I'm not the type to believe it because somebody said so... so why is it so great?

I've used it. Found it lacking. Offline a factor? Google Maps 5.7 has that on Android. And on the N900, it still needed "some" access. So that was just a poor implementation.

Again. You're arguing "popular", which is opinion and not really bringing too many facts to the table. It suits your needs, uses. But without a lot of features on Maemo (yet) and with it on Symbian mostly... sure, Europe and Asia wills ay it's the most popular.

But as far as why, it's mainly because it's on more phones in those territories. I personally (my opinion) do not favor Nokia's Mapping software since it seems dated, sometimes sluggish, and on my N900, it wouldn't work in downtown Pittsburgh, Toronto, or Mexico City. Metro gave it hell. I didn't get it a chance whilst in Europe last time - didn't need the frustration.