"The Fellowship of The Web": Google and Sun

If Peter Jackson waits a while longer, in a few years he might direct the next part of The Lord of The Rings saga; all he would have to do is change a bit the title and the characters.

The new alliance, born in Silicon Valley, is starting to look a little too much like "The Fellowship of The Ring". And every alliance has to have an enemy. In this case, the enemy is Microsoft-Sauron.

It is still uncertain what part will Google and Sun play in this story, which might outgrow the famous Ring trilogy in epic size, but it will surely have something to do with Microsoft.

What are these two company's chances of shaking Microsoft's supremacy? The Redmond company's weapons are Windows and MS Office. They are not the only Microsoft products, but they are the most recognized for their world-wide use, with no real competitor for any of them at the time being.

On the other side, Google and Sun don't seem to have an alternative yet; more and more analysts are starting to think that the last press conference was just a smart marketing stunt.

Still, Google and Sun have in their possession a lethal weapon, which Microsoft was never good at handling: the Internet. For both companies, the services are the most important thing.
The speculations on a Google OS are not something new. In addition, the partnership with Sun brings Star Office in the equation.

How long would it take for the two companies to come up with an OS and an Office suite? One year? Maybe two? It will take at least another year before Windows Vista and Office 12 are launched, which leaves Google and Sun plenty of time to release what everyone is expecting: an alternative.

Personally, I refuse to think that the two companies' announcement is just a marketing stunt, and I believe that Microsoft's 30 year ruling is about to come to an end.