Microsoft vs Google: The Battle Continues

So Microsoft is putting a version of Microsoft Office online for free. The are afraid that Google Apps is starting to tap its market share. Below there is a link to the article in the NY Times that talks all about it. Or you could read the summary below. I took the article and auto-summerized it in Microsoft word...I thought that would be appropriate. Basically this is the beauty of capitalism. People say the Microsoft is a monopoly, which is arguable, but with Google Apps coming into the game it is balancing things out. Capitalzism has proved itself again, got to love it.

Microsoft has created a chimera in its new Office 2010 software, part desktop software and part Web app. For the first time, Microsoft will provide a free online version of Office that lets people store their documents on the Web rather than on their personal computers. If all goes according to Microsoft’s plan, this technology, along with a host of other features, will persuade businesses and consumers to upgrade their Office software once again. “I think Office has run away from its users,” said David Girouard, the president of Google’s business software group. Over the last three years, Microsoft’s share of the office software market has remained static at 94 percent, according to the research firm Gartner. Microsoft’s business software group brought in $19 billion last year. The vast size of this productivity empire and the software’s growing complexity has made Office a popular target for Microsoft’s competitors over the years. About 25 million people have signed up for Google Apps, the company’s online suite of software that is similar to Microsoft’s business products.Many large companies skipped over previous versions of Microsoft’s Windows operating system software and continue to rely on four- to five-year-old computers. It will then guide customers away from traditional applications like Microsoft Office to cheaper online alternatives.

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