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Google Sunsetting Old Version of Google Maps

Posted by timothy on from the nothing-beats-mapblast's-vector-directions dept.

New submitter Robertgilberts writes with word that Google is dropping the old version of Maps. The new version of Google Maps came out of preview back in February 2014 and was in beta for several months before that. The only way to access the old version of Google Maps was via a special URL or if you had a very old browser that did not support the new version of Google Maps. Consolation prize: There will still be a lighter-weight version, which "drops out many of the neat Google Maps features in exchange for speed and compatibility."

8 of 222 comments (clear)

  1. The new version is terrible! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The old version has the zoom controls where they should be and has less zooming animations and is much clearer to use all respects.

    1. Re:The new version is terrible! by edawstwin · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I guess I'll have to roll out my usual feedback to Google when they change something: "Stop fixing shit that isn't broken."

      --
      I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it by not dying. - Woody Allen
    2. Re:The new version is terrible! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Does anyone remember why they switched to Google for all of their internet searches? I do: Lycos, Altavista, and others had become bloated, ad-laden, pieces of crap, while google.com was a plain white page with nothing but a text box, a search button, and the google logo (the search also gave superior results). It is the same story with maps.google. The old maps are superior, not because I'm a whiny curmudgeon who hates change, but because this new version is bloated with 'cool' (useless) features and runs like a dog, even on high end hardware.

      Either google never understood why they became the dominant search engine, or they quickly forgot during their whirlwind of success. There must be something about power and money that makes people stupid. I wouldn't know.

  2. Worked well by Vlijmen+Fileer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Oh, the one that actually worked well?
    Thanks, Google!

  3. Meh, New-Maps. by FooAtWFU · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The vectors are shiny but the user interface looks like it was designed by a team of managers more concerned about slickness than usability. Moreover it's only fractionally as powerful as the old system. (Among other things, I bet several people in places like San Francisco are really going to miss the combination bicycle/terrain maps.)

    --
    The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
  4. Android by excursive · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Google has "improved" the Android version of Maps so much that I switched to Nokia's Here maps app. It's much easier to use, faster, and I can download maps for offline use.

  5. Re:Artificial obsolence by CastrTroy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Exactly. When Google Reader was shut down, I switched to Tiny Tiny RSS. I didn't want to just go to some other system that I didn't control and that would end up being changed or closed in a couple years. Now I have a system that works, and I don't have to worry about someone else shutting it down. As long as I can find a hosting service with Apache and PHP, it will work for me.

    --

    Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
  6. Re:Confusing by denis-The-menace · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When new managers come in they want to make their mark. Therefore the MUST change/destroy previous managers' work and replace it with their own.
    If they don't, they have nothing to put on their resume.

    --
    Obama's legacy: (N)othing (S)ecure (A)nywhere and (T)error (S)imulation (A)dministration