Google vs Microsoft, Beauty and the Beast
Microsoft has suddenly awakened to a company it sort of shrugged off and disdained as the new guys on the block that would have to prove themselves. A company called Google, the darling of Wall Street but, more importantly, the darling of search-engine users.
Like we say “Give me a Kleenex” when we’re talking about any brand of tissue or “can you Xerox that for me” in a copy store full of Canons, “Googling” has become the lingua franca of search. MSN Search doesn’t have that nifty, swingy ring to it, but the reputation goes beyond just that.
Did we ever think we’d be describing Microsoft as ‘old technology?’ But it is certainly a lumbering old behemoth compared to upstart Google. Microsoft manipulated the field of desktop personal computer software and operating systems, some say stealing their way to dominance and not making many friends along the way. Netscape, a browser competitor was an example of how Microsoft crushed all enemies through innovation, financial muscle and (when that …