For Example: "123 Main St, NY, NY" or "Paris" or "London Bridge", etc.
Google Earth software provides 3D and satellite maps of the entire earth, including local restaurant and hotel listings and driving directions. Zoom from space down to your house or create a "virtual fly by" to Paris, London, Maui, Iraq, or any other world destination. Download Google's award winning satellite mapping software, free! With the release of Google Earth and MSN Virtual Earth, there has been a great deal of discussion and conterversy over which product is superior. I have found Google Earth to be more useful for everyday use. I explain below. Download Google Earth above and write your own review of Google Earth or other earth software, send it to me at the email address below and I will add your review, or a link to it, to the list below. After downloading and working with both pieces of software and after reading many, many independant reviews, I have concluded that Google Earth wins out with regards to data quality (searhing for local restaurants, bars, attractions). Google Earth also wins out with regard to ease of use for generating point to point driving directions. MSN Virtual Earth tends to have better quaility satellite images (where images are available). Google Earth has satellite images available for nearly the entire world (hence Google 'Earth') but I cannot say I have looked at every square inch of the world. After using both products for several months, I now tend to use Google Earth exclusively. But don't take my word for it, read the reviews below for a comprehensive look at what people are saying about the two satellite mapping software and download a copy of Google Earth above and try it yourself. MSN Virtual Earth vs. Google Maps - TDavid takes a high level look at the user interface differences between Virtual Earth and Google Maps. He comes to the conclusion that both products are very simillar. He points out that MSN Virtual Earth has superior satellite graphics but the underlying data driving Google Earth and the clear road lines and road names give Google Earth the edge. Review: MSN Virtual Earth - In Jeremy Wright's Personal Blog, Jememy take a more indepth look at the two products. He points out first off that MSN Virtual Earth cannot locate his home town, but Google Earth has no porblem finding it. He goes on to say Virtual Earth proivides a greater level satellite detail for his small home town. Contrary to most reviews, he finds the user interface of the Virtual Earth product to be superior to Google Earth, but since his post, several of the specific UI gripes he has have been changed in Google Earth. He concludes by pointing out that Google Earth provides detailed maps for the entire world where as Virtual Earth focus on only the US. "...with just a bit more tweaking" he says, Virtual Earth would surpass other mapping products. Profile - MSN Virtual Earth - This is the first of two profiles from TechCrunch. This first profile is of MSN Virtual Earth. The "profile" is more screen shots than actual content, but as the saying goes, 'a picture is worth 1000 words'. These two profiles clearly show the satellite image quality of MSN Virtual Earth as compared to Google Earth. Profile - Google Earth (relaunch) - This TechCrunch profile of Google Earth is also screen shot heavy and describes several of the key Google Earth features. The profile also details the different versions of Google Earth that are available and lists system requirements for downloading and installing the software. In general, any modern day PC can run this light weight Google Earth software. This profile also includes several links to news articles descussing the release of Google Earth and Google Earth features. 'Google Earth' Ready to Travel the World - This article from eWeek.com features an interview of Google co-founder Sergey Brin and provides some insight into the history of Google Earth. The article also highlights some key Google Earth features and points out that much of the satellite imagery included in the product comes from NASA and other sources. A key feature listed here is the fact that Google Earth provides high resolution satellite imagry of major european cities, a feature MSN Virtual Earth cannot claim. MSN Virtual Earth vs. Google Earth - This post on Search Engine Journal by Greg Sterling touches on not only Google Earth and MSN Virtual Earth, but also on how these products compare to Yahoo maps and MapQuest. This post alos highlights some of the cool features of MSN Virtual Earth including the ability to see a "birds eye view" of large city locations from 4 different angles and the planned feature to show pictures of store fronts and virtually drive down streets. Pretty cool stuff is planned by both Google Earth and MSN Virtual Earth. Digitizing the Planet: Google Earth vs MSN Virtual Earth vs MapQuest - This short news article found in XMLJournal discusses the general future of Google Earth, MSN Virtual Earth and Mapquest. The article explains that digitizing the physical earth is a logical extension of the indexing of the internet that Google has been doing for years now.
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