Link – More pros support Google Earth

“I’ve never heard of Ambercore before, but that’s because I’m no GIS pro. What I do know is that there is a definite trend by pro GIS software vendors to accommodate KML. It means Google Earth is becoming the default free viewer for spatial information.”

I tend to agree. Google Earth has much going for it (including that the install is only 11mb compared to ESRI’s “free” ArcReader which is about 100mb) and one has to begin to question the need for ArcExplorer. If Google can get Google Earth out of Beta (which they seem to milk for all its worth) then it might become the default viewer. If Google waits too long and somehow ESRI hits a home-run with ArcExplorer then it might be a free for all. Of course there isn’t any information from ESRI about ArcExplorer so smart GIS professionals are beginning to use Google Earth since we don’t know what to expect from ArcExplorer.