Google is taking on Microsoft Office. Today Google launched Google Apps ad-free- a hosted solution for collaboration, communication and document publishing. Microsoft Office is the most popular software for business today. There are some alternatives to the rather pricey MS Office. One of my favorites is Open Office. 
It is an open source software you can download, install and use for free. It provides most of the functionality of MS Office, and is compatible with MS Office and other document formats.
Google has been offering ad-supported version of their services called “Google Apps for Your Domain.” Today they are taking a swing at the MS Office market share of business desktop applications, by offering subscription based Google Apps Premier Edition. It costs $50 per user account a year. It includes 10GB of storage and 24/7 phone support. Google also offers Google Apps Education Edition which provides less storage.
This is a great opportunity for Google. This hosted model, makes it actually less expensive for many businesses to provide document and collaboration tools for their users. They do not have to worry about compatible hardware, operating system software, and other issues such as software upgrades, viruses imbedded in macros, legal liability due to software piracy, etc. You can read more about it on the Google Blog.
I’m loving OpenOffice.org too. I rather take Portable Apps and roam with my OpenOffice.org on a USB stick, than trusting a corporate behemoth that already has growing pain.
I had to move my blog this week from Blogger, because it won’t let me post anything anymore, after upgrading to the New Blogger that is now not in Beta anymore. Yeah! I don’t want that happen to my Calendar or Documents.
K
P.S.: If you need professional support for OpenOffice.org, get a Plan-B.
I agree a lot of this corporate thing start “stinking”. We are currently working on an open source “business application platform” (think salesforce.com). Its working for now with Google Apps but we are thiking of integrating it with OpenExchange etc… We are just doing our first beta. if you are interested let me know. Cheers.
http://applicationexchange.com
K and Tim, thank you guys for your comments.
K, I downloaded and started using Portable Apps today. They are amazing! Thanks for your tip.
Tim, good luck with ApplicationXchange. Sounds like an opportunity. - All the best. - Marek