Google vs. Microsoft
Microsoft Mobile vs. Google Android Besides waging war over computers and the Internet, both Microsoft and
Google offer operating systems for mobile devices like smartphones. The
two companies have very different approaches. Windows Mobile is a
proprietary operating system (OS). Google Android is open source --
Google allows developers to access and alter the code to build or
modify applications. |
At first glance, Google and Microsoft don't seem to be the kind of companies that would compete directly with one another. Google's main product is a search engine and the company's revenue comes from ad sales. Microsoft's main product is an operating system and other software. Where's the conflict?
It turns out there are several points where Microsoft and Google cross paths. Microsoft has its own Web search engine called Live Search. According to Web analysis firms like ComScore, Hitwise and Neilsen/Netratings, Google searches accounted for more than 60 percent of all online searches in the spring of 2008. By comparison, Microsoft searches amounted to less than 10 percent of all searches [source: Web.com].
Google and Microsoft both offer suites of productivity software. Microsoft Office is a popular software suite that includes word processing, database management and spreadsheet applications. These desktop programs tend to be robust and include a lot of features that the average user may not need all that often but professionals regularly rely upon for their work.
Google has its own productivity software suite: Google Docs. Google's productivity software is Web-based, meaning you access the applications through a Web browser. The applications aren't as robust as Microsoft Office. But Google says that many consumers simply want software that's good enough to fulfill basic functions. Since Google Docs is Web-based, consumers can access their applications and data from any computer that has an Internet connection.
Not to be outdone, Microsoft has its own online productivity software suite called Office Live Workspace (OLW). Like Google Docs, OLW is a stripped-down version of a full productivity software suite that allows users to access data and collaborate on projects from any Internet-connected computer.
Both Google and Microsoft offer Web-based e-mail platforms. Both companies are investing millions of dollars into cloud computing solutions. And both recognize the growing importance of the Internet for the average consumer. Google may have an advantage over Microsoft because it's a Web-based company; however, Microsoft has decades of experience in application development and consumer research. Let's look at some more strengths and weaknesses of each company.
