Route 66 GPS Route Planning

[AmosMac]

Hello.

I've been investigating GPS software for the Mac. There have been a few good looking apps for map/track data, but route planning has been a little thin on the ground.

I found a link to the GPSCity petition here on the forums and after signing it, decided to do a more thorough hunt. What I found was Route66 <http://www.66.com> which is a Mac friendly Netherlands company traditionally focused on the European route planning market. They have recently released Canada & U.S. products in an attempt to break into the North American market. They have Mac versions of these products available, and it looks like the route info can be updated from their site.

Anyway, it's nice to see a company that is Mac friendly (especially in an area where there has been little support) so I thought I would pass the info along.

[physicsnerd]

Have you actually used their software on a mac yet? Or are you still looking into it? If so what do you think of it?

[AmosMac]

No. I haven't even bought a GPS unit yet.

My uncle is looking at getting a laptop (first computer) and was interested in route planning. I was investigating the options on a Mac to make sure that my suggestion for his first computer (an iBook) would do the trick for the GPS stuff. It does seem to be one area where the Mac lags behind the PC in support.

I noticed the GPSCity petition so when I found the Route66 software I thought I would pass along the info about this software. I also found MacGPS Pro <http://www.macgpspro.com> and GPSy <http://www.gpsy.com> but they both seem to be focused at an audience that has either already been somewhere or knows how to get there already and just want's to load the data into their GPS.

I'd love to hear comments on any of these apps.

[Btoney]

I don't understand the comment that Route 66 "has now entered the North American Market" that appears in their web site. I have been using a North American module of Route 66 since 1997, which runs fine in Classic mode. It calculates estimated elapsed time and distance (in miles or kms) and estimated cost of gas consumed (again, in metric or miles). It also produces driving directions and a map. It does not provide information (e.g., historic sites, accomodation, etc.) about places en route. Perhaps the new version does. Within its limitations, I found it very useful. The European module covered the area from Ireland in the West to Moscow in the East.