What is EarthClock?

EarthClock is a little app that displays a realtime view of the earth, and overlays a clock. That's all! The realtime view is accomplished by downloading images every 10 minutes from Earth and Moon viewer. Earth and Moon viewer is made by John Walker.

So basically, you can watch the earth slowly revolving from a choice of views, and it's a clock too.

What can it do?

Currently, EarthClock can grab both jpeg and gif images (and also png I think) from websites. It is possible (and fairly easy, once you get the hang of it) to add your own views. How would you like an up-to-date view of the weather above your home town? It's possible with EarthClock. Also, if you're the artistic type, you can create your own semi-transparant skins to fully customize EarthClock to your liking.

Why do I need it?

You don't. It's almost completely useless. But it looks pretty cool as it floats on your desktop.

Is it free?

Yes.

Will it hog my CPU and system resources?

Yes.

Is it safe?

As far as I know: yes. You can check the source and generate your own build if you want. From version 1.3, there's a version check that 'phones home,' but only to retrieve new version info. You can easily turn it off if you're not comfortable with that.