I guess it was only a matter of time before ESRI came out with something comparable to Google Earth, Virtual Earth and World Wind. Announced at their European Users’ Conference in warsaw, ESRI indicated that ArcGIS Explorer would soon be available for free download. Writes Ed Parsons, it “will connect to a dedicated ArcWeb server farm at ESRI providing an experience similar to Google Earth.” No details yet on the ESRI website but expect it to make a splash when it is released. This is good news for those who use the ESRI suite of products on a regular basis.

Read more details at ed parsons and Vector One.