Microsoft sent me some new software to try out, and to tell all the world how great it is. Unfortunately, when you ask for my opinion, you're going to get my opinion, whether you like it or not.

The software they sent me was the new, 2006 edition of Microsoft MapPoint. I'm not sure why I got it. Maybe it's because I'm an MVP. Maybe it's because I've spoken with the MapPoint team at conferences, and raved about it.

And I have raved about it. MapPoint is an indispensable tool for trip planning. I'm very thrilled with it. And I'm even happier with the 2006 edition, for lots of little reasons. For one thing, it has lots of new map data, so it better reflects the roads I'm driving. In particular, it now includes Michigan route M-6, or what I like to call "The Wormhole" because it lets me get to far east or far west quadrants of the Grand Rapids area about half an hour faster. If i need to get from, say, Panera by the Woodland Mall (where I'm at right now) to Panera by the Rivertown Plaza (one of my other frequent Panera stops), it's faster to go east, then south to M-6, then west, and then north, than to just head west from here. The route may be more than twice as long, but the travel time will be shorter. (And to think, it only took them forty years to build that road...)

But there's one way where MapPoint falls short: it's a lousy single-person automobile navigation tool.

I've used it for multi-person navigation, where one person drives and the other navigates on the computer. It works great, especially if you hook it up to a GPS. But when I'm driving without a navigator, I can't stop and look at the computer. I once lost four hours in Chicago traffic because I couldn't read the map and drive at the same time. It's just not that helpful.

What I want is something like Hertz NeverLost. For $9 per day, it will almost guarantee you can't get lost. And while it's not perfect, it's darn good. And you don't have to read it as you drive: it talks to you.

So imagine my excitement when one of the new features promised with MapPoint 2006 was a talking GPS feature! I already had a GPS unit, so I plugged it in and took it on the road.

But now I have to say: Sorry, Microsoft, but it's not quite there yet.

Oh, it works pretty well, at a minimal level: as you drive, it tells you where your next turn will be, without you ever having to look at it. And it has one really nice feature: you can make it repeat the last command by tapping the space bar (which you can easily find without looking at the computer). NeverLost could use that feature.

But as soon as you veer from the planned course, it fails. It tells you "Off course", and that's it. You have to stop the car and create a brand new trip.

Whereas NeverLost... Ah, NeverLost... When you veer off course from the course that NeverLost planned for you, it gives you a little while to correct. See, GPS signals aren't perfect, and you might really be on course.

And then, once it recognizes that you really are off course, it recalculates the course for you automatically. And that's why it's so hard to get lost: even if you miss a turn, you're not lost. NeverLost will still find the way for you.

Sorry, Microsoft, but it's not quite there yet. MapPoint is programmable. I'll bet I could program it to do what I want. But that's not time I can spare (even though it sounds like fun). So NeverLost will still get my business for now.