MapPoint 2002 Goes Gold

Microsoft has released to manufacturing MapPoint 2002, mapping and geographic analysis software that integrates with Office. MapPoint 2002 entered beta testing last December, and included mainly Office testers. Release Candidate 0 arrived at the beginning of this month and with few bugs reported, code was deemed complete.

MapPoint 2002 features greater customization, a new ActiveX control, improved support for add-ins, territory features, and increased integration with Office XP.

"When making business decisions, location information is a key component," said Michael Graff, general manager of geography products, in a press release. "With MapPoint 2002 up-to-date location and demographic data, our customers can chart, display and analyze their business information more effectively, enabling them to make more intelligent decisions about their businesses' past, current and future performance."

MapPoint 2002 will be available for purchase at the end of May, and will retail for $249 USD. The ActiveX component can be licensed separately, although the sofware giant has not yet announced pricing.

Microsoft has posted two screenshots of the new release here and here. For more information on MapPoint 2002, read the interview with Michael Graff or visit the MapPoint Web site.