4 ms·

Microsoft Autoroute Express (1995)

23 points by remoquete 3y ago

NikkiA 3y ago
Used to use Autoroute being driven by an OG garmin gps 12 for navigation and I think there was an option to display live traffic density, that I used via a startac holding a 14.4 connection to AOL (why AOL? because they had an 800 number POP that didn't cost an arm and a leg over cell), all running on a NEC P133 laptop. Microsoft "Streets and Trips" had better maps though, but didn't support GPS tracking, as I remember it. By the end of the 90s MS had a handful of different mapping products, that all competed with each other in some weird way, some were under the Encarta branding, some under the Expedia branding, some just Microsoft and some Autoroute. This was a year or two after the 'original' release in the title though (Autoroute was a separate company for the first half of the 90s until MS bought them and rebadged their product).
- genocidicbunny 3y ago
  > Microsoft "Streets and Trips" ...is a trip down memory lane. I remember printing out the directions, plotting the key turns on the paper maps from AAA, having to have a little folder of printed papers while going on a long trip; Trying to figure out how the heck to get back to the route when you made a wrong turn, or trying to reroute around a long-closed street that the directions said you should take. Or having to search for hotels or restaurants where the whole family could stay/eat along the way, and having to do all of this ahead of time because there's no way you're getting internet access once you actually head out. Puts into perspective how much modern mapping/navigation apps have changed things.
- mikestew 3y ago
  Microsoft "Streets and Trips"…didn't support GPS tracking, as I remember it. It did, actually. You could even buy a version that had an included GPS unit that supported a USB connection to your laptop, or (IIRC) Bluetooth.
rhplus 3y ago
Direct download of an exe with no checksums or signatures from a non-HTTPS phpBB bulletin board? How many more red-flags can we add?
- mips_r4300i 3y ago
  Is there even any virus in the wild that could infect a 16-bit executable anymore?
  - acheron 3y ago
    Gotta watch out for the Michelangelo virus.
    - zx8080 3y ago
      And wait for March 6.
- wannacboatmovie 3y ago
  The site clearly states it's explicitly designed to be accessed with ancient browsers on Win 3.1. Translation: it's not for you. So please knock it off with the phony alarmist infosec nonsense.
  - ForOldHack 3y ago
    He raised the alarm, but... I scanned it with VirusTotal. Nothing. Should I post the CRC so you guys can verify that its the very same binary?
liotier 3y ago
I remember being pissed off when I found that NextBase had sold my beloved AutoRoute Express to Microsoft !
- markath 3y ago
  Sorry about that, but we could see the writing on the wall for small software companies as the big boys joined in.
  - liotier 3y ago
    Totally understandable - distribution & sales rule the world, especially pre-Internet. At the time, I believe 1993 or maybe 1994, I was a first-year student so of course I had a pirated copy. I didn't even own a car, but I had never seen a computer map before, so just navigating it and playing with routing was a blast, especially as the routing process visualization on my slow PC was eye candy. I credit Autoroute Express for introducing me to GIS and routing algorithms - the first step on a path that led me to the Openstreetmap Foundation's board and to managing telecommunication networks geographical and topological data... So thanks !
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
scrumper 3y ago
The DOS version was one of the first graphical things I ever saw. My dad pretty much lived on the road in England and one day he came home with this installed on his portable (not really a laptop). Everyone remembers their first experience with Google Maps when it came out; I had similar feelings with this as a kid. It took ages to calculate a route, but it was incredibly cool. On a black and white, slow-refresh LCD screen, the map background was black and the routes in various shades of light grey. As a Cold War kid it felt like I was some sort of spymaster or nuclear forces general using secret technology to plan my campaigns.
jjkaczor 3y ago
Heh... I preferred MapPoint, as it exposed a COM object interface and was controllable from other applications (like NetStumbler and VBScript) ...
- markath 3y ago
  Glad someone remembers it, it wasn't that successful (original author here).
tempaway45751g 3y ago
This reminds me of a Jeff Atwood blog post from 2007 where he talks about discovering that Google Maps (2 years old at that point) was quicker to use than locally run Microsoft Streets and Trips https://blog.codinghorror.com/who-killed-the-desktop-application/ https://blog.codinghorror.com/who-killed-the-desktop-applica... contains this mind bending sentence: Combined with a USB GPS receiver and a laptop, Streets and Trips is a fine navigational aid on trips. Well, assuming you were going to take the laptop on your trip anyway, which I always do. The world has changed so much since 2007

23 points by remoquete 3y ago

Used to use Autoroute being driven by an OG garmin gps 12 for navigation and I think there was an option to display live traffic density, that I used via a startac holding a 14.4 connection to AOL (why AOL? because they had an 800 number POP that didn't cost an arm and a leg over cell), all running on a NEC P133 laptop. Microsoft "Streets and Trips" had better maps though, but didn't support GPS tracking, as I remember it. By the end of the 90s MS had a handful of different mapping products, that all competed with each other in some weird way, some were under the Encarta branding, some under the Expedia branding, some just Microsoft and some Autoroute. This was a year or two after the 'original' release in the title though (Autoroute was a separate company for the first half of the 90s until MS bought them and rebadged their product).

genocidicbunny 3y ago
> Microsoft "Streets and Trips" ...is a trip down memory lane. I remember printing out the directions, plotting the key turns on the paper maps from AAA, having to have a little folder of printed papers while going on a long trip; Trying to figure out how the heck to get back to the route when you made a wrong turn, or trying to reroute around a long-closed street that the directions said you should take. Or having to search for hotels or restaurants where the whole family could stay/eat along the way, and having to do all of this ahead of time because there's no way you're getting internet access once you actually head out. Puts into perspective how much modern mapping/navigation apps have changed things.
mikestew 3y ago
Microsoft "Streets and Trips"…didn't support GPS tracking, as I remember it. It did, actually. You could even buy a version that had an included GPS unit that supported a USB connection to your laptop, or (IIRC) Bluetooth.

rhplus 3y ago

Direct download of an exe with no checksums or signatures from a non-HTTPS phpBB bulletin board? How many more red-flags can we add?

mips_r4300i 3y ago
Is there even any virus in the wild that could infect a 16-bit executable anymore?
- acheron 3y ago
  Gotta watch out for the Michelangelo virus.
  - zx8080 3y ago
    And wait for March 6.
wannacboatmovie 3y ago
The site clearly states it's explicitly designed to be accessed with ancient browsers on Win 3.1. Translation: it's not for you. So please knock it off with the phony alarmist infosec nonsense.
- ForOldHack 3y ago
  He raised the alarm, but... I scanned it with VirusTotal. Nothing. Should I post the CRC so you guys can verify that its the very same binary?

liotier 3y ago

I remember being pissed off when I found that NextBase had sold my beloved AutoRoute Express to Microsoft !

markath 3y ago
Sorry about that, but we could see the writing on the wall for small software companies as the big boys joined in.
- liotier 3y ago
  Totally understandable - distribution & sales rule the world, especially pre-Internet. At the time, I believe 1993 or maybe 1994, I was a first-year student so of course I had a pirated copy. I didn't even own a car, but I had never seen a computer map before, so just navigating it and playing with routing was a blast, especially as the routing process visualization on my slow PC was eye candy. I credit Autoroute Express for introducing me to GIS and routing algorithms - the first step on a path that led me to the Openstreetmap Foundation's board and to managing telecommunication networks geographical and topological data... So thanks !

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

scrumper 3y ago

The DOS version was one of the first graphical things I ever saw. My dad pretty much lived on the road in England and one day he came home with this installed on his portable (not really a laptop). Everyone remembers their first experience with Google Maps when it came out; I had similar feelings with this as a kid. It took ages to calculate a route, but it was incredibly cool. On a black and white, slow-refresh LCD screen, the map background was black and the routes in various shades of light grey. As a Cold War kid it felt like I was some sort of spymaster or nuclear forces general using secret technology to plan my campaigns.

jjkaczor 3y ago

Heh... I preferred MapPoint, as it exposed a COM object interface and was controllable from other applications (like NetStumbler and VBScript) ...

markath 3y ago
Glad someone remembers it, it wasn't that successful (original author here).

tempaway45751g 3y ago

This reminds me of a Jeff Atwood blog post from 2007 where he talks about discovering that Google Maps (2 years old at that point) was quicker to use than locally run Microsoft Streets and Trips https://blog.codinghorror.com/who-killed-the-desktop-application/ https://blog.codinghorror.com/who-killed-the-desktop-applica... contains this mind bending sentence: Combined with a USB GPS receiver and a laptop, Streets and Trips is a fine navigational aid on trips. Well, assuming you were going to take the laptop on your trip anyway, which I always do. The world has changed so much since 2007