Why would two different companies, one dealing with the organizing of the worldwide information and the other specialized in operating systems and software applications, fight about?

At first glance, for no reason! But the truth is that Google has become Microsoft's number one enemy. And not necessarily because Microsoft wants a piece of the online ad action or because Google has been hiring several Microsoft ex-engineers. Actually, the Kai Fu Lee lawsuit was the last straw in the conflict between the two giants and this is the first time when Microsoft was able to take Google to the court of law, where the Redmond giant feels most comfortable.

But the conflict between Microsoft and Google goes much deeper than that. As long as Google has stayed in the online searching business, Microsoft has had nothing against the 'do no evil' company. But lately, Google has started to release software, to explore new domains, to invent new methods of using the PC, and that is already too much to take for Microsoft.

Google has all the chances of becoming Microsoft's biggest nightmare, perhaps even bigger than Linux or Apple. And that's because Google is unpredictable. With Linux and Apple, things were pretty clear for Microsoft. The companies are fighting over operating systems, a game where Microsoft knows all the rules and the dirty tricks. You run another Get The Facts campaign, in which you prove that Linux is more expensive than Windows Server, you partner with some companies to launch a MP3 player able to beat iPod, in other words, you're in a business where you always have solutions.

But what do you do when you're dealing with an opponent which doesn't make operating systems and which doesn't depend on you, but on the Internet? What can you do? Block the www.google.com address in the Internet Explorer? (Don't you think that everybody would immediately switch to Firefox?) Buy them? Buy somebody who knows, at least as good as Google, to search the Internet? There's nobody else for sale!

Moreover, you never know what Google will come up next and what's even scarier is that they have enough money to accomplish overnight whatever they dream of. Obviously, Microsoft's officials have more clues than us, mortals, on what Google is planning next in its laboratories and what's more, I don't think they're comfortable with what they know.

Bill Gates even admitted in an interview that among all the companies Microsoft has gone up against, Google is the one that looks the most like...Microsoft. The bottom line is that they are determined and stubborn enough to pursue their goal regardless of the consequences.

Ah! If only Google limited itself to searching! But the search engine has an appetite for domains, where Microsoft didn't dare to venture in. Microsoft's latest acquisition in the VoIP field, surely had something to do with Google's IM client.

If you like metaphors, the conflict between Google and Microsoft is a conflict between generations. Google is run by young entrepreneurs, who no longer regard the PC as something they have to conquer; for them, it's merely a tool. (After all, you can access Google using your cell phone, and most of them are not running Windows Mobile 5.0, but Symbian). Microsoft can't get over the fact that the PC is not the center of the universe and the company still depends on hardware sales.

There is no doubt that Microsoft conquered the PC, but Google is giving it a whole new meaning. So, what can you do? You can make bellicose statements and threat that Google will die by your hand. Hmm�that would be the solution! But how? Here's a question Microsoft would pay millions of dollars to find the answer to.


It's highly unlikely that among your favorite applications, there isn't an IM client. There's a broad offer, and even Google has entered the market. This week, Softpedia News is inviting you to choose your favorite IM client.