It's been quite a while since I had a computer program take my breath away.

But that's exactly what happened when I experienced Google Earth. Now I realize that Google Earth has been around for a while but even the most experienced of us can miss something special from time to time. And while I use both a Windows and Macintosh for my work, it's no secret that I favor the Mac platform and have done so for many years. Which is why I probably missed Google Earth because it only recently became available for the Mac.

But now that I've experienced it, all I can say is "Wow!" Of course being a newspaper columnist, I'm obliged to add a few more choice words to my description.

To begin with, Google Earth activates to a nicely rendered view of the planet from around sixteen thousand miles out in space. From there you have several options but the best place to begin is entering in some part of an address. Entering in a Zip Code, state, street address or some combination of them all will work. When you do so, the fun begins. You literally start a liquid-smooth decent towards the planet's surface. As you move in, high-resolution satellite photographic detail begins to appear. The program continues a rapid refinement process as you get closer and closer to your destination. Depending on the options you've checked, you begin to see the terrain, then streets along with their names superimposed onto the swelling photographic images. It's really hard to describe the feeling as you literally swoop down, spanning thousands of miles in a few moments of time.

Of course there's no way you could experience something like this in reality as you would burn up in the atmosphere (which you can turn on and off as one of the many options by the way.) No, only Superman would actually be able to do this in real life. But Google Earth is certainly the next best thing for the rest of us. And now for the best part.

For me, the one thing that gives Google Earth the ultimate thrill factor is it's amazing ability to tilt. We've all seen satellite photos before, looking straight down at the planet's surface from a bird's-eye view. But when you click and hold the Tilt button, the most breath-taking thing begins to happen. Slowly and gracefully the ground begins to rotate from a perpendicular view to a parallel one. As the ground begins to swing into a horizontal plane, you start to see the terrain's three dimensional surface rise up into your view. Buildings become taller, hills and valleys alter their perspective so that you can see their heights and depths. Plus you can additionally activate 3D Buildings which are animated structures that superimpose themselves over the satellite photos. It's unlike anything I've ever seen before on a personal computer. And it all happens in real-time as Google Earth requires a broadband connection the Internet. As you rotate, pan and tilt, streaming data keeps the display updated moment by moment.

You just have to see it to believe it. Not too long ago, this was the stuff of super computers and reserved only for the eyes of clandestine government agencies.

But now you can have all of it on your personal computer. And it's free.

Granted there are extra versions like Google Earth Plus for $20 that adds GPS support and Google Earth Pro for $400 that offers features valuable to commercial ventures. But that aside, chances are that all you'll need is the free version. I've run out of room before telling you about being able to pinpoint different spots and have Google Earth automatically fly you from one point to another. Or the practical stuff you can do with it such as being able to see and print out all kinds of additional information. You do so by turning on a whole range of categories that include National Geographic markers, locating landmarks, restaurants, schools, ATMs and so on. There's even categories where users like yourself can contribute information that everyone can see.

But all of that aside, Google Earth is just plain exhilarating and loads of fun to use. I've spent hours on end just exploring and swooping down from the sky, then floating parallel above the ground only a few feet in the air.

Then I rocket straight forward towards the horizon in front of me. Then I rotate to the left, then to the right. It's all so liquid-smooth and quiet.

It's like hang-gliding on steroids. It's like flying just as Superman would do. It's like those dreams you've had of flying just above the ground, following the roads and highways, then soaring into the wild blue. But now you can actually do it virtually. And everything you see is for real, made from terabytes of stitched-together satellite maps that are constantly being updated, replacing the older maps spanning around three years. It's like the ultimate travel guide.

If there's only one thing you download this week, it should be Google Earth. I can only hope you have a really big screen on your computer because this is one application where a large screen can really enhance this spectacular, immersive experience. Stop what you're doing right now and go download it. Then begin your exploration as you just fly, fly away.

www.earth.google.com