Part 2: Changing Climates for Microsoft and Google, Desktops and Webs

A terrific followup to Part I. (Posted earlier) Stepping back from the technical complexities involved in the Google - Microsoft face-off, it's incredibly exciting to recognize we, as information users and consumers, are on the cusp of yet another seismic shift in communication modalities. In other words, strap yourselves in...

While we're on the subject...

Brad Feld's post refers to an article titled "Changing Climates for Microsoft and Google, Desktops and Webs". Terrific read about the changing landscapes of personal computing, software, and media.

As the robber barons found out, when a railroad achieves critical mass you make a boatload of money. Better yet, once that track is laid it's very difficult to move aside. Like any good robber baron, Microsoft would love for Google to compete on the same field where Microsoft owns all the rails and most of the trains. In fact, that kind of GoogleOS is Microsoft's wildest fantasy come true. Microsoft would be fully capable, and would probably relish the opportunity, of roughing Google up, dragging them through the mud and sending them on their way - just like they did with Sun, Apple, IBM, Netscape, Novell and Digital Research.

There's more. A lot more. Check it out.

Let the OS games begin!

Brad Feld's got a good, first-person review of his experience with Vista. You can find it here. Of note is his preference for the way Vista "just works". Given the recent reviews of Zune, those are welcome words to Redmond I'm sure. As the Vista roll-out gains steam, it'll be interesting to see what percentage of installations are done on existing hardware v. installations bundled with new hardware purchases. The latter will likely delight most while the former sounds like it could be a nightmare for all but the most robust HW configurations. Caveat emptor. How many of you expect to upgrade to Vista in the next 6 months?