Filed under: Rumors, Software, Internet Tools
Google Earth OS X beta leaked?
Looks like those rumors Dave found yesterday of Google Earth finally coming to OS X weren't joking around, as an OS X beta of Google Earth has been leaked - one way or another - to the web. For those who aren't familiar: Google Earth is a fantastic Windows-only app (at present) that allows you to look at areal, 3D maps of nearly any location on the planet. Google even has a healthy number of metro areas rendered in full 3D goodness - complete with buildings and all. Users can also create driving maps and get directions to and from locations a la Google Maps. There's no mention of OS X beta availability on Google's site, so I'm personally refraining from snagging a copy until I hear of something a little more reliable. While I'm all happy with the security and relatively virus and malware-free OS X experience, I'd prefer to download this from the horse's mouth, rather than some anonymous tip. If you test this out, I'd recommend trying it on a Mac that isn't too crucial to your workflow. With that said, if any of you TUAW readers give it a go, please post your thoughts.[via digg]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jn. said 4:33PM on 12-09-2005
I got me a copy of the beta..
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Mark said 4:35PM on 12-09-2005
Didn't work for me... prolly because i'm behind the times and still running 10.3.9. Aaah... the wonderful world of corporate america.
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Matt said 4:37PM on 12-09-2005
I snagged it and overall it seems to be coming along nicely. I use the Windows version every day on my Pentium 4 laptop and my Mac mini can't keep up. If I bump the texture resolution to Medium or Large the system stutters while it's loading textures, not sure if my 5400rpm hard drive or my video card is the limitation at that point or what. Anyways, on a beefier system I imagine this works great, hopefully they'll tweak performance on lower-end systems.
Curiously, DirectX is still an option in the Preferences so this may be an early build or something. Guess that's one of the reasons why it's not fit for public consumption yet.
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John-Paul Plochl said 4:38PM on 12-09-2005
and so how is it Jn.? Worth the download?
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john said 4:44PM on 12-09-2005
I downloaded it on a PBook, G4 1.67, 1.5G ram and it stutters like Matt noticed.
I opened Activity Monitor and watched it while it loaded. It hit 70+% on CPU usage. iTunes (which was playing the new Beck) gagged for a few seconds during the Google Earth load.
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AH said 4:46PM on 12-09-2005
I have been using it since this afternoon on my iBook G4. Working very well. Similar to the PC version with some of the buttons, UI, etc.... exhibiting a bit of the Aqua feel.
Overall I am very happy to see it hit. Now it would be nice to see Google come through with a Picassa port.
- AH
StationA.net
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Samuel Vermette said 4:59PM on 12-09-2005
I snagged a copy and I have to say that it works like a charm. The onyl bad thig is the interface, that kinda ugly, remembering me Carbon apps. And another bad thing is that I just realized those sat images are 1-2 years old (that 2 years old burger king is still not on the map). Otherwise, very cool app.
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avixe said 5:04PM on 12-09-2005
I'd just like to remind all you pirate haxors that Google Earth does not include any map data; it downloads it from Google. And since most people tend to look at where they live when confronted with a map, you've probably now told Google both your IP and physical addresses.
Just something to mull over. Have a good weekend. Yarrh. Ahoy.
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Kacy said 5:06PM on 12-09-2005
Works very well on my powerbook 15" hi-res lcd 1.67 with 1gb RAM. I am not getting any stutter. the interface is a but un-maclike. But i am glad I can now play around with google earth.
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Macintiger said 5:18PM on 12-09-2005
Google is NOT going to care if you use this...They give away the Win version for free and will do the same with the final OS X version...It's not like's a $500 piece of software or something.
That said, I have been using it today on my Mac Mini and it's pretty decent for a beta.
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AH said 5:18PM on 12-09-2005
True, it probably does stutter a bit in comparison to it's Windows counterpart, but not so much that it is unusable.
Clearly an early build, but judging but my limited usage it is not too far off from being ready for a public release.
All in all a good sign of things to come.
- AH
StationA.net
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AH said 5:21PM on 12-09-2005
"Pirate Haxors"? Ummmm okif downloading a file makes me a haxor so be it.
And if Google sends the Feds with guns drawn to my house for using a beta version of one of their free applications I hope there is broadband in prison so I can tell you all about it.
But in the meantime please excuse me if I delude myself into believing that Google has better things to do than track down the very early adopters of their software.
Maybe looking into whoever leaked it in the first place, which to me would seem a bit more important than who downloaded it subsequently. But that's just me, I could be way off base in my assertions.
But you have a good weekend also!
- AH
StationA.net
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david said 5:31PM on 12-09-2005
anyone have another way of getting this file other than rapidshare? i'm stuck behind a firewall and filtering stystem at school that blocks peer-to-peer sites.
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Andrew Eller said 5:33PM on 12-09-2005
1.0 ghz iBook g4 running Tiger with 1.25gb RAM, Cable Internet, runs smooth except for the tabs on the left at times. I like it okay, I do wish Google updated the area where I live, it's all blurred.
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Andrew Eller said 5:37PM on 12-09-2005
o yeah...going to the earlier post there are a few links to download. Don't download the first post's link, it is ~48 megs. I got a working copy from a link later down the comment line from "oxymoron". Here's a repost of that link (~12mb):
http://d38.yousendit.com/C/01H260IZ43WTZ3OTEBSWPXG48L/GoogleEarthMac.app.zip
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David Chartier said 5:44PM on 12-09-2005
Three big factors that can make this app work funny, especially since it's an *unofficially released* beta. It probably should be labeled as an alpha, but hey, what'r you gonna do:
1) As a few other comments have noted, you don't have the entire database IN your Mac. You just have the app, which has to call out to google for all the maps, imagery, etc each time you look up an address. That's a lot of data to pipe in real time. Sure, it caches some of that stuff as you go - like a browser - but you're still moving a lot of data with this app.
2) Video cards - don't be surprised if this works funny on Macs with only 32 MB ram video cards, or older iBooks with the same spec. This is a really graphics and 3D intensive app, and that can bring many older, lower horsepower machines to their knees. Optimization can only go so far with graphics-intensive stuff like this.
3) Google's servers could simply be getting hammered. I remember not long after the Windows beta was released Google had to shut down the servers for a few days, if not weeks, from sheer overburden.
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Brett Edwards said 5:45PM on 12-09-2005
#5: iTunes probably "gagged" at having to play that new Beck garbage, nothing to do with the Google Earth beta. :>
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MacUsr said 5:45PM on 12-09-2005
http://macusr1234.blogspot.com/2005/12/google-earth-for-mac.html
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Noah said 6:30PM on 12-09-2005
It's great, but it makes me wish I have a Quad-Core G5. I have a 1.33 G4 12" Powerbook, and I have been able to run basically word, and excel at the same, time, and then the machine is unbearable to use (and I have 1.25 Gb of ram).
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David Chartier said 6:34PM on 12-09-2005
Noah, that isn't right. Something's wrong with your machine. Have you been running any maintenance, cleanup? How much free space is on your hard drive for OS X's swap file? Do you ever fix permissions or use the install CD's to run a disk repair?
If you're running Tiger, I highly recommend heading over to AutomatorWorld.com and downloading the Maintenance 3.1 action. It's currently in their top 10 list in the top left. I had a very similar powerbook for a long time with less ram and ran a heckuva lot more apps than you are with yours; something isn't right.
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