While Virtual Earth continues to evolve in the cloud, Microsoft manages to remain anchored on the desktop. In this regard, the Redmond giant made available for download MapPoint 2009 and Streets and Trips 2009 at the end of the past week. Announced in mid-July 2008, trial versions for the two products have gone live on the Microsoft Download Center. Both MapPoint North America 2009 and Streets and Trips 2009 trial editions have started being offered since August 22, and come with support for Windows Server 2003 Sp2, Windows Vista RTM and Service Pack 1 and Windows XP SP2, but not SP3.

"MapPoint 2009 gives you the power to visualize business data and communicate insights with instant impact. Before you hit the road, plug in your stops and MapPoint plots the most efficient course with turn-by-turn driving directions. MapPoint 2009 with GPS Locator adds routing and directions to easily plan your trips and track your location in real-time," reads Microsoft's description of the product.

According to the Redmond company both trial editions are time-bombed to expire after 60 days. This means that end users will be able to test drive the releases and jump to the final products just as they will become available. MapPoint 2009 (Desktop Business Intelligence Mapping and Analysis Tool) will drop initially in September with Streets & Trips 2009 (Desktop Consumer Trip Planning) scheduled for October. Of course that Microsoft considers Streets & Trips nothing but a subset of MapPoint, and both packages as offline limited equivalents of Virtual Earth.

"I did want to answer a couple questions / clarifications that have arisen [since the first details about the products were offered]," revealed Chris Pendleton, Virtual Earth Tech Evangelist. "Has the MapPoint 2009 programming model or map control changed? No. The data has been updated and the UI for the client is drastically different, but the API remains the same. What are the release dates? The North American version will be available for purchase on Sept. 1, 2008. The European Edition will be available Jan. 1, 2009. These are the same dates that the product will be available on MSDN. Do I still need to install the Access DB engine. Yes. Is there still a limit for mapping 10,000 pushpins? Yes and no."

MapPoint North America 2009 trial is available for download here.
Streets and Trips 2009 trial edition can be grabbed here.
Pushpin images for Streets and Trips or MapPoint 2009 can be downloaded via this link.