Unlike many other products, software presents consumers with a rapidly moving target. Ever decreasing development cycles and a culture that demands continuous upgrades virtually insure that the electronic charting package you see on the shelves today will not be the same six months from now.

While it is generally a good thing that companies add features or fix bugs, issuing so-called "point releases" several times a year, it also means that boaters must work to keep their e-charting software and application skills current.

If you are buying, make sure you have the latest version of software – typically available on the company website.

ADDING AND SUBTRACTING

The market may move faster than you think. Many of the programs we reviewed in the last five months have already undergone changes large and small.

For example, shortly after our October review, GPSNavX quickly responded to our suggestions and added customizable units for distance, depth and speed (including adding statute miles). They improved chart printing and display speed, added a Base World map and extended their support for GPX and Google Earth technologies.

And during our December research, NavSim introduced a chart updating feature that compares the user's library with charts currently available from NOAA or the Army Corps of Engineers catalogs and automatically downloads the latest editions.

Sometimes the changes are not related to programming, but to the way a company conducts business. For example, since our review of Nobeltec VNS in November, the company announced that it was withdrawing support for its well-known Passport Charts; that it would no longer support S-57 charts; and that it was switching to support C-Map cartography. (These developments were reported in a subsequent January review of Nobeltec Admiral).

STAYING CURRENT

So how do you keep up? Some programs, like Rose Point's Coastal Explorer, automatically check for updates when they are loaded. If you have an Internet connection, the software will update itself. Many others require users to do it manually.

Passivity is not your friend here. The most effective method is to become proactive and follow what the company is doing. When you buy your software, register it and get on an email list for notifications. You should also monitor the company's website and user forums, both of which notify users when an update is available.

Finally, make it part of your routine maintenance to check for software and chart updates once a year. This will insure that your application is current, and extend the life – and the utility – of your investment.