According to Johan Brink in today’s Fin24.co.za, there is a war raging between Microsoft and Google. He calls it a cold war as both parties are busy gaining ground in the other’s territory.
Microsoft is moving from software to online tools and Google is venturing into software.

A war usually has one winner and one loser. A war also indicates losses, casualties and collateral damage.
Whether this is the case with Google vs Microsoft I just don’t know or can’t say.
I believe it is more case of a number of smaller battles where both will win some battles and gain some ground from the other.
We do also have loyalty issues at stake here as well, so maybe it won’t be an all out war! I don’t know whether I will switch loyalties just because the one company launches a new product or service.
Now that I use open source (OpenOffice) word processing, I don’t know what will convince me to pay for such services in the future. Also, using mostly Google ( let’s say 99%) of the time, I can’t see myself switching to another search engine.
It certainly does not mean that I have any problems with another product, I just don’t see why I should change.
What’s more, there is no reason why I can’t use / have both! I am sure that a lot of people fall in that category.
So, my verdict: the battles ( maybe not war) are on for the new users to the wonderful world of the internet and that the existing users will either stay where they are or have both, rather than using one company’s services / products exclusively.
Just do a search for Microsoft vs Google or Google vs Microsoft and you will see that this topic is getting way too much coverage!