Google vs. Microsoft

From a regular Joe's perspective with a common awareness of tech & business news, it's not hard to see why Microsoft seems to loathe Google. Here's a company that showed up on the internet scene with a search engine like so many others and have grown and expanded into many other areas. Microsoft too has expanded into many different areas but they did it by developing and SELLING software.

Now while Google may have software or other technology that they sell, we don't see their products on the shelves at stores on the same aisle as Microsoft Office. Google drew in crowds worldwide not by selling software but by giving it away FREE. What a novel concept. You mean people are interested in free software that works really well and have most of it web based applications? Yes, people are moving away from Microsoft Office and turning to Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Calendar as replacements. Heck, my Dad used Google Calendar to invite me to an event and when my Outlook picked up the invite from my Gmail, it showed it on my Outlook Calendar. (Too bad I can't have my Outlook items auto populate into Google Calendar.) These web based applications are helping many to move away from the Microsoft operating systems they've grown tired of and are more frequently unimpressed with what the software giant has to offer and what they expect you to do to get it wether it be by controlling the market price of software and operating systems or simply bundling it with their OS or your next new PC. Many people are discovering a world outside the realm of Microsoft with Macs and a wide variety of Linux options. I posed the question recently on Twitter asking people if they thought there was really any piece of Microsoft software they couldn't do without. For me, I could do without most of it and it's making the decision of swaying me and many others to quit investing money in Microsoft products. It was a good ride while it lasted but it's gone downhill. I mean there really hasn't been a motivating reason to upgrade from Office 2003 or perhaps even earlier. I know I won't be installing it on any PC I own anymore but that's another story about my frustration with Word and it's hooks into Outlook.