Google charges for web programs - threatens Microsoft?

[BoyBach]

Google has introduced a paid-for version of its web applications it hopes will be popular with small firms.

The paid version adds more storage, phone help and guarantees of availability to the Gmail, calendar, word processing and messaging package.

Industry analysts suggest the move is aimed squarely at Microsoft and its Office suite of programs.

...

Google's new service costs $50 (£27 or 40 euros) for every account and for this customers get phone support, a guarantee that the online applications will work 99.9% of the time and 10 gigabytes of storage for each e-mail address.

The package of programs available includes e-mail, word processing, spreadsheets, calendar and Google Talk.

By paying, users also get the option to turn off the adverts that usually populate the free versions.

The free version of this package was introduced in August 2006 and Google said that more than 100,000 businesses had signed up.

- BBC


Is this new software suite a real threat to Microsoft Office?

 

[iGav]

- BBC

Is this new software suite a real threat to Microsoft Office?

I wasn't even aware about all of this stuff... Google's just a search engine and a eye-spy-in-space to me.

 

[twoodcc]

I wasn't even aware about all of this stuff... Google's just a search engine and a eye-spy-in-space to me.

i wasnt aware of this stuff either. i knew about gmail, and the search engine, and that's about it for me.

 

[wordmunger]

does this work on Macs?

Is it all Javascript?

 

[yippy]

It works on any computer with a modern internet browser. All of google services are completely online and platform independent. I use gmail, google calender and have used the word processing and spread sheet apps. All of them work without a hitch on Macs. At the begging Safari had a few problems with them but Google has been quickly fixing those.

 

[Frisco]

Love Google Docs and Spreadsheets, especially Google's online collaboration feature with Docs.

Google Calendar is really cool too. I made an appointment through Oulook and it automatically put the appointment on my Google Calendar. I assume because I have a gmail address. At first I was a little confused on how it got on my Google Calendar!

 

[mattscott306]

Google has alot of great stuff to offer, if you wanna see some of their really cool stuff thats in the works go to labs.google.com
Everything there is currently in a beta test, but it's cool to see what they have coming. Also, there google checkout feature had a free 10 dollar deal a while back, but I don't know if thats still going on.

 

[Frisco]

I really hope this can at least take away some of Microsoft's monopoly in the Office market. If anyone can do it, Google can.

I hope Google teams up with Apple and makes iWork and Google Docs very compatiable. Apple has a great presentation program Keynote, maybe they can work together to bring it online.

If you don't yet have a gmail email account sign up today, support Google; support Apple.

 

[gauchogolfer]

Google to start selling business software (Google Apps)

Time.com link

(SAN FRANCISCO) — Google Inc. will begin selling corporate America an online suite of software that includes e-mail, word processing, spreadsheets and calendar management, escalating the Internet search leader's invasion on technological turf traditionally dominated by Microsoft and IBM.

The expansion, scheduled to be unveiled Thursday, threatens to bog down Microsoft Corp.'s efforts to persuade businesses to buy the latest version of its market-leading Office suite that was developed along with its new Vista operating system.

Google's software bundle, to be sold for a $50 annual fee per user, also poses a challenge to International Business Machines Corp. and its Lotus suite.
While Google's latest foray into the corporate software market seems unlikely to topple the status quo right away, AMR Research analyst Jim Murphy said it's only a matter of time before the Mountain View-based company becomes a major player.

"This is just the beginning," Murphy said. "The real impact of what Google is trying to do probably won't be evident for another five years."

Google has been offering a free version of its online software suite called Google Apps for the past six months. More than 100,000 small businesses and hundreds of universities nationwide are using the free service, Google said.

 

[iJawn108]

Goobuntu will be coming, just you wait.