SAN FRANCISCO -- Google on Tuesday released the Mac version of Google Earth. The long-awaited software enables Mac users to view the same animated driving directions, 3D buildings and terrain, zoom-ins and zoom-outs and other features available to Windows users. Users can also save and annotate the searches they make with Google Earth.
Google Earth for the Mac is currently in Beta and requires Mac OS X v10.4, a 500MHz processor (1.5GHz recommended), 256MB RAM (512MB recommended), 400MB hard drive space (2GB recommended) and a 3D-capable video card with 16MB of Video RAM (32MB recommended).
Mac versions of Google Earth Plus and Google Earth Pro are not available yet. The former is a US$20 upgrade that adds GPS device support, the ability to import spreadsheets, drawing tools and better printing. The later is a $400 upgrade aimed at professional and commercial users.