And Finally...ESRI has released their Virtual Globe - ArcGIS Explorer



ESRI is pleased to announce that ArcGIS Explorer is now available for download. Use your ESRI Global Account to log in and download ArcGIS Explorer.

ArcGIS Explorer is a lightweight desktop client for ArcGIS Server, providing a way for you to publish ArcGIS Server capabilities within your organization or to anyone on the Web. ArcGIS Explorer is freely distributable and does not require any other ESRI software.
Using ArcGIS Explorer you can connect to content published by ESRI and others and fuse it with your own ArcGIS services or local data. You can create your own content or tasks for ArcGIS Explorer by authoring globes and tasks using ArcGIS Desktop, then publishing it to ArcGIS Explorer via ArcGIS Server.

Ready-to-Use Globe DataTo get started with ArcGIS Explorer, you can access a collection of ArcGIS Online globes including worldwide streets, terrain, boundaries and labels, political maps, physiography, and more. All of these are meant to form a foundation on which you can publish your own content. Once you have downloaded ArcGIS Explorer, you can connect to these via the ArcGIS Explorer Resource Center.

Centrally Managed TasksYou can use ArcGIS Server to publish custom tasks for ArcGIS Explorer. Tasks may include advanced geoprocessing and GIS analytic capabilities such as viewshed analysis, terrain profiling, and other ArcGIS Server functions without the need for programming. These tasks can be saved in specific maps for specific users, or they can be delivered independently. Because tasks are centrally managed on the server, once you make an update to a task, it's automatically propagated to all users that are connected to it.

Customizable and ConfigurableArcGIS Explorer can be customized to suit your preferences and needs by changing the startup globes and tasks which are available, changing the look and feel of the application, or authoring custom tasks.

ArcGIS Explorer also includes a software development kit (SDK) that can be used to extend tasks or can be used to implement completely custom tasks that are driven by other Web services.

Learn MoreLearn more by listening to a podcast [MP3 - 7.04MB] from ESRI.