Fasten seat belts

The Times of India
The gloves are well and truly off. After technology giant Microsoft's launch of a new search engine to challenge the might of Google, the latter has given out that it is developing an operating system (OS) to take on Microsoft's ubiquitous Windows. This confirmation from Google threw the tech industry into a tizzy, with some anticipating that Google's new offering would finally kill Windows and others shaking their heads at what they perceive to be Google's great mistake.

It'll be quite a ride, at any rate. An operating system provides the underlying software architecture on which all our computer-related activities are based. Almost 90 per cent of the world's computers are shipped with Windows, which gives Microsoft an inherent advantage. But Google believes that Windows is an archaic system from the pre-internet era, outdated in an age where more of our activities are moving online. Google has invested a lot of time and money to develop what it sees as the future of computing: the cloud. Cloud computing, a global network of huge data centres, puts all data and applications on the Internet, accessible to users with a network connection anytime, anywhere. Google's word processing suite already uses this concept and the company believes that the point of access for users ought to shift from the desktop to the browser.

That will make consumers nervous. In the minds of many people, Google already has too much information on their habits. Its mantra might be 'Do No Evil' but its ambitious aim of organising the world's information does not inspire confidence in many who use its ubiquitous search engine. Google makes money by delivering users to advertisers in the most effective manner possible on the Internet, and it is possible that people might baulk from turning even more data over to the web giant.

Wresting market share away from Microsoft will be difficult. Past alternatives have failed to dent Windows. But the casual folks from California have deep pockets and resources that rival Redmond's suits, which means that this fight may follow a different script than the others. If data privacy issues can be taken care of the competition should result in better, cheaper products for users, which can only be a good thing.