Okay, fine. Google's reported second announcement at CES tomorrow, the "Google Pack" of brand-name non-Microsoft software programs that are a pain to download one at a time, does put the company in more direct competition with Microsoft.
Fortunately (for Google's sake), the Pack is not rumored to include a free office suite: The programs in the pack are all plug-ins, not platforms or enterprise productivity tools, and some of the apps included (RealPlayer, Trillian) are also-rans that add about as much value to the user as free copies of Lotus and WordPerfect.
The day Google starts hawking free office suites, in my opinion, will be the day the company has strayed too far from its core business to credibly protect its crown jewels (the search engine) and also gain share in lucrative opportunities much closer to home (portal services, content, commerce, communications). It will also be the day that Microsoft will no longer have the luxury of struggling over future pots of gold, but, instead, will be forced to defend its own crown jewels. And in this arena, despite its weak showing on Google's home turf, I have to believe Redmond will put up a bit of a fight.
http://evans.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2006/1/5/1602767.html#549748
Posted by: Stuart MacDonald | January 05, 2006 at 03:01 PM
Have you tried Office 12 yet?
Posted by: W. F. Zimmerman | January 11, 2006 at 10:32 AM
I find it fascinating tha they did not include google talk, but rather trillian (the free version does not support google talk.)
comments on that? thanks.
Posted by: Izzy | January 22, 2006 at 04:41 PM