Interesting, Linux version is 4.0.2723, and has been that for a few days now.

I'm suprised that it's not mentioned that Earth4 vastly widens the number of GPSes supported. Between the new realtime tracking, the new Magellan Explorist support, and nearly tripling the number of Garmins supported, it's a big step forward in GPS support.

It's great that google came up with this tool. As a realtor i can show my clients the exact location of the property they want to acquire.

What an amazing tool.
Remember when it was a 3rd party program "Keyhole" where you overflew earth in a space shuttle.

This software from Google is excellent. I'm glad they are finally out of beta. I'm also happy that Google always has a Mac version of there software, at least most of the time.

Great news! I am browsing digg for the first time and the site looks a log informative!

This is awesome but it seems undercapitalized. Where is the handheld device with a built in GPS and broadband access? Seems to me that such a thing would be the ultimate advertising vehicle.

Examples:

1. On my way home from work I want to pick up some Indian food but have no idea if there are any Indian food restaurants on the way.

2. Walking around as a visitor in a foreign city I can plan my travel to include shops, food, art, hotels, airports, etc.

I also want:

3. Addition of real-time data like the location of city buses and their routes, traffic, airport delays and flight info, the length of the checkout line at grocery stores, etc. . .

4. AI style algorithms to help wade through the mountain of data - i.e. find the cheapest gallon of milk on the way home from work so long as the checkout line is under two minutes.

Just giving my two cents as a consumer. The google-earth guys are geniuses and I'm sure this stuff is on the way. I see google-earth as the advertising infrastructure that will replace the yellow-pages.

Still very poor rendering of many places in Europe, Inverness in particular, and of Loch Ness and area.

Obviously a U.S. based company developed this program, as the focus is on the US and places it consideres important.

Sad.

Anybody working on integrating the Topographic maps from the Internet archive with it.
I used some Park maps, from the local Park services, which are based on topo maps and combined/corrected (to many switch backs and distortion through print) them with satellite pictures to create some running maps for friends. It's nice to have an idea that you have to run up to 9000 feet before you have to run it all the way down again.

I do agree that it is kind of sad that Google Earth focuses mainly on US destinations. Things like 3D buildings seems like a headline feature that television shows will talk about. People will be disappointed to see that unless they live in New York or California, they don't have 3D building data.

Why hasn't Google expanded their efforts to collect data? While in every bit amazing, Google Earth still leaves lots of room for improvement in the quality of the data.

Wow, it keeps getting better!

There is already a plugin that adds USGS topo support (rerieved from Terraserver), just search around for it.

[Edit: You could search for "topo" on GEB. Here's information on a good one:

http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2006/03/best_topo_map_i.html

Frank]

@ WriterWriter and Alex,

What do you expect?! This program is free-- you pay *nothing* for it!

If you want, there are numerous services out there that do what you want, _for a fee_. If you really want that stuff, GO PAY FOR IT! Google in no way owes you any features, and the resources to execute a worldwide 3d scan and hi-res photo repository would be astronomical!

And really, the area around Loch Ness? It's "google.com," first not "google.co.uk"

"Obviously a U.S. based company developed this program, as the focus is on the US and places it consideres important.

Sad."

Maybe if people in wherever you lived got off your lazy ***es and did something you would have something just as neat.

"Still very poor rendering of many places in Europe, Inverness in particular, and of Loch Ness and area. "

Google doesn't take the satellite photographs. It's something that has allready been done.

well done Google :D

"And really, the area around Loch Ness? It's "google.com," first not "google.co.uk""

.com does NOT mean an American website. .com is used for websites from anywhere in the world. .us is for American sites.

If you go to google.com, you would realise that google.com is the international site, with no mention of being an American-localised Google (such as google.co.uk).

A far greater percentage of the United Kingdom's land area is covered with high-resolution imagery than of the United States' land area. On the European mainland, two ENTIRE COUNTRIES are covered from border to border with high resolution imagery (Germany and the Netherlands).

Anyone who decries Google Earth as "US centric" (on imagery coverage grounds, at least) is just pissed because their hometown isn't covered. Try looking a little further afield guys :P

Haven't tried google earth for absolutely ages, but this version seems to have a lot more strange graphics glitches, like hokey textures, popping and so on. Also think the textures load somewhat slower. Might be someone leaching my wifi connection though.

Listen to yourselves! "It doesn't show MY neighborhood with uber high quality!"

1) Google does not take these pictures, they are just using existing data.

2) My neighborhood in the US doesn't have high res images either.

3) It's FREE people!! Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

\\That is all.

I have got a post in german in my blog about this matter.

hello
i am from Maldives.
thanks for the great work.
i realy enjoy the google earth.
is it posible for us to get the pictures of SHAVIYANI ATLL full coverage.

Thanks
Rilwan Adam

Its GREAT!!!!!! That's it.

hey google this is so cool all u need now is to be able to look inside of the biuldings ........lol........

me from Pakistan
I am so lucky to have Google Earth. I think this is only one option that makes me able to see geagraphical areas all over the world. It 's too lovely to see all the places where belonging people living.
I can see our beloved Places Like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, UK and too many other.
Simply It's Great thing

hi i m looking for latest 2007 satellite maps & 3d of pakistan lahore the version i have showing me some years past images how can i get these thanks for nice services

Google Earth is very helpful in the business of real estate here in Costa Rica. The only problem we experience is the fact that there are large portions of Costa Rica that are obscure from clarity on Google Earth. Other than that we are now just trying to incorporate Google Earth in our website for our visitors at BuyingCR

Hi
I am fed up with forever 'updating' software, and am quite happy to use my version G.E. 4.0.2722

If it aint broke - don't fix it.

However, logging on to google earth today, for the first time ever i get loads of mumbo jumbo whenever i click on a Google Earth Community icon.

Typically its like this:
$[user_name]
$[message_subject] $[message_text]

with a few links and some text.

What's going on?

(Newer updates generally devour more processing time, and many of the 'improvements' are for companies to collect feedback and data for their marketing depts.)

I love Google earth for all my web projects. What I wonder sometimes though is why is the Mac version so far behind the PC one? Still here in Costa Rica especially around Dominical we suffer from poor coverage in Google Earth.