There's no doubt about it—all those billions in licensing fees we've paid to Microsoft over the years have finally paid off. Windows Live Local, in beta testing now, has to be one of the most addictive Web search tools out there. We're most excited about the 45-degree bird's-eye images of major U.S. cities including Boston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle (with others coming). Windows Live Local lets you soar like an eagle through all these major cities without ever leaving your desk.

Live Local matches the images, taken from photographs made by Pictometry International Corp. on low-altitude flights, with satellite imagery and road maps. Once you've conducted a search, you can switch among three different views: bird's-eye (if available), satellite (again, if available), or road-map. A yellow indicator will inform you after a search whether a bird's-eye view is available for that area.

Want to know what a block looks like from the south? No problem—the bird's-eye perspective lets you view your location from all four cardinal directions. You can also zoom in for a high-resolution look at a given location.

Windows Live Local actually has two search fields: one for the "where" and one for the "what." At its most basic, the application works by cross-referencing two things: what you're looking for and where you want to look for it. If you mix the two up, as we did in our first search, and put the "where" (New York) in the "what" field, you can end up with some very confusing results.

Our erroneous search pinpointed every New York Life Insurance branch in the fine state of South Dakota. Because we left that second field blank, the application defaulted to finding all the things named "New York" in the vicinity of where the cursor happened to be positioned on the main map, in this case South Dakota.

As with any beta app, there are glitches to fix and holes to fill. For instance, we couldn't find a big local attraction, the U.S.S. Intrepid and its Sea, Air, and Space Museum. Drive along the West Side Highway here in New York, and we bet you'd find it hard to miss an enormous aircraft carrier with guns pointed at Midtown. Windows Live Local must have been looking the other way.

We also tested this and other mapping apps using Revolutionary War sites. Though Windows Live Local wasn't able to locate every one of our sites by name, we easily found their locations using just the address. Once we did, we were able to create our own little tourist itinerary using the customizable pushpins—a useful feature with broad possibilities. For instance, you can mark a location with the time you want to meet, then share your map with others via e-mail or blog.

If you're using a Wi-Fi–enabled computer, a useful tool called Location Finder helps you find and set your current location as a starting point for searches. To use the feature, you download and install an ActiveX control that finds the names and signal strengths of area access points your machine can reach. This data is parsed based on Microsoft's database of access points for your area, and Windows Live Local returns your location. The company claims accuracy to within a few hundred feet. If the system can't locate your access point, it will resort to using your ISP's IP address to make an estimate.

Getting directions is very easy once you've found a location. Click on the location's icon on your search results map or the hyperlinked text in the results window, and a small window will open that contains additional details such as address and phone number. This is a refreshing departure from the mapping norm, which forces you to start from a search bar that asks for a street address. If you have some idea of where something is on the map but don't have the address, you can just click your cursor in the general area and generate your directions from that. The convenient print options let you get print-only directions, add notes to printed directions, or add thumbnail pi