Google has been touting its "Gone Google" stories for a while now. Going Google means that a business or education enterprise has chosen to use Google's productivity software. Google has been winning over a wide range of businesses and universities but recently landed Brown University with Google Apps for Education. Brown put together a short YouTube video about its transition.
I'm honestly surprised at the speed that different businesses and schools have been adopting Google Apps. Microsoft has the largest productivity software market-share, with its Office program. For Microsoft this is big money and Google is essentially giving away a program that is almost as full featured as Microsoft's offering. Microsoft finally ceded ground by offering lightweight versions of its most popular Office programs online, but it is far behind Google on the web-based offerings. I can only assume this trend will continue; more companies and schools will switch to Google's free and cloud-based services due to price and ease of use. Microsoft will lose its near monopolistic grip on productivity software and competition will flush out new and exciting features for consumers at competitive prices.
I don't believe Google can give away its software forever and, in some instances, it doesn't. Some of its business offerings come with a price tag but this is usually far below what Microsoft charges for its software. Microsoft never created a consistent web platform for consumers to use, Google has. And unless Microsoft can coordinate its online efforts into a full featured, easy to use, web platform, it will continue to fall behind Google.
Microsoft Web Apps.
Google Docs.
Brown goes Google.
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