Posted on 10/05/2005 5:09:54 PM PDT by xcamel
GOOGLE, the internet search king, has teamed with veteran Microsoft-hater Sun Microsystems to wrest control of the personal computer from Bill Gates's software colossus.
The companies announced a deal under which they will allow web users free spreadsheet and word-processing software online.
Potentially Google will be able to offer a free online word-processing program that would sit inside its popular search engine and offer much of the capability of Microsoft Office, which costs $249 for a basic version.
The Sun and Google alliance could be the biggest threat yet to Microsoft's hegemony.
Microsoft owns the PC desktop - the screenful of icons through which most of us interact with our computers - through its ubiquitous Windows operating system and Office software suite, which most PC users in the Western world work on.
Sun and its outspoken CEO Scott McNealy have long envied Microsoft's rule and have been active in fighting it, mostly by supporting open-source software such as Linux and OpenOffice.
(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.news.com.au ...
No, thanks.
There has to be a catch. Do they get to "see" everything that is typed on it?
I can't wait. I can save to my Google profile, go home, and upload the same document I was working on. Now what I do is email myself the paper I am working on at work and download it at home. This is more convenient. Granted, due to the potential for hacking my most treasured documents will be transferred the old fashioned way.
Go Google!
Most likely advertisements will be displayed on the lower border of your "Word" document or spreadsheet.
Or, infinitely more preferable, you can lease that space yourself from Google for an absolutely minimal cost ;)
You know something I don't know Robert. :)
Got that right. I used MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint because ... everyone in the world use them! Look what happened to Lotus. Even IBM won't bundle WordPro, 123 and Freelance with IBM purchases anymore. Does that tell Google and Sun anything?
That's just great. Since the Gubmint ain't doin' enuf fer us it is great that Da SunMicroGod is gonna protect us from typos on FR.
Its free anyway! Its Sun's old Star Office that is given away with Linux. Now called Open Office.
Thanks for the article.....Google is incredible.
I want my Google Wi-Fi.
Sung to I want my MTV.
Didn't MS get sued for giving things away for free?
Good luck to Sun and Google. This will get very interesting!
You can do something like that now, although in practical effect it's still like e-mailing the document to yourself.
If you have a free Gmail e-mail account you can download this software, which treats your Gmail account storage space as an online "hard drive".
When you're at work, you can drag your Word document to that "Gmail drive" and save it there. Then when you get home you drag your Word document from that "Gmail drive" and work on it on your home PC.
Possibly -- and then they'll target market you with ads based on the content of what they saw in your documents.
Makes you wonder. I don't know anything about it, but at first glance it sounds somewhat like glorified Hotmail.
Amen.
>Got that right. I used MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint because ... everyone in the world use them! Look what happened to Lotus. Even IBM won't bundle WordPro, 123 and Freelance with IBM purchases anymore. Does that tell Google and Sun anything?
That's what MCI was told of mighty ATT ma-bell ...
Exactly. I was typing a suicide note and a banner ad for Dr. Jack Kevorkian appeared across the bottom.
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