Posts tagged NextBase

The original AutoRoute was developed by NextBase Limited in the UK in 1988.

Version History

AutoRoute V1.2 (not copy protected)
This beta release was given out only to a small number of journalists prior to completing work on copy protection. From there is spread like wildfire to become one of the most pirated software products of its time in the UK. One unique ‘feature’ of this version was that it would frequently route you via the Isle of Wight because at that time we had not put a delay in for ferries so it assumed you could get there and back in no time at all.

AutoRoute V1.3 (copy protected)
This was the official first release. It was sold in a cloth covered box for £130 (GBP).

AutoRoute V1.5 (copy protected)
A later release.

Functionality
The original AutoRoute was a route planning and mapping program capable of displaying maps and calculating the shortest, quickest or alternative routes between any locations in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales).

AutoRoute Plus was the business version of AutoRoute (or later AutoRoute Express) from NextBase Limited.  AutoRoute Plus was capable of planning more complex journeys and also allowed customers to geocode their own data to see it on the map and to plan routes between locations from their own databases.  A Windows version followed the original DOS version.

MapBase was a product from NextBase Ltd. that could be used to map territories, geocode databases and analyze databases within geographic boundaries.

NextBase AutoRoute Express USA was launched into the European market in 1992 aimed at people travelling to America on vacation or for business.

Automap Road Atlas was the first consumer route planning and mapping software product ever launched in the USA market. Created by British Software company NextBase Ltd. and sold under license by Automap Inc. in the USA it was launched in the USA in 1991. Automap Road Atlas was a successor to the highly successful UK product AutoRoute, later called AutoRoute Express. A professional route planning product called Automap Pro (AutoRoute Plus in Europe) followed and later there was a professional mapping product for geocoding and territory analysis called MapBase.

Here is a list of a few of the products that NextBase Ltd. and Automap Inc. sold between 1988 and 1994.

AutoRoute Plus

Automap Road Atlas
NextBase AutoRoute Express USA

MapBase – software for mapping territories and performing map based analysis

Automap Pro

After NextBase sold to Microsoft the products continued under the following names.
Microsoft Automap Road Atlas
Microsoft Automap Streets Plus

Microsoft Automap Road Atlas was a consumer route planning and mapping program sold on 3.5″ floppy discs.

Microsoft Automap Streets Plus was sold by Microsoft.  It contained street-level mapping data for the USA from Etak Inc.

Automap Pro was a professional route planning and mapping program sold by NexBase Ltd. through their American Subsidiary Automap Inc. in the USA Market.