Nonetheles, I will summarize some of the basics here. These guides describe the basics of browsing in Google Earth better than I can. Those who are not familiar with the interface may wish to take a look at one of the guides in the text box below. Navigation in Google Earth will be fairly intuitive for students who have grown up in an age of clicking and dragging, mouse wheels, and video games. Getting Around in Google Earth: Common Functions I do not have experience with the "plus" ($20) or "pro" ($200+) upgrades.
This discussion covers the standard version (available for free for personal or educational use).
Several upgrades to the Google Earth software are available. The Google Earth browser can be downloaded from ( more info).
A beta version (v.4) runs on Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux platforms.
As of July 16, 2006, the current stable version (v.3) runs on both Windows 2000/XP and Mac OSX (10.3.9 and higher). The Google Earth browser is a separate application from your web browser.
The Topography mode lets you see relief maps of 3D terrain, which is very useful if you’re going hiking, mountain biking, skiing etc. IOS hacker and developer – Ryan Petrich has discovered a hidden Topography feature in Google Maps for iPhone.