Writely is a web-based word processor which shot to instant fame following its acquisition by search giant Google. It’s a great example of a Web 2.0 site, featuring the ubiquitous “beta” tag and an AJAX driven interface. It’s still in Limited beta, so you can use it only if you’re lucky enough to have an invite.

Writely, like other Web 2.0 sites, loads quickly on fast internet connections, and once loaded, has the look and feel of a desktop application like Word or OpenOffice.org, with a slight comic-book look to it.

All the usual formatting options expected in a word processor, albeit a basic one, are present. Tables, lists, hyperlinks, images, etc. can be inserted with ease. In addition to these, writely has some nice features. For instance, the ability to save and store files online in RTF, PDF, HTML, DOC and ODF is a very useful feature which makes writely even more versatile and portable.

The ability to “collaborate” is a feature which we also find in Google Spreadsheet. It basically allows multiple people to login from different locations to simultaneously work on the same document. Combined with the fact that the files created using writely are stored on Google’s servers ensures that they are accessible from anywhere in the world.

Two other features worth noting are the “Blog”, which lets the user directly post to a blog, and the “Revisions” feature, which enables a user to see a history of the revisions made to the document.

All-in-all, Writely is another good “beta” offering from Google (although not developed by it), without being revolutionary/path-breaking in any way. It does not, in any way, endanger MS Word or OpenOffice.org nor does it offer a viable alternative. As for it’s being online, products like ajaxWrite, Zoho Writer and ThinkFree Office are also online, and available.

Google Spreadsheets is out and, I must say, it's a pleasure to use. I just got my invite, and I've been fiddling with it for a while.
Go to spreadsheet.google.com and sign-in (if you've been invited to the Limited Beta). It loads extremely quickly, in my case taking only 5 seconds to load. Once loaded, you can barely tell whether you're using a desktop application or something through the internet.
The interface is clean and simlple; it's also quite similar to Excel, just as you would expect in any spreadsheet program. All in all, the interface looks like a Googlified version of Excel. Quite pleasing to the eye.
Google Spreadsheet incorporates all basic features that you'd expect in a spreadsheet program. You can even use formulas and sorting. Files can be downloaded in .xls and .cvs format, and can also be uploaded from ones computer. Cells can be merged, basic formatting can be applied, etc.
Nothing revolutionary so far? That's because I've left the best for the end. Here it comes: You can allow multiple people to view/edit files created in Google Spreadsheets. Files created in it are accessible through the internet, from any location. All changes made are saved in real-time, so you needn't worry about losing your data in case you accidentally close the window, or your browser crashes.
The part that I like best about Google Spreadsheet is that files created in it can be accessed from anywhere, by as many people as required. Basically, if I'm in Ohio when I create a file, and I go to New York, I can still access my file through the internet. No need for burning discs or carrying flash drives. Simply amazing.
Although this marks Google's foray into Microsoft's core business, Google Spreadsheet is unlikely to pose much of a threat to Microsoft Excel, as most features which make Excel so popular are missing in Spreadsheet. For instance, the much-used and loved (or hated) macros and graphs are not available in Spreadsheet.
Given this, and the fact that Spreadsheet is free (and cool), the two are likely to co-exist rather than interfere with each other.

Google's core business is search. Microsoft's core business is the desktop. However, in recent times, the two have found their interests coming in direct conflict with each other.
Everyone knows Microsoft has a new, potent rival in Google. Has Microsoft met it's match? Read ahead to see how the two companies have fared against each other so far.

Gmail vs Hotmail
Gmail rocked the market the day it was launches, and has never looked back. Initially launched with 1GB, great search features, without graphic ads and a quick AJAX-driven mailbox, gmail was simply miles ahead of Hotmail, which offered a pathetic 2MB of space at the time, accompanied with irritating ads.
Although both Gmail and Hotmail have come a long way since then, Hotmail has failed to catch up to Gmail. In fact, it hasn't even been able to match the features that gmail offered at the time of its launch, whereas Gmail has moved forward, incorporating a lightning quick chat facility into it's inbox, taking it lightyears ahead of Microsoft. Working in conjunction with Chat, Maps and a calendar, Gmail offers a slew of attractive and useful features totally missing from Hotmail.
Microsoft has poured barrels of money into Hotmail, to try and bring Hotmail at par with Google, but its efforts have been in vain.
Victor: Google

Google vs MSN Search
In search, Google was the pioneer, while MSN search was a newcomer with huge corporate backing. Microsoft, once again, put its weight (and money) behind MSN search to try and trounce the reigning Google. After considerable improvements to its engine and index, MSN Search has risen to great heights, and has become a very popular search engine indeed. Results are now quite accurate and useful, eliminating the need to search twice/thrice. MSN Search is catching up to Google, but it still has a considerable distance to travel.
Google, on the other hand, is still the leader, in terms of both accuracy and volumes. However, Google had become increasingly easy to "game" in recent times, leading to inaccurate results, but these issues have been resolved after a recent update. The recent "Bigdaddy", although widely criticised by webmasters, has cleansed Google's result pages of spammy and irrelevant websites.
Victor: Google

Blogger vs MSN Spaces
Blogger has been around for a while, and has steadily grown in popularity. After it was bought over by Google, some amazing new features have been added to Blogger, like the ability to upload pictures directly to a blog. Blogger even became ad-free, allowing users to sign-up for Google Adsense and earn money from their blogs, if they so desired.
MSN Spaces came late to the party. When blogging has already become a crazy, Microsoft decided to unleash it's own blogging service, which was just not good enough to compete with Blogger. MSN Spaces isn't as customizable, doesn't have seamless integration with a money earning programme, and has ugly URLs, unlike blogger which gives away subdomains.
Victor: Google

Google Talk vs MSN Messenger
This decision dpends greatly on the outcome of Gmail vs Hotmail. If you use Gmail, you're likely to use Google Talk, and if you use Hotmail, you're likely to use MSN Messenger. Google Talk is as good as MSN Messenger, despite the fact that MSN Messenger has been around for quite a while now. Google, however, manages to inch forward with the help of it's VOIP functionality, integrated seamlessly into Google Talk, which makes it an absolute breeze to use. MSN has no equivalent VOIP feature to offer, and thus once again lags behind Google, but continues to be relevant due to a huge user base.
Victor: Undecided

Google Desktop Search vs Microsoft Desktop Search
Microsoft makes Windows, so it should be able to search the desktop better than Google, right? WRONG!! Google Desktop Search is quicker, and more relevant than Microsoft's Desktop Search. It's surprising how efficient and useful, GDS is in comparison with Microsoft's Search Utility. It's one of those things that just should've been part of Windows. Google clearly wins again.
Victor: Google

Google Maps vs Windows Live Local
Finally we get to see something that Microsoft has got right. Windows Live Local and Google Maps are both really good, almost at par with each other, but WIndows Live Local has some features that make it great to use. For instance, scrolling with arrow keys and the mouse-scroller is really easy to use, as well as intuitive. Google needs to put in some work here to edge ahead of Microsoft.
Victor: Microsoft

Google Adwords vs Microsoft adCenter
Microsoft has come out with adCenter to try and take a chunk out of Google's pie. Google's only major source of income is Adwords, and will continue to be so. Microsoft is new, so we have to wait for it to develop into a competitor for Google. As things stand right now, Microsoft doesn't have the volumes to match Google, which places advertisers ads on its search pages and on the pages of partner sites in it's network. Microsoft has a long, long way to go before it can dethrone the king of internet marketting.
Victor: Google

A quick glance at the results of this intense rivalry between Google and Microsoft will show you that, as of now, Google seems to be getting the better of Microsoft. In some cases, Google has just been twistin Microsoft at will, giving it a very very hard time indeed. We, as consumers, can only gain from such competition. We can also sit back and enjoy a great fight. And that's exactly what we're going to do now.
There are numerous scenarios where Microsoft and Google have locked horns, and I'll cover these in times to come.