The New York Times is reporting that Microsoft is preparing to do battle against Google and others who offer online applications which are directed as competition to Microsoft’s cash cows such as MS Office. Microsoft is preparing to launch new services that will directly connect services to its own operating system. This approach worked for Microsoft back in 1995 when it gave away a free browser which was tied to the operating system and which eventually put Netscape out of business. The NY Times article states:

This week, it plans to turn that strategy upside down, making available free software that connects its Windows operating system to software services delivered on the Internet, a practice increasingly referred to as “cloud” computing. The initiative is part of an effort to connect Windows more seamlessly to a growing array of Internet services.

The strategy is a major departure for Microsoft, which primarily sells packaged software for personal computers. With this new approach, Microsoft hopes to shield its hundreds of millions of software customers from competitors like Google and Salesforce.com, which already offer software applications through the Internet.

Microsoft’s new Windows Live software suite includes an updated electronic mail program, a photo-sharing application and a writing tool designed for people who keep Web logs.

The new service is an indication that Microsoft plans to compete head-on against archrival Google and others, and not only in the search-engine business where it is at a significant disadvantage. Instead, Microsoft will try to outmaneuver its challengers by becoming the dominant digital curator of all a user’s information, whether it is stored on a PC, a mobile device or on the Internet, industry executives and analysts said.

But that was then and this is now. The biggest differences that I can see is that Google has a few more bucks than Netscape had when they were going against MS. Plus Google has a better reputation than does Microsoft.

But what do you think?

Comments welcome.

Complete NY Times article here.
[tags]microsoft, google, internet, applications, software, free, [/tags]