Our images are photographs taken by satellites and aircraft sometime in the last three years.  The images in Google Earth are updated on a rolling basis. Click here for more details.

2. Are Google Earth images captured in real time?

No, they aren't. Our images are photographs taken by satellites and aircraft sometime in the last three years.

The whole world is covered with medium resolution imagery and terrain data. This resolution allows you to see major geographic features and man-made development such as towns, but not detail of individual buildings. Additional high-resolution imagery which reveals detail for individual buildings is available for most of the major cities in the US, Western Europe, Canada, and the UK. 3D buildings are represented in 38 US cities (the major urban areas). Detailed road maps are available for the US, Canada, the UK, and Western Europe. And Google Local search is available for the US, Canada, and the UK.

Google Earth combines data of different resolutions to offer a seamless viewing experience, so some locations look a bit blurry. We offer high resolution imagery (greater than 1-meter) for thousands of cities and more are on the way.

Google Earth takes advantage of the 3D graphics capabilities standard on most computers. If you are using Google Earth on an older machine, or a notebook computer that does not have 3D graphics capabilities, you may not be able to run the application.

The 3D graphics capabilities of your machine have a lot to do with how well Google Earth performs. Google Earth will work on most graphics cards from the following manufacturers:

• NVIDIA
• ATI*
• 3D Labs
• Intel**
• Matrox
• S3

* The following ATI cards are not supported: ATI Rage Mobility, ATI Xpert, ATI 3D Rage.

** Intel 3D graphics machines can use the default OpenGL version, but work better in DirectX (choose Start > Programs > Google Earth > Start Google Earth in DirectX).

Matrox card users must use the OpenGL version. S3 cards must use the DirectX version.

The make and model of your graphics card appears under the Display Adapter tab. The following steps can help you find out what type of graphics card you have and if it will run Google Earth.

Note : The instructions that follow apply to the Windows XP operating system, but are similar for other versions of Windows.

1. Open the Control Panel window by selecting if from the Start menu.
2. Double-click on the System icon in this window to display the System Properties dialog.
3. Click on the Device Manager button in the Hardware panel.
   
4. In the Device Manager window, double-click the Display Adapters icon to list the graphics card(s) for your computer.
   
   The make and model of your graphics card appears under the Display Adapter tab.

The make and model of your graphics card appears in the System Profiler. The following steps can help you find out what type of graphics card you have on your Mac.

1. Select the "Apple" button.
2. Choose “About this Mac”.
3. Choose “More Info” and then select “Graphics/Displays”.

The Google Earth client requires certain system configurations in order to run smoothly.

Minimum configuration:

• Operating System: Windows 2000, Windows XP
• CPU: Pentium 3, 500Mhz - System Memory (RAM): 128MB RAM
• Hard Disk: 400MB free space
• Network Speed: 128 Kbits/sec
• Graphics Card: 3D-capable with 16MB of VRAM
• Screen: 1024x768, "16-bit High Color" screen

Recommended configuration:

• Operating System: Windows XP
• CPU: Pentium 4 2.4GHz+ or AMD 2400xp+
• System Memory (RAM): 512MB RAM
• Hard Disk: 2GB free space
• Network Speed: 768 Kbits/sec
• Graphics Card: 3D-capable with 32MB of VRAM
• Screen: 1280x1024, "32-bit True Color" screen

The Google Earth client requires certain system configurations in order to run smoothly on the Mac.

Minimum Configuration:

• Operating System: Mac OS X 10.3.9
• CPU: G3 500Mhz
• System Memory (RAM): 256MB RAM
• Hard Disk: 400MB free space
• Network Speed: 128 Kbits/sec
• Graphics Card: 3D-capable with 16MB of VRAM
• Screen: 1024x768, "16-bit High Color" screen

Recommended Configuration:

• Operating System: Mac OSX 10.4.4
• CPU: G4 1.2Ghz
• System Memory (RAM): 512MB RAM
• Hard Disk: 2GB free space
• Network Speed: 768 Kbits/sec
• Graphics Card: 3D-capable with 32MB of VRAM
• Screen: 1280x1024, "32-bit True Color" screen