Jazz up Windows with satellite photographs

Launch a web browser, go to www.snipurl.com/desktopearth and then click the Download link. At the next screen, click the Free Download link and if Windows displays a dialogue box, click Save and then choose the Windows Desktop as the destination by clicking the Save button again. When it’s downloaded, find the Desktop Earth icon on the Desktop and double-click. Click Run if Windows displays a security warning, then follow the prompts to install the program, clicking Close when it’s done. After a moment, Desktop Earth appears.

Have a look in the Notification Area down at the bottom-right of the Taskbar and find the little globe icon there; this is where Desktop Earth keeps its controls. Start by right-clicking on it, then choosing Options from the pop-up menu. Change various settings from here, including the time zone, whether to show cloud cover or not, what the night images should include (city lights is the default and this is pretty effective), as well as how often the image should be updated. Click OK to close the dialogue box.

Back at the Notification Area, right-click on the globe icon and this time select Cloud updates from the pop-up menu. The clouds used by the program aren’t real; rather, they’re mosaics generated from real satellite shots. Nevertheless, they’re one of the key components of Desktop Earth and help make it realistic. The images update every three hours, but since the information is all coming from the internet those with slow connections might want to disable this option by unticking the box on the left.