Microsoft Launches WorldWide Telescope 167
esocid writes "WorldWide Telescope, developed by Microsoft's research arm, knits together images from the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory Center, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and others. Windows users (only) can browse through the galaxy on their own or take guided tours of different outer-space destinations developed by astronomers and academics. The application allows viewing from different wavelengths such as X-ray, visible light, and hydrogen-alpha radiation. Business Week has a review and some background on the project, which has been in development for years. Google Sky beat them to the punch but Business Week opines that WWT's interface is superior."
Web 2.0? (Score:5, Insightful)
"Better" (Score:2, Insightful)
"WWT's interface is better"... but only on windows... So for the schools, third-world countries, etc. we've read about who are adopting Linux... Microsoft assumes they don't exist?
WWT and unexpected extras (Score:5, Insightful)
While there are [bisque.com] other [starrynightstore.com] ASCOM-enabled apps that astronomers have been using for years to point their optics (and manage dome robotics, and focusers, and cameras), I have to say that the basic mount control in WWT is a pretty cool tip of the hat towards to astronomy community in practical terms.
Re:Web 2.0? (Score:5, Insightful)
Most people would consider google sky a "Web 2.0" app. It's an interactive web based application that seamlessly runs in your browser. WWT is much more similar to google earth. It requires downloading a separate application that runs autonomously from your browser and just happens to use the net for data.
Re:Telescope or Printer (Score:4, Insightful)
I've had this happen before myself, and don't really know why it happens, but believe that for some reason it can't overwrite the setup.exe it tries to replace, or the installer extracting to its temporary directory is even stupid enough to not *try* to overwrite an existing setup.exe. *shrug*
Re:Good to see (Score:3, Insightful)
Intrest in astronomy (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Not nearly that good... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Not nearly that good... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:M$ again (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:BBC review (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:M$ again (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes they both technically do the same "thing". But unlike firefox vs IE (where you can argue that not only is the open source solution "as good," but that it's actually BETTER) stellarium is not in the same realm as WWTelescope.
Re:Web 2.0? (Score:3, Insightful)