Google Earth browser plug-in arrives for Mac

Google has released a Mac OS X version of a plug-in that lets people use its Google Earth software as a browser plug-in. The move means a smaller but significant crowd can rely on Web pages that employ the sophisticated aerial viewing options the software provides. But Mac fans should brace themselves for a 47MB download from the Google Earth API page. The size is large because Google provided a universal binary file that runs on both PowerPC-based and Intel-based Macs, a Google representative said in a forum posting about the availability of the Mac version. "There are also some other space-saving changes that we may look into later on," he said, adding that Google plans to mention the software in a forthcoming blog post. Digital Earth Blog, which surfaced the forum post Wednesday, points to a few sites such as EarthSwoop and Mini Flight Sim where people can try the plug-in. In other Mac news, Jason Toff, an associate product marketing manager for the Google Mac Team, announced Wednesday on the Google Mac blog that the Mac-specific Google page is no longer just available in English. The site now works in German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, Dutch, and Italian.