Debut: MSN Virtual Earth

I know you must have heard of Google Earth, and probably used it too. But have you come across MSN Earth? Probably not.

MSN Virtual Earth can be considered an evolution of Microsoft TerraServer and MapPoint which has now made its way into the Windows Live set of Web-based applications.

MSN Virtual Earth offers an excellent mapping/satellite imagery application, inherited from MapPoint and Terraserver. It is very much like Google Earth in that sense, but in certain other features such as directions and streets, it competes with Google Maps.

How does it compare to Google Earth? There are good things and bad things - the good thing is that there is no download and therefore, all you need is a browser. The bad - you need an internet connection with decent bandwidth, or you may end up waiting a long time for the detailed images. But for watching pure maps, probably, MSN Virtual earth is a hands down winner.

You can auto locate via your IP address or via a small download, which works very well. MSN Earth provides you with a scratch pad to keep notes. The picture quality in MSN Virtual Earth is better than Google Earth. 

The Microsoft official statement announcing the launch of MSN Virtual Earth said that "MSN Virtual Earth provides a deeply immersive search experience that lets people see what it's like to be in a location and easily explore what they can do there."

There are test features not available for public use yet which allow one to drive a virtual car along city streets. Also expected in the future is imaging technology from Pictometry which will add a 45-degree perspective to the views.

There is no official revenue model that has been made public for MSN Virtual Earth - the logical assumption to make, of course, is that as MSN AdCenter matures, ads would start appearing on the pages. However, Google Earth remains ad-less for the time being, and it is unlikely that Microsoft would go for advertisements before Google takes the plunge.

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