A newer version of Google Earth is available.
(Download doesn't provide access to previous versions of this program.)
Features
- Editor's Rating:
- Average User Rating:
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Downloads:
4,440,305
- Operating Systems:
Windows XP, Windows 2000
- Additional Requirements:
Windows 2000/XP
- Limitations:
No limitations
- Date Added:
January 11, 2007
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Previous Versions:
Publisher's description of Google Earth 4
From Google:Google Earth puts a planet's worth of imagery and other geographic information right on your desktop. View exotic locales like Maui and Paris, as well as points of interest such as local restaurants, hospitals, and schools. Google Earth combines satellite imagery, maps, and the power of Google Search to put the world's geographic information at your fingertips. With Google Earth you can fly from space to your neighborhood--just type in an address and zoom right in, search for schools, parks, restaurants, and hotels. Get driving directions, tilt and rotate the view to see 3D terrain and buildings, save and share your searches and favorites and even add your own annotations.
The latest version adds higher-quality terrain data, textures for 3D buildings, and a new user interface.
Note: Google Earth is a broadband, 3D application that not all computers can run. Windows-based desktop PCs older than four years may not be able to run Google Earth and Windows-based notebook PCs older than two years may not be able to run it.
Editor's review of Google Earth 4
stars
- "Google the planet"
- Version reviewed: Google Earth 4
The latest version of Google Earth makes it, indubitably, the only free mapping app worth considering. Accessible enough for casual users, Google has been added features that make it a necessity for those whose topographic desires are more serious.
Most of the interface's real estate displays a rendering of the globe, which slowly zooms in on a satellite image of your destination once you've keyed it in. The control panel has changed and is now translucent and sits unobtrusively in a corner of the map. The new diagonal movement control and flexible north anchor, so you can re-orient the map, are useful additions.
The Layers, Places and Search panes are now a left-side navigation bar, and have more options for determining what information appears on the map. Everything from roads and restaurants to crime statistics can be displayed; subcategories and individual items can be unchecked to show only what you need. Google's driving directions are incorporated, and the user community has produced several nifty mods, including historical maps. There's also integration with Google's 3-D rendering program SketchUp, so you can design a building and see it in a real-life setting.
The only downside to the program is that it can consume a large amount of RAM, so as the developer notes, older machines might experience performance issues. But everyone else is bound to love Google Earth, both as an entertaining novelty and an informational tool.
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User reviews of Google Earth 4
- Average user rating: 4.1 stars out of 1151 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 137 user reviewsSee all 137 user reviews
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27 out of 30 people found this review helpful
Version: Google Earth 4
Pros: I find it to be the best freeware satelite program on the Internet as of yet. It is highly detailed in history markers, pointing out where certain things happened in certain areas in the world at certain times. And, if you don't want these types of features, you can turn them off. You can mark precise points on the earth, and then email them to another person with Google Earth, so that they can see this point on the earth for themselves (my dad and I do this all of the time. He was in the military, and all around the world, so he shows me the areas where he was by email).
Cons: Like others have said, some areas need updating, but the webmasters say they are working at it, and my area has suddenly come into clear view, and now I can zoom into my own house.
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
Version: Google Earth 4
Pros: easy to find places what u are looking for easy to use the software. very small download
Cons: some places need to be updated
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7 out of 7 people found this review helpful
Version: Google Earth 4
"Most amazing program I have ever used!"
Pros: look anywhere you want in the entire world, easy interface, 3-D effects, and they are even working on going from gray box buildings to 3-D real-like buildings. Congrats google on a job well done!
Cons: They really need to update the maps more often, as many have said, and provide a higher zoom for certain areas
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6 out of 6 people found this review helpful
Version: Google Earth 4
Pros: For free software, this is amazing. It's fun to use, and you can perhaps get a good idea of the place using the maps. I found my house and my friend's houses.
The new controls are great, they become invisible after you don't use them for a certain period time, meaning you get more of a map without too much distraction.
Cons: I couldn't find any myself. Reading other reviews, they said that it had old dated maps, but not anywhere I've been so far.
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Version: Google Earth 4
Pros: Easy to use, Small Filesize, runs smooth.
Cons: The only bad thing is that the photographs they use are getting out of date. It must be about 2003 or 2004 because where I live there is a car parked on the driveway which we no longer own! In some areas it seems like you can't zoom in so far, without the picture starting to become blurry.
- See all 137 user reviews Write review
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