Like two gargantuan monsters locked in battle over a fake Tokyo cityscape, Microsoft and Google are officially trying to beat the living daylights out of each other. There are no mechanical roars, no toppled skyscrapers, and definitely no bloodshed. Still, these two titans are going at each other with a directness and spectacle usually reserved for a classic Godzilla-versus-Megalon smackdown.
Some say it started with Microsoft Bing, the surprisingly good and fast-growing search engine. Bing was good enough that Google, in my opinion, felt the need to respond in kind. So the company promised, almost ludicrously, to deliver a new desktop OS by next year. Like most people, I think the plan is long on promises and short on details. Still, the announcement is enough for many, including Microsoft, to take notice.
Microsoft Strikes Back
Google Docs, for those who don't already know, is Google's free online productivity offering. It consists of three apps: one for presentations, another for spreadsheets, and one for word processing. I'm using the last one to write this column.
Google Docs, for those who don't already know, is Google's free online productivity offering. It consists of three apps: one for presentations, another for spreadsheets, and one for word processing. I'm using the last one to write this column.
Microsoft Word on the Web
Interestingly, Microsoft has never really said all that much about Google's free apps. Google Apps are clearly aimed at consumers and, though Microsoft Office has a massive consumer base, I think much of Office's revenue is from business clients. Many new PCs come with a trial version of Office, but I bet most consumers opt to use the free version of Microsoft Works after that.
Web versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint could force Google to rethink its strategy.
Microsoft is tying its new free Office apps to the Windows Live program, so you need an account to use them (just like you need a Google account to access Google Docs), and it's relying on Microsoft's SkyDrive for cloud-based file storage. The mere existence of Microsoft Web-based productivity apps for consumers is a big deal. For the first time, you won't need any Microsoft app—Word, Write, or Works—to edit a DOC file. Simply log in to your account and open the file with Microsoft's Web-based app.
Where Google Comes Up Short
With the Google Docs word processor, one can't help but notice the spare, very Microsoft Write-like interface. It covers the basics, and it does them well. But Microsoft's plan looks more ambitious. The Web apps will actually feature the Office Ribbon, and although I don't imagine that the Web version will be as flexible or smart, the familiarity should still be comforting.
If you're familiar with the 80/20 rule, you know that 80 percent of the people use just 20 percent of the features of any major app. But I bet 50 percent of Office users tap into 50 percent of the functionality. If you take a good look at any of Google's apps, you'll likely agree that they don't come anywhere near covering 50 percent of the functionality found in the Office Suite apps. For example, I just tried to spell-check this article in Google Docs. If I were using Microsoft Word, it would lead me through spell checking each mistake, offering both grammar and spelling corrections. Google Docs found my errors—highlighting them in yellow—but it doesn't lead me to the first misspelled word and offer corrections. Instead, I have to click each word and select the proper spelling.
I am struck by how little Microsoft is making of this major announcement of its Office Web Applications. Perhaps the company doesn't want to over-promise anything. Microsoft has been around long enough to remember how early attempts at Web-based apps (anyone remember the Java-based WordPerfect?) utterly failed. Google and other online app providers, like Zoho, prove that this can be done—and done well. Microsoft, however, is about to become the only Web player with a dominant desktop position. The added flexibility of having Word, Excel, and PowerPoint accessible anywhere via the Web could simply overwhelm borderline competitors and force Google to rethink its strategy.
On the other hand, I fully expect Google to counter-punch with its own major announcement. I have no idea what it will be, but if you've ever watched a Godzilla movie, you know Megalon is always good for at least another round or two.
Nguồn: PC Magazine