Google Earth 4 Beta is up to version 4.0.2416 on the PC and 4.0.2413 on the Mac. Polygon tools, previously available with the Plus upgrade ($20) are now free. Likely the most exploited new feature will be the ability to give overlays an altitude — good for floor plans and cloud layers. For KML developers there are better debugging options, while the PC version’s COM API can now control the timeline, touring and searching. (There are no additions to the Mac version’s AppleScript library.) There are plenty of further tweaks and incremental improvements, listed in the changelog provided by the Google Earth team, below the fold.

[Update 10:21 UTC: Turning on all the bells and whistles on the Mac in this version no longer leads my copy to insta-crash, so give this beta a go if you’re still at version 3.]

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