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+A few weeks ago Google quietly released [Google Earth Release 4 Beta][3]. I downloaded the new version and have been playing with it for a couple weeks. This morning I realized I had overlooked what's now my favorite feature -- historical maps. I first noticed that Google Earth has added historical maps when I [saw a blog post about it on ZDNet][4] this morning. 

But first a bit about Google Earth beta 4. Speed. Oh the speed. GE beta 4 sees much improved performance, particularly if you have a lot of overlays activated. Beta 4 is much faster at rendering, zooming and coming into focus. 

GE Version 4 features a new icon set for markers and various overlays. There are also numerous improvements and new features like  altitude for overlays. If you use [the popular Global Cloud Layer][2], you can now zoom through the cloud layer and pan back toward the sky and you'll see clouds instead of the generic blue. You can also set the clouds to cast shadows on the surface if you like. The altitude settings can apply to any overlay you want to add.

GE always was and continues to be a RAM hog, but that's somewhat expected given what it's capabilities. With about five overlays activated asking GE to zoom into Manhattan gobbled up almost 400 MB of RAM. As with the previous releases, the more RAM you have the better performance you'll see.

My favorite part of GE beta 4 is definitely the historical maps feature which allows you to overlay Rumsey Historical maps. Regular features like the state and national border overlay will still outline the current layouts so you can see how things have changed over the centuries. At the moment there are about twenty maps available, including the world globe of 1790, London in 1843, New York in 1836, the Lewis and Clarke expedition of 1814 and more. Below is a screenshot of New York in 1836 and one of the present day Manhattan.

Google Earth remains a one of kind program and beta 4 sees some great new features and a welcome speed boost. If your computer is up for it, I highly recommend downloading Google Earth beta 4.

[2]: http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2006/09/global_clouds_w.html "Google Earth Global Could Overlay"
[1]: http://earth.google.com/ "Google Earth"
[3]: http://earth.google.com/earth4.html "Google Earth Beta 4"
[4]: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Google/?p=387 "ZDNet blog on Historical Maps"
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