We're reaping the benefits

OPINION: Microsoft and Google have been trading shots again and it's got to be good news for us, the end consumers of their various products, writes Jillian Allison-Aitken in this week's Online.

The latest volley in their wee battle is Google's announcement last week that it was going to build an operating system and Microsoft's announcement this week that the launch of its Office 2010 suite will also mark the launch of free web-based versions of programs such as Word and Excel.

Things have been brewing between the two techy giants for quite some time and long may the game of one-upmanship continue   every time they come out with something to top their rival, we benefit.

Way back, when Microsoft had a firm grip on the top spot for online email with what used to be Hotmail (now Windows Live Mail), there used to be stacks of competitors, all trying to take the crown and all falling by the wayside in the years since Hotmail arrived on the scene in 1996. Then along came Gmail, Google's webmail offering with bulk storage capacity. It was available to the general public from early 2007 and has grabbed itself a nice wee chunk of the online customer base.

Google Apps features several web applications similar to traditional office suites, including: Gmail, Google Calendar, Talk, Docs and Sites. Its a do-it-all set of tools that's available anywhere you have a net connection, making it incredibly easy to share and collaborate on projects. And, of course, it's free.

Less than two months ago, Microsoft made the next big move in the battle, launching the Bing search engine, which I have to admit is pretty good. It features all the goodies we have come to expect in a good search engine (thanks to the efforts of the Google dudes and dudettes during the years), including maps and translation tools. However, don't go thinking it's nothing more than a Google copycat: Bing has quite a different navigation system that works very well.

Last week Google dropped the surprise news that it was going to build an operating system, possibly the biggest geek news of the year.   The OS will be based on the Chrome interface (a good move, it's an intuitive and clean setup), will initially be for netbooks and should be released in late 2010. Even better, Google says the project will be open source. Yes, that means available free.

It's good that there will be another serious contender in the OS market to give Windows a run for its money.

Oh, I know all the Mac addicts out there are probably grinding their teeth about now and dusting off their voodoo dolls of me, but Google has shown a true ability to make its mark quickly and effectively.

In the web browser world, for example, Microsoft's Internet Explorer has a predictably large chunk of the market (65 per cent), Firefox has 22.5, Apple's Safari 8.4 and Google's Chrome 1.8.

Now that might not sound like much of an inroad but it's worth remembering that Safari has been around for nine and a half years but Chrome has been out there for just 10 months. And unlike Safari, Chrome was Google's first crack at a web browser.

Besides, if all the jostling for position on the part of the big players means we get more bang for our buck, it's got to be good.

» Jillian Allison-Aitken is a senior staff member at The Southland Times and was named best internet and communications technology columnist at the 2008 Qantas Awards.

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