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While most mapping programs are far from perfect, in some cases they will
route you in ways that defy logic. For example, they may send you on a
U.S. highway, which in many places are not a highway at all, but surface
streets, through a busy city instead of bypassing the city in favor of the
Interstate, they can quickly and with a high degree of accuracy calculate
point-to-point mileage's. Anyone that has ever tried accurately reading mileages from an Atlas and combining them only to find out the map was wrong or that they missed 25 miles here or there, will
love any of the popular mapping programs (we use Automap Professional, which is no longer available).
DeLorme Map-N-Go and Microsoft Streets & Trips are two examples of popular standalone mapping software packages within the Long Distance community, as well as a few others. The DeLorme package has a satellite link with various GPS navigation tools, and also a interface with the internet to obtain real-time weather and road construction advisories along your proposed route. Another trick DeLorme feature is "Exit Services", which outlines all available services (fuel/food/lodging/etc) at each Interstate exit.
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