Topography on Microsoft Live Maps

I am sometimes torn between using Google Maps and Microsoft Live Maps. Each has at least one unique feature that keeps me coming back. For example, Google Maps' ability to change my route by dragging it to additional waypoints is useful and intelligent. But Microsoft Live Maps has much better Bird's Eye View shots and satellite-photo coverage of rural areas, particularly Cooperstown, NY where I grew up. But Live Maps just got my attention on a whole new level with their 3D topology function.

When using their web-based 3D Virtual Earth tool, I can 'travel' to anywhere in the world and change my view to get a 3D representation of the view from anywhere. My first trip was to my cousin Kyle's house in Cooperstown, at the bottom of the hill that we used to climb when we were kids -- and there it was. With a few more mouse clicks and with a little help from their search bar, I was getting the view of the Himalayas from the top of Mount Everest, seeing the same terrain as what Sir Edmund Hillary saw after scaling the mountain for the first time.

I decided to put the rendered topography to the test and see how accurate it really was. I compared a photo that I took in Glacier National Park to a screen shot of the 3D representation that is displayed on Virtual Earth. See for yourself!

This is a photo I took at the
Many Glacier Hotel in
Glacier National Park, Montana

This is Microsoft Virtual Earth's
3D representation of the same location

3D rendering has been around for a long time, but not with the convenience, speed, and apparent accuracy of Microsoft Virtual Earth. I envision this to improve over time, eventually to a point when we can play a game like Chuck Yeager's Air Combat (remember that one?) and have a photo-quality 3D picture of what our world looks like with terrain and buildings included.