It's an interesting  statement against Apple that Google considers Microsoft a competitor and Apple  isn't. This is kind of weird because I thought that Apple was actually Google's  biggest competitor with the iPhone going against Android. 
  Or is maybe Google  just taking the classic Linux user approach where they are just against  Microsoft, no matter what they do? And in that case, maybe Microsoft should  just wholeheartedly accept Google so that Google has to be against itself!
  But I guess it just comes  down to CXOs making decisions without the understanding of the reality of what  goes on beneath them. Totally not understanding what the ramifications of their  actions really are, you know, just like the U.S. Congress.
  Hopefully this just  didn't transpire because Google is so cheap that they are going to hoard the  $10M or so that they would be paying Microsoft for licenses. 
    -Ed
  As many complaints that  I have concerning Microsoft, Google, et al, won't catch them for years to come,  if ever. Not only do they dominate the marketplace, the interoperability  between their vast array of products is almost profound. 
  Linux is for geeks. Macs  are too expensive. Google operates in the cloud market, which won't be trusted  by most businesses for years to come. 
  Microsoft is for  business. And since business do the overwhelming amount of computer training,  everyone knows Microsoft. It will continue to dominate for at least another  generation or two.
  FYI, I'm implementing  Small Business Server 2008 w/Office Communications Server 2007 R2. What a sweet  package for the Small Business. It has everything they'll ever need for IT, and  it's unified.
    -Ian 
  What I have seen at some tech companies is a big divide  between the technical/production side of the company and the business side --  when it comes to what machines they need. The technical side uses whatever they  need: Windows/Linux/Mac, etc. But at the business end, while the PC dominates,  the Mac has gained a cool status and can usually support the business end, when  they are using Microsoft Office for the Mac -- there's that pesky Microsoft  again. But, Macs are far more expensive than a PC with Windows, with no added  cost/benefit (except for the cool status). I guess Google feels the need to  spend the extra cash on Macs for the business staff. 
  But do we really think GE or another enterprise will wake up  and say to themselves: "Gee, let's spend all that extra cash on more  expensive Macs." The cost benefit is just not there. Maybe someday, but  not yet.
    -Andrew
  As I understand it, the Google hack was successful because  they were still running IE6 on some of their systems. Upgrading to 7 or 8 was  recommended long ago because of security issues with 6. And, yes, it was Gmail  that was hacked. Is that thing out of Beta yet?
    -Dana
  No, Microsoft isn't under pressure from Google's drop of  Microsoft products, nor by the iPad. If anything, Microsoft's cell phone market  is practically dead. Windows Mobile 7 is taking far too long to be released and  other cell phone OSs,  particularly the iPhone and Android OSs, are grabbing a huge portion of the  market share. This is where Google and Apple are taking a bite out of  Microsoft. Windows Mobile 7 is going to have to be spectacular for Windows  Mobile phones to come back with a vengeance.
    -Mark
  The last company to take such a bold stand with MS was  Netscape and that did not end well. Before that was IBM and they seem to have  since joined MS rather than fight them.
    -Anonymous