These last few months anyone who has been following along with the technology scene will have noticed an interesting game developing between Google and Microsoft across a number of different business sectors.
First of all, the re-branded Microsoft Live.com search engine as Bing seemed to set the ball rolling. Prior to the re-launch, Google had little to be worried about as they already seemed to have the search market pretty much tied up. Microsoft had its sights set on taking the number 2 spot from Yahoo! however and had reasonable expectations when pitching itself against Google all in one foul swoop (I believe). Whilst Microsoft’s ultimate desire would be to dominate search, search is an ever changing beast and it’s likely that no one company will dominate forever before being replaced by something more appropriate or faster or less advertisement driven, etc. Just being “in the game” is all that matters at this point and Microsoft’s Bing was their pitch to be in the game.
Reporters however made the story far bigger than what it should have been though and pitched the new Bing into comparisons with Google Search from the off – surely the precursor to what was to follow.
Google’s Chrome Browser – an attempt to lure users away from Firefox, not Internet Explorer – was earlier in the year, surrounded by talk of a potential Google Operating System, something Google denied vigorously at the time; entering Microsoft’s territory market seemed like a no go area for the search company. However, it now turns out that Google were plotting their way into this market all along and last week announced their plans to release a “Chrome OS”, initially aimed at netbooks, for next year to compete directly with Microsoft’s new, netbook optimised, Windows 7 product due for release on 22nd October 2009.
Whilst Chrome OS will be based on the Linux kernel, it will be difficult for Google (again, I believe), to launch themselves into a fully blown OS platform that will compete directly with Microsoft Windows. Not only because entering a market full of a wide range of devices (which, lets remember not even Apple can really support – hence their model of doing their own hardware), is difficult and resource intensive, the users will have to be aware of how to manage any new operating system and they will of course still want their favourite applications to work using Chrome just like they would with Windows.
And there in is the battle – are users ready to move everything to the browser or do they still want to live in their current online vs offline, local vs cloud based storage and local vs online processing? I’m not sure computer users are ready to move fully to an online model; I think they are still more likely to want to retain control over their local PC and not have to answer questions around privacy or trust by storing files fully online by a single company and using “only” online applications.
That’s not to say Google’s Chrome OS isn’t going to take some market share – those die-hard Google fans and those less-technical users who know the Google name may buy up netbooks pre-installed with Chrome, but the transition of businesses making the move won’t happen. The reason why? Businesses need to control their machines with things like Active Directory and Group Policies and they need to protect their data and files at a company level, not on some third-party cloud based service.
As the leader in the OS market, Microsoft should easily be able to retain control and leadership over their market space, just like Google will retain leadership of Search. Microsoft’s Singularity OS plans (the cloud based, thinner Windows currently in their Labs) and Gazelle Browser (which sounds complex and rather well developed as a platform in its own right for the future), will keep them out in front in the business space and with the large amount of home users, especially those who use Microsoft products at work and/or have a requirement to play the top games on their PC.
More recently this week, Microsoft have announced that its popular Office applications (Word, Excel, OneNote), will be going online directly available for free within the browser against “Google Docs & Spreadsheets”. Whilst Docs & Spreadsheets isn’t widely used due to MS Office apparent dominance in this market, Microsoft has felt the need to move its Office 2010 offering into the cloud. This could be either to re-enforce its position against Google or it could (more likely), be more to move one of the companies most successful products into the cloud based arena - lets not forget Microsoft’s Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie has completely realigned the company towards a cloud based strategy in its products and offerings.
Quite who will move directly from Office application to “online Office application” straight away remains to be seen? I’ve tried Google’s Docs & Spreadsheets online and found myself going straight back to the more traditional Microsoft locally installed application – there’s something about writing and editing documents outside of a browser that makes me feel far more comfortable. Guess my mind hasn’t quite made that paradigm jump yet to working on documents on the web, despite my love of Web 2.0 – yet I’m more than happy to move my email there (Gmail).
It seems its punch-counter punch with Google and Microsoft at the moment. I don’t see either winning outright in any sector (or I would certainly hope that neither wins outright), but what I do hope for is that this competition continues to force both companies to better themselves and create products that customers can intuitively use and continue to define the computing era as an exciting and creative industry.
First of all, the re-branded Microsoft Live.com search engine as Bing seemed to set the ball rolling. Prior to the re-launch, Google had little to be worried about as they already seemed to have the search market pretty much tied up. Microsoft had its sights set on taking the number 2 spot from Yahoo! however and had reasonable expectations when pitching itself against Google all in one foul swoop (I believe). Whilst Microsoft’s ultimate desire would be to dominate search, search is an ever changing beast and it’s likely that no one company will dominate forever before being replaced by something more appropriate or faster or less advertisement driven, etc. Just being “in the game” is all that matters at this point and Microsoft’s Bing was their pitch to be in the game.
Reporters however made the story far bigger than what it should have been though and pitched the new Bing into comparisons with Google Search from the off – surely the precursor to what was to follow.
Google’s Chrome Browser – an attempt to lure users away from Firefox, not Internet Explorer – was earlier in the year, surrounded by talk of a potential Google Operating System, something Google denied vigorously at the time; entering Microsoft’s territory market seemed like a no go area for the search company. However, it now turns out that Google were plotting their way into this market all along and last week announced their plans to release a “Chrome OS”, initially aimed at netbooks, for next year to compete directly with Microsoft’s new, netbook optimised, Windows 7 product due for release on 22nd October 2009.
Whilst Chrome OS will be based on the Linux kernel, it will be difficult for Google (again, I believe), to launch themselves into a fully blown OS platform that will compete directly with Microsoft Windows. Not only because entering a market full of a wide range of devices (which, lets remember not even Apple can really support – hence their model of doing their own hardware), is difficult and resource intensive, the users will have to be aware of how to manage any new operating system and they will of course still want their favourite applications to work using Chrome just like they would with Windows.
And there in is the battle – are users ready to move everything to the browser or do they still want to live in their current online vs offline, local vs cloud based storage and local vs online processing? I’m not sure computer users are ready to move fully to an online model; I think they are still more likely to want to retain control over their local PC and not have to answer questions around privacy or trust by storing files fully online by a single company and using “only” online applications.
That’s not to say Google’s Chrome OS isn’t going to take some market share – those die-hard Google fans and those less-technical users who know the Google name may buy up netbooks pre-installed with Chrome, but the transition of businesses making the move won’t happen. The reason why? Businesses need to control their machines with things like Active Directory and Group Policies and they need to protect their data and files at a company level, not on some third-party cloud based service.
As the leader in the OS market, Microsoft should easily be able to retain control and leadership over their market space, just like Google will retain leadership of Search. Microsoft’s Singularity OS plans (the cloud based, thinner Windows currently in their Labs) and Gazelle Browser (which sounds complex and rather well developed as a platform in its own right for the future), will keep them out in front in the business space and with the large amount of home users, especially those who use Microsoft products at work and/or have a requirement to play the top games on their PC.
More recently this week, Microsoft have announced that its popular Office applications (Word, Excel, OneNote), will be going online directly available for free within the browser against “Google Docs & Spreadsheets”. Whilst Docs & Spreadsheets isn’t widely used due to MS Office apparent dominance in this market, Microsoft has felt the need to move its Office 2010 offering into the cloud. This could be either to re-enforce its position against Google or it could (more likely), be more to move one of the companies most successful products into the cloud based arena - lets not forget Microsoft’s Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie has completely realigned the company towards a cloud based strategy in its products and offerings.
Quite who will move directly from Office application to “online Office application” straight away remains to be seen? I’ve tried Google’s Docs & Spreadsheets online and found myself going straight back to the more traditional Microsoft locally installed application – there’s something about writing and editing documents outside of a browser that makes me feel far more comfortable. Guess my mind hasn’t quite made that paradigm jump yet to working on documents on the web, despite my love of Web 2.0 – yet I’m more than happy to move my email there (Gmail).
It seems its punch-counter punch with Google and Microsoft at the moment. I don’t see either winning outright in any sector (or I would certainly hope that neither wins outright), but what I do hope for is that this competition continues to force both companies to better themselves and create products that customers can intuitively use and continue to define the computing era as an exciting and creative industry.
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