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Applets are still being used quite heavily. Every time I visit Map 24 to check up on how I should travel I always end up with the interactive, Java powered, version of the map. Its websites like these which can show you that a decently implemented Java solution doesn't have to be slow at all. In fact it can be quite fast and responsive.

No, I think that a major reason why applets didn't work is because people don't give a fuck about security and prefer sloppy programming over strict implementations. As you may or may not know Java tries hard to shield the user from bad programs. One method to reach this goal where applets are concerned is to sandbag it. An applet can't just access the files/directories on a users harddisk nor can it simply start up network connections "just like that". Unless the programmer setup the permissions right (security manager) and the user agrees with the things the programmer wants to do will such an applet work. I've been working with Java for well over a year now (yes, I still consider myself somewhat new to the technology even though I learned a lot so far) and when it comes to newbies trying a quick setup you'll almost everytime encounter dissapointment when they learn that an applet is at first hand rather limited with its options.

And so many people are just bound to run off to solutions which aren't so limiting on them at the first go. Others simply take their time and actually use the technology the way it was intended. I really don't like this direction in which things are currently headed.. IMO its time for programmers to take some responsibility themselves instead of simply blaiming it all on the tools they're using... "Java is sloooow" you hear. Well, perhaps you could have written some better designed code and actually optimized it here and there...

Although they don't do satellite imagery, I find Map24's directions to be much better than anyone else's. I can set waypoints and avoid toll roads, and their 'fly-along'the-route' thingy is excellent. It's Java-based, not AJAX, but I don't think an AJAX app could do the spiffy 3D stuff at all.

Where are there statistics for any type of map site to be the leader? There's still not one that's perfect.

Google Maps has the API you can hook into and the neat-o hybrid views, but its ability to properly tell directions is awful. It's happened enough that I know not to rely on it.

MapQuest has great directions but the interface is still a bit 1999; also, it assumes that when you print you want a map the size of a cracker surrounded by ads and whitespace.

Map24 is hands-down my favorite for browsing a site AND its interface was around a LONG time before Google's. However, for directions it's worthless.

And Yahoo Maps seems nice (especially the beta traffic advisories) but otherwise it's similar to MapQuest and I just use MQ as force of habit.

That said, I can't imagine Google has the majority (50%+) market share out of this group. Perhaps their maps are accessed more than any others, but for the classic use of directions, I don't see them being #1 since they're not that much better than the others.

I have been using Google maps for some time... but I really love Map24 (http://www.map24.com../ It's a onestop shop for maps in USA, Europe, Brazil and the Middle East. Although its java interface is a little 'heavy', its worth it... Google maps have some routing issues as well... the routes are not always 'optimized'. *peace*

So far there are only google maps for a few elect countries, and most of the world can only see photos and national boundaries.

Sites as map24 (Warning JAVA interface) have actual _maps_ for the "rest of the World". That makes me user their services instead of Google.

What is patentable about dragging images in a viewport (where the images are larger than the viewport) to view different parts of the image?

Image viewers have been doing this for decades. I know http://map24.com/ had it implemented in a java applet before I ever heard of g(maps|earth) (atleast I remember using a java map applet in 2002, could have been an other service though).

It's a shame that Java applets did not succeed because they will always be more versatile. Case in point, the distance measuring tool (ruler icon) on http://map24.com/ that parent poster linked to.

Admittedly the JVM deployment issue is a pain but I'm not sure it was in Microsoft's to lessen that. And so we now have Ajax instead.

here we have a great example: http://map24.com/
They once had everything in the applet, but moved the column on the left side out of it.
Just try it out (use the java applet that opens when you search for a location or route).

And i must say i liked it.

Now all i have to ask is: Wich one will be quicker and use less bandwidth? Java or Javascript+XML? ;)

And let's not forget about the California Coastline project (helicopter taking VERY high resolution images every 500' along the entire California coast.

I found some sort of easter egg there. Zoom in on that center photo, then look in the bottom-left corner of the image, right up near the waterline by the tidewall... is that a mannequin of a naked woman (with hair too!), or is that painted on the landscape there? Or is it really a cadaver? A sunbather? I can't quite tell...

And of course, there's Map24, which has, hands-down the best mapping UI out of anything I've ever used.

Now I just wish some of these sites would support "mobile" directions and maps. Hrmph, Google's "Directions" link on maps.google.com doesn't even work at all, it just reloads/refreshes the main map view in anything but MSIE. What a waste.

I suspect that google may license their data/technology, if not buy them up altogether.

According to their website, map24 are already cooperating with google.

I find http://www.map24.com/ to be superior to google maps. Even for the areas which google maps do have map data.

Although I am a google fan, I have been using for quite some time the Map24 page after someone in /. pointed at it. I find it quite useful and the interface is pretty cool (Real time map find using Java or No Java option.

I find it quite useful to look for places in Europe when going to a conference or vacations, that and the HostelWorld are pretty cool pages, now, there is something I have seen no Map page do, that is, to add Bus line information to the maps, I know in some countrys it would be rather difficult but, in UK, there is Arriva, MerseyTravel and other companies whose lines and journeys are very well defined, now, if someone adds that functionality it will be THE map web page I will use =o).

Glad they extended it to the UK - I was looking forward to this :-) That said, http://www.uk.map24.com/ is still great too.

If weather and driving directions are all they have in there bag of goodies then they do NOT have much longer to live.
I point you to Google Maps. http://maps.google.com/
And I point you to : Map24 Its far better than Gmap AND it has more than US maps... for us [un]fortunately living outside US.

map24.com

Link to that ;) Hit cancel to load the frame...

http://www.map24.com/http://map24.com I found this a while back.. way better than mapquest/google and any not-so-dynamic maps!

If you haven't already, check out the "SeaDragon" mapping technology at SandCodex.

Click Technology -> Demos to see it in action; liquid-smooth continuous zooming, into thousands of square miles.

W00T. Streaming video of a canned demo running on who knows what hardware. Map24 has an applet based smooth scrolling map application, covering North America (Canada in lower detail than the USA) and Europe which you can use for free, right now.

If that's what floats your boat.

Google's is sort of fun though: it's neat that it's in DHTML instead of needing Java. Map24 has the better functionality today.

what is the connection between Google Maps and Map24 http://www.us.map24.com/

Check out the Map24 website and there seems to be some partnership going on...

It's old news... I tested it two days ago, but the service is not good enough for my use. First, and above all, it does not give you coordinates. Second, Map24 is more complete and more detailed.

They have localized versions of their system to 18 different countries. In the EU-centric Google portals, searches for city names can also come up with a prominent map24 link.

If you are interested by maps.google, you really want to check it out! No I am not in any way affiliated with map24.

I know mapquest is a nice site but I find that no one here mentioned http://map24.com/. I prefer it to mapquest and it seems to have some features that google does not yet have. But the google site is also excellent. Google scares me and I hate to think that every new place I go to with the assistance of google maps could be stored somewhere. The way google is growing we better think about our future: http://oak.psych.gatech.edu/~epic/

Yawn. You've obviously not seen map24 then? Java based applet for online vector maps. Pisses all over Mapquest and Googles latest. They won the 2004 Webby for Technological Achievement. Very impressive site. My favourite feature is the rocket button, a zoom-out feature to give you perspective of what you are zoomed-in on. Plus, any map that starts with a continental view and animates into the search address gets my vote. Like the start of the Burb's, but to your own house...

Plus, is Google maps USA only? Not even Canada? Sheesh!

Yeah, it is a very cool interface. Also, it loads incredibly fast, and I think it's probably by far the clearest map rendering I've seen anywhere. Extremely good visual quality.

For other choices, I still love Map24. They've got Europe and North America, and the whole thing in a neat Java applet that is also very usable. But Google's map is gonna be tough competition for them...

Also, you gotta love the typically Google way of doing your address or directions queries... just say "Kansas City to Los Angeles" etc. and it works.

But of course it's still Beta. A simple test for "Wilmington, DE to Jersey City, NJ" in my case renders a misplaced blue line that I can't quite make sense of. But if that's the only problem...

So, it appears they're already cooperating. I guess it wouldn't be a big surprise if they're using Map24's data for their own mapping service. If that's true, it shouldn't be all that hard to add a Google Maps Europe in the future.

I think that's because they're working together: map24.com and check out the Google story.

It's really hard to beat Map24.

Map24. It's free, stable, Java-based, and also includes the good ol' Yurp. And it will find a shorter roadbetween Haugesund and Trondheim, Norway than mappoint.

Try map24.com. Their java applet kicks googles ass. And they have the US and Europe.

Or, for that matter, map24. Think they've got the most impressive interface i've seen yet.

This may have been accelerated by the launch of Google's partner Map24.com.

If you thought that was cool, wait till you see map24.com

For Europe, I'm quite a big fan of Map24.

They have a Java applet interface that is nowhere near as clunky as it ought to be. It lets you scroll and zoom interactively, loading detail on the fly.

The same technology is licensed by the RAC, whos version covers more of Eastern Europe. For giggles, I asked it for a route from Birmingham (UK) to Minsk (Byelorussia) avoiding motorways, and it worked a treat, even finding appropriate ferry routes.

Absolutely, yes! MapsOnUs.com maps have much higher resolution than the blobby MapQuest ones. Sure, it may take a few seconds longer to render, but it's definitely worth the wait.

For maps of Europe, try Map24.com. They have a really awesome Java applet that is very useful if you want to explore the area you are looking at.

If you have a recent java installed, then map24 knocks the veritable socks off all the competition. It displays an interactive vector map, complete with smooth scrolling, zooming and mouse over feature description.

The formatting of the route planning directions leaves a little to be desired, but that's the biggest fault I can think of. On the whole it compares favourably even to MS Autoroute - except it's free, always up to date and cross platform.

If you don't have java it falls back to a static image.

Regards

Alex

Great to hear they are bringing hi-tech industry to a place [map24.com] otherwise dominated by apple trees and a handful of cows.

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