Can Google and Linux Topple Microsoft

 

The story had a certain flair. In early March, the chief information officer of the Federal Aviation Administration , David Bowen, was reportedly considering forsaking Microsoft Windows and Office in favor of the Linux operating system and the Web-based Google Apps Premium office suite.

Could this be true? Might an office suite upstart topple the giant of giants? Does a Web-based suite of applications have enough punch to do the job?

Perhaps. Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Apps Premium does offer a strong set of collaborative word-processing and spreadsheet tools, in addition to e-mail and calendar capabilities. "We built the [applications] from the ground up to focus on collaboration," said Mike Bradshaw, who leads Google's federal enterprise division. "They're providing a new type of functionality to the space that people have been looking for."More>>