The most amazing, free to use, software out there! (earth.google.com)

Member Name: phillipsdj

Product:	earth.google.com
Date:	18/02/09 (112 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Amazing, Easy To Use, Free, Educational, Fun...................... ..

Disadvantages: I could lose hours using it!

Google Earth is without doubt one of my favourite ever pieces of computer software! It is a completely free, interactive model of Earth which, dependent on your PC capabilities, can be used merely to view your back garden or your Aunt Mabel's ranch out in Texas or can be used to find pubs and clubs down the King's Road in London, view 3D models of famous buildings and landmarks worldwide, to walk through Central Park in New York or (if like me, you are lucky enough to work with it day in day out) it can be utilised to show your employer's (insurance company) exposure to, for instance, windstorm in each individual state in America.

*Background Information*
I genuinely never know where to start my reviews but this one has been a bit easier as, when it comes to PC software, minimum system requirements seems an ideal starting place. According to the official Google Earth website, the minimum capabilities required to efficiently run Google Earth are:

Windows 2000, XP or Vista,
256mb of RAM
400mb of free space on your hard disk
A Graphics Card with 3D capabilities with 16MB of VRAM.

As with anything software related I would recommend having a much more powerful PC than above to run Google Earth, for this application I would suggest that RAM and Graphics are most important as it can be very 'image heavy' and a slow machine would struggle to load some of the images, particularly the countries with high resolution such as USA or UK and, if you have this function switched on, the places with many 3D modelled buildings - Capital and major Cities usually.

*Layout*
As with any standard product the top left hand corner contains File, Edit, View, Tools, Add and Help. These contain everything from Open and Exit under file to adding Placemarks, Paths, Polygons, Models and Photos under add and everything else in between. The other standard icons, Minimise, Maximise and Close are contain in the top right hand corner. Immediately below these are 2 circles and a vertical scale line - the first circle acts as a compass, showing which direction you are currently looking in. The default direction is North but clicking on any of the 4 arrows contained in the circle will move your view in that direction. The second circle also contain 4 arrows and has a hand in the centre of it, these arrows can be used to 'scroll' your view. For example if you were viewing your back garden, and then wanted to view your neighbour's garden you could click on the left arrow and this will scroll your scene to the left.

At the top of the screen (below the Microsoft standard buttons mentioned above) you have 11 custom icons, these are as follows:

Hide/Show sidebar - I will mention the sidebar later on in the review. This button gives you the choice of whether or not to have this in view.

Add Placemark - As it sounds, this gives you the option to add a marker to whatever you happen to be viewing - this can be invaluable if you want to measure the distance between 2 points. You are also presented with a number of other options such as adding a text description, choosing the colour, scale and opacity of both the icon and the label as well as deciding if you want the marker 'pinned' to the floor or floating at a height you choose. As well as viewing the exact co-ordinates of the marker, clicking the button in the top right hand corner allows you to choose which icon you want - the default is a yellow drawing pin, but you can choose from many more.

Add Polygon - This is a function which I have had very few dealings with. It allows you to design and add in a polygon, or structure, to your current view. These polygons can be clamped to the ground or floating in mid-air. If you choose mid-air, then you click a check box to extend the sides down to the ground so you are essentially building a tower.

Add Path - This allows you to draw a path on to your current view, as with other functions you get the option to design this in the air but clamp it to the ground so that you could draw, for example, the circuit of the M25 and raise this up so that the motorway path is clearly visible above London.

Add Image Overlay - This is another function which I have used very rarely, however having played with it for this review I can advise that this button allows you select an area, as large or small as you like, and 'lay' an image over it. In my example I placed a copy of my online avatar picture over the square mile in London. Again you get the options to choose the opacity of the image as well as raising it in the air if you want to.

Show Ruler - As the name suggests, this function acts as a ruler and will measure the distance between 2 points. This could be a straight line or alternatively a 'path' with the user selecting various points and Google Earth connecting these to make a pathway. Distance can be measured in Centimetres, Metres, Kilometres, Inches, Feet, Yards, Miles, Nautical Miles or Smoots.

Show Sunlight - This function adds a small sliding scale to the top of your screen which the user can drag to the change the time of day being viewed. When the time is changed, the sunlight shining is amended to an appropriate level for that time of day. For example, changing the time to midnight will bathe the City in darkness.

Switch between Sky and Earth - A fairly recent addition to Google Earth is the ability to view the solar system, clicking this button will take you to this function and allow you to view space. I have unfortunately had no dealings with this.

E-mail/Print/View in Google Maps - The final 3 buttons all apply to your current view. E-mail gives you the choice of sending a Jpeg copy of your view, sending a file which will open your view or sending a placemark/folder which, again, will open up your current view. Print does 'what it says on the tin'! While View in Google Maps will open up your current view in the Maps section of the Google website.


Down the left hand side of the screen you have the previously mentioned sidebar which can be turned on or off. The bar is split into 3 sections - Search, Places and Layers. The search function is, as you would imagine, where you type your desired location in, this can be entire addresses ie 1 Dooyoo Avenue, London, NW1, or Cities or postcodes and so on and so forth. If your search could be 1 of various option (for example only typing in a Street name) the results box will give you a number of suggestions. The search box also lists all searches you have done in this session, enabling you to click on 1 particular location if you want to go back to it. There are also options to find business types (this works like the Yellow pages) by Location and to find directions between 2 points.

The places box is where all of your saved locations are stored along with any KMLs or KMZs you have downloaded. For example on my GE at work I have the locations of some bridges and tunnels saved as I have recently had to deal with them for work and also have a number of weather related KMLs which track and pinpoint real time storms and earthquakes.

The Layers box is where the user can really customise their Google Earth experience based on what they want to view and/or the capabilities of their computer. There are 10 or so categories of 'layers' which you can add some of which add obvious information - prime examples include Roads, 3d Buildings, Borders and Labels and Street view. These add Road Name labels to each street, 3d Buildings (where available), City/County/State/Country borders and labels and the ability to step into your view. The latter option is currently only available in larger cities of the world, and feature quite prominently under the UK, USA, Australia etc.

The remaining options (Geographic Web, Weather, Gallery, Global Awareness, Places of Interest and More) add various icons to your Google Earth indicating where further information is available. This information is VERY wide ranging and contains everything from where the local bars/cafes are to pieces uploaded by Wikpedia, Greenpeace and even NASA! Under the Gallery option you find an option for Ancient Rome 3d - the wonderful people at Google (I have no affiliation but do LOVE this program) have actually modelled ancient Rome and checking these box brings all the ancient buildings, ampitheatres and viaducts onto your screen!

*Ease Of Use*
In my opinion Google Earth is one of the easiest pieces of software to use. Despite it being absolutely massive you soon get the hang of it, and although I'm sure there are manuals available out there on the web, I think this is one of those occasions where it is much more fun just to play around with it yourself and learn as you go along. The search box is very easy to use and once you have zoomed in on your own house, then onto Buckingham Palace (or other famous landmarks!) I'm sure it won't be long until placing placemarks, making your own tours from location to location and downloading KMLs which you find interesting and/or fun!

*Recommended?*
Yes!!!! I would like to add more but I'm sure that if you have survived this far through the review then you won't to read me prattle on again about how wonderful and interesting Google Earth is!

My final comment will be: Google Earth is amazing, wonderful, interesting, educational, fun and, best of all, free! Please, if you haven't already used this program download it now and have a play around - it is a remarkable piece of software!

Thanks for reading, all criticism/suggestions are more than welcome!

Summary: Amazing, Amazing, Amazing, Amazing, Amazing, Amazing, Amazing,