MS Chasing Google

Microsoft has Office. Google has Apps.

Microsoft has Hotmail. Google has Gmail.

Microsoft has an OS. Google has the web and Android and OpenSocial.

MS has MSDN. Google has Gears, Analytics, and Labs.

MS has Search (kinda). So it bid on Yahoo. Google has all kinda search - mobile, special, specific, and best of all: great results.

Now MS has launched hosted SharePoint and Exchange. In 2H08, any size business can rent these apps as SAAS from Microsoft. [yahoo news] Here's where they start biting the VAR Channel's hand. VAR's are the reason MS has so much penetration in the business space. VAR's keep the licensing flowing. Now with that moving to Hosted, how with VAR's react?

Microsoft "will also begin to offer a free download of a software called Search Server 2008 Express that allows companies to search files and documents inside their network. The product will rival Google Inc's Search Appliance." Yeah, but it will still be MSN Search which sucks. Even when you add in Yahoo (2 cluttered home pages), you don't get the results you do from Google searches. (Or at least I don't).