Google’s plan to kill Microsoft Office

Nothing new really, but Infoworld offers a nice overview of Google's recent work to unseat Microsoft Office, highlighting what is, of course, the central argument behind cloud computing: In today’s Internet-centered world, the desktopis already becoming little more than a terminal for people on the go.Why should documents and key applications be locked into just one box?Why not move them to the Internet “cloud” so you can work from anywhereyou happen to be, using whatever device you happen to have? And onceyou’ve sprung your documents from the PC prison, collaboration is justa click away. That’s the implicit pitch behind Google Apps. So is Office as we have known it for the last20-odd years doomed? Depending on the time frame, thereare strong arguments for and against that position. At the heart of Google’s strategy is “the cloud”:It hosts your applications and data, providing the ubiquitous reach ofcyberspace. No need for a complex desktop OS and application suite, northe latest, power-sucking hardware to run it. It’s a cleaner, moreresponsible application-delivery model. You might even call itenlightened. It is enlightened. It is also, as with any forward-leaning technology, a bit early on the curve to move our entire lives to the cloud. But this is a trend that is happening. Microsoft ignores this at their peril.