Microsoft Corporation on Tuesday announced the newest member of the Office family of applications, MapPoint 2000. MapPoint combines accurate geographical and demographic data with easy-to-use, Office-like analysis tools.

"MapPoint is breaking new ground in the business mapping category," said Robbie Bach, vice president of the learning, entertainment and productivity group at Microsoft. "We've seen a growing demand from our customers to be able to use maps to enhance their business. With MapPoint, users of Microsoft Office are no longer forced to learn specialized geographic information systems and concepts to use maps in their everyday work."

MapPoint can be used as a standalone program, but it really shines when combined with Microsoft Office. Integration with Access, Excel, and Outlook allows users to share data across the applications. Maps can also be copied and pasted into Office documents or saved as HTML files for the Web.

Microsoft MapPoint 2000 will be available at the same time as Office 2000, in Q1 1999. It will be sold as a standalone product and as part of Office 2000 Premium Edition. For more information, please visit the MapPoint 2000 Web site.