Google Earth Pro Now Free?

http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2015/01/google-earth-pro-now-free.html

by chippy • 11 years ago

92 20 11 years ago

gearthblog.com

emilburzo• 11 years ago

Google Earth Pro features: https://support.google.com/earth/answer/189188?hl=en

available only for windows/mac

nagrom• 11 years ago

Note that, at the bottom of that page, it is clearly stated that Earth pro is free for both personal and business use.

chippy3• 11 years ago

GE is available for Linux too - but I don't know if the Pro version has additional features from Windows/Mac

cjensen2• 11 years ago

I love Google Earth, but it hasn't been updated since 2013. The Mac binary isn't signed so it doesn't even run on modern OSX[1].

Has Google abandoned Google Earth?

[1] Unless you know how to work around that, which the average user doesn't.

chippy3• 11 years ago

They seem to have abandoned separate but similarly named Google Earth Engine also...

I wonder what's next.

FreakyT• 11 years ago

It's a shame they haven't updated it, but I guess the WebGL-based "earth" now in Maps is the replacement.

(As an aside, I find the code-signing in OSX to be pretty crooked -- charging $100/year just to allow people with default settings to run your executables seems pretty sketchy. If it really was about security, I would expect at most a one-time fee, with Apple reserving the right to revoke your key if your programs contain malware.)

mnem• 11 years ago

Security is a part of it, but the fee also gets you 2 incident tickets with Apple engineers (way more that a forum chat - they'll look at code and debug) and a reasonably decent distribution infrastructure (their Mac App Store).

I say none of that to justify the overall notion of a paid developer program, but it's wrong to characterise it as just security signing.

Although, now that I think about it, I do pay yearly for certificates for my website - although not $99 :)

cjensen2• 11 years ago

Back when compilers cost money, I had no problem as a $40K/year programmer paying >$200 for the latest edition annually.

It really is about security. You have to ID yourself to get in. If you write malware, Apple has a kill switch they can enable to kill all your apps everywhere, and law enforcement has at least the start of a trail to follow.

I really want Windows to switch to this model! I cringe every time I download an unsigned installer. Even Free Software (Free as in Freedom) developers manage to pay for a cert.

jpatokal• 11 years ago

Google Earth 8 for Android was released only 3 months ago, and it's also the first in the Earth 8 line.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Earth#Android_version

Forbo• 11 years ago

Does anyone else see this a move to try and get people "hooked on" Google Earth over other more open options (such as TopOSM)?

smeyer• 11 years ago

No, not at all. They don't seem to be actively pushing Earth and seem to be pushing aspects of it in Maps instead. It doesn't look like a heavy push to "hook" people on Earth.

themodelplumber• 11 years ago

I love using the built-in flight sim (flying over mountains and pausing to check out Panoramio photos is cool) but I was surprised to find how old the binary is. Hope they don't completely drop it. :-(

cma• 11 years ago

For something similar check out Outerra. Only the paid version has vehicles, but it is really nice, especially in VR.

johansch• 11 years ago

Isn't this what CNN etc are using on a daily basis? This is now abandonware?

wldcordeiro• 11 years ago

Google Earth and Maps seem to be running into each other's domains. What Google should do is update Google Earth and rebrand it as Maps or vice verse and merge the two.

chippy3• 11 years ago

Official announcement http://google-latlong.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/google-earth-pr...

jonah• 11 years ago

Nice. I just installed GE a couple weeks ago to explore a piece of land I was interested in but had to eyeball the boundaries. Pro has parcel data which is what I'd wanted.

Google Earth Pro Now Free?

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