September 27, 2008
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Google Versus Microsoft
Recently Google released its own browser, named “Chrome”. Get it here.
So what’s the big deal? There’s a lot of people commenting about it, some people like it, some hate it, yammer yammer yammer…
Folks, this is huge. Let me state it clearly: this is THE pivotal moment in the history of Google.
Ok, hold onto your Chrome-bashing for a bit and hear me out. For the first release of a product, Chrome is pretty good. You shouldn’t expect all the bells and whistles that “mature” products like Internet Explorer 7 have. Don’t kid yourself – Google will continue to grow and improve the product. But all the wrangling about features and interface aside, here’s the deal…
The browser is to Google what Windows is to Microsoft. Microsoft’s software stack largely runs on Windows. Google’s stack? It runs in the browser. Therefore, the browser is to Google what Windows is to Microsoft. Its worth repeating, because everything they do from this point on will be connected to this concept.
Now imagine Google taking Chrome and “optimising” it to run their software. Not hard to imagine, huh? Why do you think they made a browser, anyway? See? That’s easy to understand. If they control a browser, they can make their software work better in it since they control the platform. I can easily see things like a toolbar across the top – or maybe an Outlook-style toolbar down the left side – with Google Docs, Email, and Calendar tightly integrated. There’s a Microsoft Office killer if I ever saw one.
What do you think? Do you think a tightly integrated platform with free software poses a threat to Microsoft?
