PLEASE HELP! It really can't be this difficult to use my laptop with a separate USB connected GPS Receiver- Can it?

[wolfwhite]

History - I have a new laptop/tablet (Dell) running windows 8.1. I thought it would be nice because of the larger screen... So I also got myself a GlobalSat USB GPS Receiver (BU-353S4). Now I know you don't have to be "connected" to a network for GPS units to work (well except that you need to be connected to the GPS network) but that's what the Receiver is for. The trouble I am having is that no matter what mapping software I download, I cannot seem to get this thing to work.
I should add that I know the Receiver is getting the Satellite information. And that I admit I am downloading only FREE mapping software. I am also only using NMEA type software (this seems to be the most popular/standard in the industry if I understand correctly). I have also been made aware of the possible problems of using windows 8.1 vs. Android software (after all, it's a laptop & not a smart phone so.....) BUT I also have installed this (BLUESTACKS) software which is (supposed to) act like an Android OS either running in the background of the windows or some other way. This is where it gets beyond my skills. But having done all this I wonder why I have still not been able to get any sort of map and my moving location to show up. Is it really this hard/impossible to get standard NMEA GPS receiver to receive the signals/coordinates and transfer them to somebody's on screen map? It seems Microsofts Streets & trips has been discontinued and the sites all recommend you go to/with BING Maps as an alternative. So I have Bing Maps pre installed on my laptop but I only seem to get a location (fix) if I go to some spot where there is free WiFi and connect. As soon as I hit the road there is no GPS following/moving map/little arrow showing my position & direction & speed...
WHAT AM I MISSING HERE? !!!!!!!!!! HELP!!!! I really (feel) like this can be done but I am just missing something. I don't want to spend more $$ buying premium mapping software just to fing out it's still not going to work. Is it really this hard for a NOOB to get such stuff up and working?
The people at GlobalSat are of NO help at all. They list some Marine software (I'm not on the water) and they still have the Streets & trips listed which I apparently cannot get anymore.
I'm pulling my hair out trying to figure this out.
PLEASE, If you answer this question....Speak in the same simple language I am writing in. I don't speak High Tech computer language. I'm not stupid , I just don't have any formal training or years of experience like many school age children of today. Mr. Wolf

 

[wolfwhite]

Well it looks like I found the answer on my own (as usual). Seems the "key words" to use in Google searches for the appropriate type of mapping software is "open source mapping" and it also helps to include or look for 8.1 in the search as well. There were a number of different mapping software choices. What I think is unfortunate about my 3 week ordeal after buying my GPS receiver is that I could get NO helpful advice from either the people I bought it from Or (after they passed the buck on to ) the manufacture of the device. They were so overly concerned with telling me that they could not recommend any 3rd party software companies... blah, blah,blah. Though they did have on their web site a recommendation for Microsoft Streets & Trips which has long since been discontinued AND they had others that were not 8.1 compatible. And of course MOST of their so called recommendations on their web site were pay for options. The lack of technical support for stuff being sold for computers is a SAD state of affairs. Sure, I am a NOOB and have no "formal" computer education BUT I have been using them since the early days and don't consider myself an idiot either. So that's how I come to the conclusion of a system of sales & support gone bad. I'm sure glad I look for everything that's free because I KNOW that if I was paying for tech. support it would be just as piss poor as what I have been getting by going right to the makers & sellers of this stuff.