EarthDesk 5.0

EarthDesk 5.0 offers you a nice wallpaper that will replace your static desktop picture with ever-changing, beautiful maps of the world with correct sun and moon illumination.Eleven different projections.Political and satellite maps.

Zoom from 50% to 400%.City lights appear at night.Atlas contains 10,000 cities.EarthDesk gives you numerous options for configuring the map images placed on your desktop.  Map centering options include:Natural origin (0N, 0E), User-defined city, Subsolar point, Subsolar antipode, Sublunar point, Sublunar antipode.

EarthDesk uses the same Atlas database technology as Time Palette, providing the application with detailed geographical and time zone information for 10,000 cities throughout the world. The Atlas maintains comprehensive rules for Daylight Saving Time (Summer Time), giving EarthDesk a level of accuracy unmatched by other applications.EarthDesk gives you numerous options for configuring the map images placed on your desktop. Maps can be centered on a city, so that the map remains stationary while the sun and moon move.

Alternatively, the map center may be locked to the position of the sun or moon so that the shadow remains fixed, while the map moves. For example, by centering on the subsolar point, the map will move throughout the day so as to keep the sun in the center of the screen, as in this Azimuthal projection. Earthdesk automatically conforms its maps to the aspect ratio of your screen, for a perfect fit with adjustable zoom control.

Unique to EarthDesk is accurate rendering of moonlight on the Living Earth satellite map. To create this stunning effect, the phase of the moon and reflectiveness of the Earths surface are used to determine correct coloring of the image.

Main features:

1. Beautiful addition to any Mac system.
2. Accurate sun, moon and city lighting.
3. High quality twilight shading.
4. Automatically updates when waking from sleep.
5. Moonlight shading can be turned on or off.
6. Complete multi-display support.
7. Eleven separate map projections.
8. Includes both satellite and political maps.
9. Easy to install: Help system and Atlas support files encapsulated in a single application file.

Enhancements:

• Faster performance and lower processor usage.
• Snow and vegetation change month-to-month.
• Higher resolution cloud data on large displays.
• Supports machines with dual GPUs.
• Adjustable brightness and background color.
• Starfield background for globe projections.
• Updated political map color and boundaries.
• Political map shows city lights and moonlight.
• Centering menus are sorted alphabetically.
• Globe can be re-positioned on the screen.
• Simplified menu on single-display machines.
• Checks for updates automatically.
• Supports monitor attach/detach while running.
• All desktop settings are now restored upon quit.
• Existing desktop image aspect ratio is preserved.
• Cloud capture and download times shown.
• Easier install process for upgrades.
• Softer evaluation watermark during trial period.
• Rewritten from the ground up.
• Rendering engine is now 100% Cocoa.
• 32/64 bit application, ready for Snow Leopard.
• No dependence on Carbon or QuickDraw.

Requirements:

• Note that EarthDesk 5.x requires OS X 10.5 or newer.
  
• Both PPC and Intel machines are supported.