With the 1.4 version of World Wind being released in a few short days, I figured I would answer some of the questions I KNOW will get asked (for the 1 millionth time). These answers are in the World Wind forum and the World Wind wiki, but most people are lazy and don’t bother reading.. or understanding what they read.

Question 1: How come “X” is blurry? Or, can I see my house (outside the US)?
Answer 1: Because World Wind uses public domain imagery, a lot of imagery can not be used because it requires a license or costs a lot of money to purchase. More details can be found here.

Question 2: Google Earth has better imagery, why doesn’t World Wind?
Answer 2: Economics. Google has paid a lot of money for their imagery that they get from Digital Globe. They pass the costs on to the users of Google Earth. But.. you get to see your house.

Question 3 (This actually comes out more as a demand): The borders are WRONG! Fix them or a war will start!
Answer 3: No.. I am not exaggerating that.. they really is pretty close to what some people say when a border is off by an inch or two. The main areas of “dispute” are the Middle East, India / Pakistan and former Russian “states”. This is covered a little here.

Now, this is not an easy fix. In 1.3.5 the borders were part of the install files. With 1.4 these borders are served via a WMS and “can” be updated. But we need the proper data to be able to fix a wrong border. Current world borders are from the CIA World DataBank II. So, if you want someone to bitch at, talk to the CIA, not us. Or, instead of bitching, find us the correct, recognized, border data and submit it so that the proper borders are shown.

Question 4: Why C#?
Answer 4: Microsoft ownes greater than 95% (or so) market share with personal computers. Our aim here at Learning Technologies is to touch as many people as possible with our products, so making something work (and work well) with MS Windows is top priority. Read this forum post for the full answer.

Question 5 (Statement not really a question): Google Earth is better!
Answer 5: It all boils down to choice and what you are wanting to do. Both have their pluses and cons. You have to look at what you want to DO to make a choice of what is good or bad. Read here and here for more information. Also remember to look at what you can or can’t do with the virtual globe of your choice. Read the licensing and the TOS closely.

Ok, that is the five most common questions / comments we get at release time. Hopefully I have cut down the number of times we will have to answer them.. yet again.