Version 5.0 of the Virtual Earth API now available

Over at the MSDN blogs Virtual Earth program manager Andy McGovern has
come up with the following update: "we've been busy poking around the
Virtual Earth forums and blogs, listening to corporate customers and
mashuppers alike, and coming up with a list of the top features and fixes
that would make the best mapping API even better—better for end users, but
mainly better for you, the developer. We think you'll like what we've come
up with." The following are just some of the new features:

import polylines and polygons using GeoRSS feeds.

enjoy the same bird's eye panning experience from Live Search Maps that
you know and love.

programmatic control of the mini map: show it, hide it, and move it around.

center a bird's eye scene on a latlong more accurately.

faster page load time with a compressed map control code base that is
approximately 25% of its uncompressed size (from around 500kb to around
130kb).

initial map now loads faster because we stopped fetching an extra ring of
invisible tiles around the map view.

choice of two smaller navigation dashboards.

Find method: you can now remove any or all of the Find method side
effects, like the automatic map view change and the automatic display of
pushpins.

Note, an updated virtual SDK is also available - see
http://dev.live.com/virtualearth/sdk/ - Source:
http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1533006&SiteID=1