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Street View was previously only available in Google Maps, but its integration into Earth allows users to zoom in from the satellite view straight down to street level and navigate from panoramic photo to photo.

Google has also rethought the navigation tools:"We realised that a lot of our users never quite got the hang of using the tilt feature to navigate around 3D features like mountains and buildings," says Peter Birch, Google Earth's product manager on the company's blog<

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. "Not only that, but even for expert users, if you tried to get down to the ground and navigate at street-level, navigation was cumbersome and confusing. Well, no more.

"We modified the zoom control. As you get closer to the ground, your view slowly tilts, almost as if you are parachuting onto the ground. We also added a new control, the 'look' joystick, which allows you to change your viewpoint and look up at buildings, down canyons, or over at the rising sun."

The other major addition to Earth is a faster rendering engine, meaning lower-specification machines won't come screaming to a halt the moment you decide to switch the 3D building layer on. The engine has also brought with it a sunlight slider, which allows you to watch the sun rise and fall, and see how the 3D landscapes are lit at different times of the day.

Try it out for yourself here.

And discover the secrets of Google Earth with our comprehensive guide.