Software Review of:
A Trio of affordable
mapping programs
Street Wizard, EasyMaps and Streets USA 

These three pieces of software are being reviewed in part because of their affordability and in part because of their ease of use. These are not terribly difficult programs to learn how to use; yet they are all powerful in their own right. This article will discuss them separately and then attempt to compare and contrast some of their features, strengths and weaknesses. 

Street Wizard Standard v. 7.0
Adept Computer Solutions, Inc., based in San Diego published Street Wizard Standard v. 7.0, which is the version of the product being reviewed here. I recently purchased this program for $12.99 on sale, from a local retail store. Their products are also available online at  but you won’t be given the sale price I mentioned above. The online price for Street Wizard Standard v. 7.0 is $29.95 and there are also more advanced versions available, Street Wizard Pro for $39.95 and Street Wizard Navigator also for $39.95 with a bundled Pro/Navigator set for $49.95. Each of these is being offered for $10.00 off the MSRP they list. 

Street Wizard Standard initially gave me fits trying to install it, as there was some conflict between the software and my video graphics adapter. I had to install it after changing out my graphics adapter for another one. That done, the program still had problems and I went to the website for an update. It did not install properly so I eventually broke down and called technical support. Their response was prompt and professional and they helped me update my product to the most recent version. Score one for the technical support personnel. Once it started working, it was fine, although a bit quirky at times. Of all three programs, it was definitely the most "powerful" the only problem was that it gave me the most trouble as well. With this program, comes a database of over 30 million streets, highways and interstates along with a million points of interest. Automatic "best-route" calculation is another feature with turn by turn text directions. You can also make customized maps, print them out, save them or paste them into other applications. Finally, the program allows you to link to your contact manager and use it in your business contacts. With my experience, I would give this product a mixed review, with kudos to the features but raspberries to the difficulty of use. 

EasyMaps
EasyMaps is a product by Expert Software, a former subsidiary of Chicago Maps Corporation and has a 1998 date stamped on the CD. This product is available online for $12.99 and is 100% satisfaction guaranteed, according to the website. The company launched their online store in February, 1999 and was acquired by Activision in March of that same year. Their products are also available at many retail stores. They offer a wide variety of affordable software products for home, business, leisure and play uses. EasyMaps helps you locate streets, addresses and cities. You can search locations by longitude and latitude or by street, city or addresses. Maps include landmarks and I loved the pop-up street labels that showed onscreen when the mouse moved over a street. Other nice features were the excellent pop-up quick tips and being able to find out about weather conditions and telephone area codes. I had no difficulty installing or using this product on my system. It lacks some features but was easy to use and worked well. I would give it an above average in that area and slightly below average in features. 

Streets USA version 2.0
Streets USA version 2.0 is dated 1996 on the CD and there is a Streets USA 2000 Edition version, which I did not have to review. Perhaps the company will provide the most current version of their product and we will be able to review it later. This product was published by CD USA, a subsidiary of American Business Information, Inc. and can be found online for $39.95 along with many other products they offer. I liked this product even though it was the oldest of the three. It worked well, gave you easy control of the information displayed on the maps and had a very nice panning tool. You can search by full address or street name, city, state or zip code. It also allows you to create custom maps and labels, measures distance between two points and lets you draw your own route, if you choose. I also enjoyed using this program, especially the city information it provided. Simply click on the point of interest you want more information on and you got the name, address and phone number if it was available. I would like to eventually see how the Streets USA 2000 Edition compares to this one. I would give this program a better than average passing grade and 

Comparison
The installation process was quite simple for two of the three products. The minimum requirements are available on the website, so in order to save space, I will dispense with listing them here. The comparison I did consisted of looking up a former address, my current address and my brother’s house in Florida. All three programs found the addresses capably with the speed of access nod going to EasyMaps. Planning a trip route was performed the best by Street Wizard and obtaining information about points of interest was easiest with Streets USA. I planned a trip to Florida with Street Wizard and got a map of the route along with a turn by turn text printout of the route. With Streets USA, I had been trying to recall the name of a well-established, upscale eatery I used to frequent when I lived in Louisville, Kentucky over 15 years ago. Streets USA gave me the name of it the Bristol Bar and Grille, and even the phone number, when I clicked on the "what is this" icon button in the program. 

I would recommend any of these three programs, especially considering the price. They all worked and depending on what you need and want them to do for you, they can be great tools. However, don’t just go out and buy a mapping program without doing some research to find out what it does and whether it meets your needs or whether another program more adequately fills the bill.