Is Google taking on Microsoft?

A number of software corporations that tried to frontally compete against Microsoft did not succeed much but that may have as much to do with the latter's business ability than the aggressive tactics that many claim that the largest software firm employs. Still, my understanding of any market is that no corporation can enjoy the extreme dominance that Microsoft does regarding any service without attracting an equally capable firm sooner than later.

An article in the NYT reports here that Google is the latest firm to frontally seek to compete with Microsoft. In itself the story is an interesting case of industry reporting because it exposes the different views that the two companies have about the future of computing in general. the story suggests that Google considers that most work processes will move to the internet and therefore it is considering the placement of applications that may be accessed through that medium. On the other hand, Microsoft does appear to consider the internet as a mechanism for supporting computing services and considers the high regard that Google is reported to place on Cloud Computing as ill-informed.

To my mind, I see in this the possibility of Microsoft's hubris in considering that cloud computing has no chance. It ought to review the intelligent decisions institutions such as universities are taking in moving a host of services onto the internet. secondly, since university campuses constitute the places in which the per capita use of a variety of computer applications does take place, Google's experiment is not as bad as one may think. This does not necessarily imply that most computing services will shift wholesome to the net and into Google's palms but it is possible that a substantial number of them will be efficiently delivered through the web.

In addition, the article exposes one of the distinguishing facts about Google's creative style and that is tied to speedy execution. Because Microsoft has the sustained tendency for the late release of products, it should be less sanguine about facing a corporation whose creative talents operate on a five month cycle. Whichever way the battle goes, all users of software products and services will benefit from the intense competition between two firms with immense reserves of cash and human resources. My guess is that a good proportion of the applications will migrate to the web in the medium term and that some of that will continue to be provided by Microsoft.