What kind of computer do you use? Are your files all stored on a hard drive in that computer, on a network drive, or off in the cloud somewhere? What software do you like?
Do any of these questions matter?
More and more, the answer is no. There was a time when the choices you made in computers and software defined you, because there was no easy way to exchange information with people who had made other choices. It’s the reason Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office became dominant; everyone needed to use the same hardware and software so they could exchange files with each other by passing around floppy disks.
Floppy disks are gone. CDs and DVDs work the same in all computers, and for the most part we don’t uses those anymore either; we just email files around or make them available online.
So you don’t have to worry about your choices; pretty much every computer can read and write .DOC and .XLS files, and we all use .JPG for graphics. Tower of Babble, be gone!
So why has Google mandated that its employees not use Microsoft Windows?
Ostensibly, it’s about security. It’s a fact that there are more viruses written to attack Windows-based computers than all other kinds combined . . . and by a wide margin. From an IT expenses perspective, Google is making a smart internal choice by getting away from Windows-based computers. But here’s the truth:
Google Just Wants Microsoft To Go Away
Google wants to control everything, and government anti-trust regulations notwithstanding, why shouldn’t they? When you can get to it online, Google Docs is a perfectly acceptable replacement for Microsoft Office. Google has their Android and Chrome operating systems to compete with variants of Windows, too, and mandating “no Windows” at home is just one more shot in the “destroy Microsoft” battle that Google is waging.
Apple is proving more difficult. Apple’s iOS (formerly iPhone OS 4.0) is huge and getting bigger, and Apple, as I predicted a couple of months ago when details of iPhone OS 4.0 started to surface, is doing their best to make advertising an Apple-only affair.
What’s the difference? Why is Google curtailing their use of Windows but still allowing Macintosh? BECAUSE MICROSOFT HAS BECOME IRRELEVANT.
Under the old “keep your friends close and your enemies closer” axiom, Google is keeping tabs on Apple because they have to. Microsoft just doesn’t matter anymore. Talk about business change!
Things DO change—even things that look like they’ll stay the same forever. Making the right choices in steering your business change isn’t always easy. If you’re confused, don’t be afraid to ask for help.
LOL! The sycophantic, Microsoft hating idiot who wrote this should be kicked in the face until he literally stops moving. Chrome a credible competitor to Windows? On what planet dumbass. Chromebooks have been a massive fail. Chrome OS is an absolute joke compared to Windows. As for Google Docs be a credible alternative to Office? Do you live in fantasy land? Google Docs is a goddamn joke compared to office.
As for Microsoft being irrelevant, then perhaps you could explain why Microsoft makes 3 times the profit per quarter that Google makes, and two and half times the revenue. Meanwhile 95% of Google’s revenue and profits come from one thing, ads! They don’t make anything worth a shit except Google Search and Chrome web browser. Everything else is a joke like Buzz, Wave, and soon to be Google+.
What a fucking idiot.
Hi, Joe. I’m the sycophantic, f***ing idiot. 20 months later, having re-read it out of respect for your opinion despite your vitriolic, misinformed note, I can’t see how you would classify my words in this piece the way you did.
I didn’t say Chrome was a worthy Windows replacement. The Chromebook didn’t really exist at the time, And what I said about Google Docs as a replacement for Microsoft Office was “It’ll do”. And it will, just as OpenOffice will. Is Word a more full-featured word processsor? You bet. And 95 percent of people never use ninety-five percent of its features.
And by the way: I pick on Google ALL THE TIME, and come to think of it almost never talk about Microsoft at all, unless you count stories like the Microsoft Batteries post. Kinda underscores my irrelevancy claim, huh? And refutes that sycophant title you were so quick to bestow.
You’re a very angry dude, Joe. I hope things get better for you.
Microsoft has been the dominant player for many years, they didnt like google walking in with a superior search platform and taking over what Microsoft feels like it owns So MS has been trying to kill google the new kid on the block just like Netscaape and sun did to it in the 80’s with antitrust lawsuits. The lawsuits made MS into a mean and experienced lobbying machine to get what it wants and it has wanted google dead. Google is finally tired of the giant picking on it and is standing up for itself.