GOOGLE..Vs..MICROSOFT

Here's a battle raging across the technological corporate landscape. Whoever wins this battle could dictate the way most of us use computers for the foreseeable future. This battle will be fought on hardware, software and over the Internet.In one corner, we have Microsoft, a corporation founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. The company's market capital was nearly $175 billion . The flagship product for Microsoft is the operating system Microsoft Windows.
And in this corner we have the young challenger: Google. Founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google set out to become the best search engine on the Web.In February 2009, Google shares traded on NASDAQ for around $356 per share. Google's market capital at that time was nearly $117 billionBoth companies suffered setbacks as the global economy began to decline in 2008. Microsoft stock had once traded at more than $30 per share, while Google stock traded at more than $700 per share at its height. In January 2009, Microsoft announced that it would cut 5,000 jobs from the company. Google also announced it would cut 100 jobs from its internal Human Resources department. It was the first time either company had announced job cutbacks.

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.

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 searchesGoogle 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.
One advantage Google may have over Microsoft is public perception. Part of ­Google's philosophy is "you can make money without doing evil"Microsoft used to have a similar reputation. But after years of dominating the operating system marketplace, Microsoft has become the establishment. In 2007 and 2008, Microsoft had to weather a storm of criticism aimed at Windows Vista. Windows Vista suffered from a series of stability problems, security issues and compatibility errors when it was first released. While software patches helped address many of those problems, many people had already decided to avoid the OS and wait for the next generation.Google's position on the Web is solid. An important Microsoft product is its line of Xbox consoles and games. The video game market is one area of strength for Microsoft that Google has yet to touch.In 2008, Google introduced its own browser: Google Chrome. Chrome may be the first step toward a Web-based operating system.
t's likely that Google and Microsoft will compete even more in the future. Both have suffered losses as the global economy has gone into a declineGoogle seems to have a great deal of momentum.On the other hand, many Google services seem to be stuck in beta. Beta is the industry term for products that are in a testing phase -- they aren't yet in a finalized format and users may encounter bugs or other problems while testing the product. Google introduced Gmail in 2004. Five years later, the service is still in the beta phase. And despite multiple attempts at diversification, Google's search engine is its only breakout financial success. Ninety-seven percent of Google's revenue comes from online ads .

The public and corporate reaction to Windows Vista was a blow to Microsoft. The Windows operating system is a core Microsoft product. As more people learn about cloud computing and question the value of powerful personal computers, the company must adapt to the new market environment. Microsoft has several initiatives it has designed to capitalize on cloud computing. While the Vista problem may have put the company off balance, Microsoft hasn't been knocked down yet.

Competition may turn fierce on some fronts, but it looks like Google won't be dealing the death blow to Microsoft any time soon.