This post servers just as a quick observation. I was checking on a new house today. While I was usually doing the searches with Google Maps, I jumped for an instance to VirtualEardh (Live Maps) and the result was surprising.

VirtualEarth with the Bird Perspective (Deutsch: Vogelpersp.) gives a fantastic view of the streets and neighbours. Way much better than Google Maps. Below is just an example:

Google Maps perspective

Google Maps above vs. Virtual Earth below

Virtual Earth

So far, Virtual Earth rules, at least for Germany