Microsoft Web Apps Will Force Google's Hand -- Google versus Microsoft -- InformationWeek

A timely reality check, although the full article contains some errors (e.g., you will be able to use Office Web Apps with Windows Live Skydrive; you won’t need an Office 2010 license or access to a SharePoint server, although the Office Web Apps are even more useful when used in conjunction with SharePoint and Office 2010).

With Microsoft's 2010 portfolio of Office products coming out shortly, Google is under the gun. It has to figure out how to head off Microsoft before the company closes the gap on browser-based applications (which it fully intends to do).

Google's battle cry for much of the last year was, "The Web has won." Yet it was a premature declaration of victory. Web applications still don't get the respect accorded to their desktop counterparts.

Microsoft Web Apps Will Force Google's Hand -- Google versus Microsoft -- InformationWeek