For the best free download this year go to, http://earth.google.com/ and download Google Earth. It is a 3D interface to the planet. Carefull though its addictive.

I don't have broadband... :(

You don't have to have broadband to download Google Earth. And I agree, it is one of the coolest downloads on the net. But I wish they would take more detailed sat photos of outlying areas, and not just the metro areas. We're planning a trip to England next year (Yes, we'll be visiting Shropshire; gotta visit the cousins) and I wanted to check out places like Stonehenge and Anglesey and Urqhart Castle and Tintagel......

But you do need broadband to use Google Earth!

I don't have it here at home, where I'm on dial-up, but at uni I have UBER broadband so it works brilliantly there.

I don't know why you're having trouble using Google Earth unless you have broadband. Of course, some things are going to work differently in Europe than here. But I don't use broadband. It's now available out here in the middle of nowhere. We have satellitle. And my Google Earth works just fine.

Um, yes satelite is rather fast... :rolleyes:

I'm talking about dial-up which is SLOW. Broadband in the UK means anything faster than dial-up. :)

I've been using google earth for a while great fun and there adding more detailed images all the time.

Yeah though Shropshire is still a blurry green blob.. :(

Do you have wireless networking over there? We didn't know whether to bother with bringing our laptops or not. I know I'll need a converter for electricity, but other than that, what can I expect? My computer will link into a network via a telephone line, if there's no wireless network. Since we're planning to use B&Bs when possible, I'm not expecting to have a lot of internet access.