Yesterday, we saw Microsoft shamelessly go after the iPhone with a video which played at Mobile World Congress for its new Windows Phone 7 Series. But it’s not just Apple that Microsoft is taking on with videos, it’s competitors like Google and OpenOffice.org as well.
On the Microsoft Office Videos channel on YouTube, you’ll find a series of videos which find Microsoft aggressively going after its competition. For example, here’s one in which Microsoft Office is compared to Google Apps and specifically, Google’s “low-cost” email service. Office, it seems deals with “real world” issues, Google Apps (and specifically Gmail) do not, according to the video.
Microsoft also notes that Google’s offering lacks some standard features customers are used to — like copy & paste. Another key selling point: if you choose to use Google Apps, your formatting may be screwed up when you inevitably have to work with others who are using Microsoft Office. When all else fails, turn to FUD.
Another video sees an actual Microsoft employee comparing Microsoft Outlook with Gmail, again for business. The best part of this one is the ominous gray clouds in the background with “Gmail” written across them. Get it?
Microsoft clearly doesn’t enjoy seeing companies make the switch to Google’s business offerings — and why would they? It’s a very real threat to one of their key profit centers: Office. But using these videos to take on Google are humorous for one reason above all else: they’re all hosted on the Google-owned YouTube.
Microsoft, founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, is a veteran software company, best known for its Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software. Starting in 1980 Microsoft formed a partnership with IBM allowing Microsoft to sell its software package with the computers IBM manufactured. Microsoft is widely used by professionals worldwide and largely dominates the American corporate market. Additionally, the company has ventured into hardware with consumer products such as the Zune and...
Microsoft Office is a set of interrelated desktop applications, servers and services, collectively referred to as an office suite, for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems. It typically includes versions of Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Microsoft Excel.
Google provides search and advertising services, which together aim to organize and monetize the world’s information. In addition to its dominant search engine, it offers a plethora of online tools and platforms including: Gmail, Maps, YouTube, and Google+, the company’s extension into the social space. Most of its Web-based products are free, funded by Google’s highly integrated online advertising platforms AdWords and AdSense. Google promotes the idea that advertising should be highly targeted and relevant to users thus providing...
Google Apps (formerly known as Google Apps for your domain), is a web-based office suite offering email, document creation, and collaboration functionality. Google Apps provides Google products hosted under an organization’s custom domain name.
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