Use the Web... .or buy software? Maps on your PC. Bloomberg Boot Camp, a report on today's technology. Online maps and directions from sites like AOL owned Mapquest can be a life saver. Look up a phone number for a business on the Web... .and the technology can show you where it is and give you directions to get there. So why do need CD ROM based mapping software? Sandra Andrews is the product manager for Microsoft's Streets and Trips 2002... .

"What we found is that users are using Web sites to help them find addresses and locate directions. But the Web site will only take you so far. With Streets and Trips, you have so many more features right at your finger tips. First and foremost, you don't have to wait for an Internet connection. You've got the program on your machine and you can access 800 thousand different points of interest... those are hotels, ATM machines, movie theatres, attractions, parks, golf courses... they're all built right into the map."

Microsoft does allow you to install the software in its entirety on a PC or notebook... so you can take it on the road without having to have the CDs... .and use it with a GPS receiver...

"Or you can take the maps from Streets and Trips and download them to your PocketPC with Pocket Streets."

Microsoft has competition in the category... from Delorme, Rand McNally and TravRoute... .but its 29.95 price after a ten dollar rebate is hard to beat. Bloomberg Boot Camp, I'm Fred Fishkin.