebuilt two free MapPoint add-ons that were broken with the release of MapPoint 2006. These add-ons enable users of MapPoint 2002 and later to perform queries against OLAP cubes stored in SQL Server; and to import ESRI SHAPE (SHP) and MapInfo Data (MIF) files from GIS systems into MapPoint.