Google Earth and MSN Virtual Earth

I tried Google Earth and flipped. Wow, an amazing piece of software -- and for free at that -- where you can virtually fly over buildings, or across the Earth to specific addresses.

Could actually "see" the stacks of containers on the wharves I used to walk past in Auckland in New Zealand. Google says some of the pics are three years old but the details - especially for some destinations in the US - were amazing.

WSJ Personal Tech correspondent Walt Mossberg's review weighs in with "it's cool" endorsement but points out some quirks:

"...For instance, the details of the White House roof have been blanked out, presumably to obscure security features and vulnerabilities. And all but the outline of the U.S. Capitol is deliberately obscured. But the Pentagon and CIA headquarters are shown crystal clear, in considerable detail."

I guess the terrorists are so dumb, they can't figure this out (duh).

Meanwhile, Chris Pirillo shows us a sneak peek of MSN Virtual Earth in wmv format.

It looks equally amazing, though it won't be out for some time yet.