The upgrade, called Google MapsGL, uses Google's Web Graphics Library (the "GL" part) to bring 3D-like graphics to the browser. To use MapsGL, you have to have supported browsers like Chrome 14+ or Firefox Beta with compatible video cards. If that's the case, go to Google Maps' homepage and you should see a prompt.
Adapting GL to Google Maps is the company's latest application of GL, which has been used in music videos and Google Body Browser, a sort of Google Earth for the human body.
As Evan Parker, a software engineer at Google outlines in the video below, MapsGL also brings vector maps that are available on Android to the desktop and offers sharper satellite views that can now be smoothly rotated. Another new feature is the ability to take "Pegman" -- Google's name for its drag-and-drop Street View locator icon -- and place him within an area and then seamlessly transition to Street View.