Google Earth lets you fly anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery,
maps, terrain, 3D buildings, from galaxies in outer space to the canyons
of the ocean. You can explore rich geographical content, save your
toured places, and share with others.
Google Earth's features include:
See global changes with decades of historic imagery
If you've ever wondered how your neighborhood has changed throughout
time, Google Earth now gives you access to the past. With a simple
click, check out suburban sprawl, melting ice caps, coastal erosion, and
more.
Dive beneath the surface of the ocean
In the new ocean layer, you can plunge all the way to the floor of the
sea, view exclusive content from partners like BBC and National
Geographic, and explore 3D shipwrecks like the Titanic.
Track and share your paths with others
Take placemarks a step further and record a free-form tour in Google
Earth. Simply turn on the touring feature, press record, and see the
world. You can even add a soundtrack or narration to personalize the
journey.
What's new:
- Support for 3D imagery data: 3D data provides a comprehensive representation of metropolitan environments around the world. 3D imagery is currently available in the these areas.
- Tour Guide mechanism in the client: The new tour guide allows you to explore interesting places around the world, even if you don’t know to search for them. As you move, thumbnails of pre-created tours and points of interest will dynamically update with interesting locations in your current view. Read more.
- Support for terrain data accessed via Google Maps Engine
- Zooming in now tilts at a higher elevation in order to showcase 3D imagery
- A unified graphical rendering pipeline
- Redesigned startup tips and status bar
Issues fixed in this release
Google Earth Client
- Fixed a Pro and Enterprise bug whereby cached login data disappeared after upgrading to Mac OS 10.8+.
- Sound can now be recorded from a microphone when producing a tour.
- Improved Atmosphere feature for users on certain NVIDIA GeForce cards.
- Polygons clamped to seafloor now display correctly.
Known issues in Google Earth 7
- PC Enterprise users will note flashing historical imagery when going to the minimum date of the time slider in a handful of areas around the world. To workaround, use 6.2 for Enterprise.
- Terrain, imagery and polygons that overlap the antemeridian occasionally appear broken.
- This build includes changes to shaders that strain older graphics cards. Please see system requirements for updated lists of recommended hardware.
