Google News, Inside.

After reading this article from PC World, written by Preston Gralla, I have to say they sound really stupid.

Let’s take a look at a little excerpt from the article which is really the core of the accusasion.

In fact, Google Apps isn’t even as popular as the free OpenOffice.org. In “Study: OpenOffice five times more popular than Google Docs,” Eric Lai cites a study last month from market research firm ClickStream Technologies PLC which found that 51% of U.S. Internet users over age 18 use Microsoft Office, while 5% use OpenOffice.org, and only 1% use Google Docs.

The upshot? Google has a long way to go to catch Microsoft Office. Given that Office will be available on the Web in the coming year, I’m betting Google will never even come close.

Let’s give some context to what Preston is saying with some history of the products.

Microsoft Office was first released in 1990, which was 18 years ago. OpenOffice was first released in 2002, only 6 years ago. When was Google Apps [Premiere] launched? It will be two years this coming February..

18 years vs. 6 years vs. 1 year. So Preston thinks that because Google Apps hasn’t caught on within the past year, it never will?

Microsoft announced just two months ago that they are developing a web-based version of Microsoft Office. Google has had Google Apps available for nearly two years and Microsoft is just now finally getting around to creating a web-based version of Office.

The report that Preston is talking about, puts Google Docs [and Google Apps] in the 1% margin, while Microsoft Office sits at a strong 51%. So why exactly is Google Apps stuck at 1% and Microsoft Office is still sitting pretty at a 51%? It’s because a good portion of these users are from the original days of the Internet. Slower connections, slower computers, unreliable Internet access, and nothing web-based. Today, anything imaginable is web-based, even applications as heavy as Photoshop!

We have spreadsheets, photo editors, financial software online, and pretty much anything imaginable, all at your finger tips through the Internet. So why have all these Microsoft Office users not been tempted to switch over to Google Office? Because they’re addicted to Microsoft Office.

There are still some differences between the online application and the software-based Office, but those differences are becoming fewer and fewer with each iteration.

But largely, it’s still because people are addicted [and taught] to use the software-based version of “office,” when in reality, you can get the same job done with an online application [for free.]

Microsoft has held their audience captive for far too long and it’s time to break free from the “Microsoft trance.” It’s time to expand your horizons and look past what we’ve been accustomed to for the past 18 years.

There is absolutely no reason you should force your organization or be forced to utilize age-old software applications when you can do the job more effectively and more efficiently with newer solutions.

I want to repeat that when Preston says, and I quote, “Given that Office will be available on the Web in the coming year, I’m betting Google will never even come close.” He sounds ignorant and uninformed. Google took 1% in the matter of 1 year, when Microsoft has had 18 years to dominate the market.

I would place a bet on Google that within 5 years, they will have a 10% or 20% stake in the office marketplace. Why? Innovation and execution. It’s something that Google has shown the world they really know how to do well.