快猫短视频

鈥淭HIS is hyper-competition, make no mistake,鈥� Microsoft founder Bill Gates said last year of the company鈥檚 growing rivalry with Google.

Since then the competition has reached fever pitch. This month Google accused Microsoft of violating anti-trust laws by setting the latest version of its browser, Internet Explorer, to default to its search engine MSN, although last week the US Justice Department found that the browser is not a threat to competition. For its part, Microsoft has announced that it will pour billions into a new version of its online software MSN, to put it in direct competition with Google.

This is not the first time Microsoft has found itself embroiled in an ugly battle with a competitor, but this latest fight could have far more impact on ordinary computer users than the company鈥檚 previous tussles. This time the fundamental issue at stake is how we will use our computers in the future.

Underscoring the battle for domination are two visions for how and where our digital data should be stored, how we should access it and who else should see it. Google is moving towards browser-based computing, in which data is stored on a central server and can be accessed via any web-enabled computer (快猫短视频, 18 March, p 27). In contrast, Microsoft is touting a future in which we remain dependent on our own desktops, and use the browser as a way to work more effectively with others across the web.

鈥淲hen Microsoft looks at how to deliver services on the web, it will not do anything to threaten the PC鈥檚 role in people鈥檚 lives,鈥� says Rob Helm of the analyst firm Directions on Microsoft based in Kirkland, Washington. 鈥淕oogle doesn鈥檛 really have any vested interest in the PC. As long as people see its advertising the company is happy,鈥� he says.

The two alternative visions for the future are coming into conflict now because of improved browser technologies. Until recently, browsers could only be used to view web pages. Activities such as using word processing programs, calendars, spreadsheets and viewing photos had to be done on the desktop because it took too long for conventional browsers to fetch data from a remote server each time a user wanted to access or update something.

Best of both worlds

Now, with the arrival of broadband and the adoption of a programming tool known as AJAX, which speeds up this data-fetching process (see 鈥淧redicting your next move鈥�), Google and other companies are beginning to churn out browser-based applications that combine the best of both worlds. These run as quickly and smoothly as a desktop program, but are accessible via the internet from almost anywhere, rather than being tied to a specific machine.

Although both companies are using AJAX, Google鈥檚 vision of a web-based future means it can more fully exploit the tool. Take Writely, a browser-based word processing program that Google acquired at the beginning of March from software firm Upstartle of Portola Valley, California, and Google Calendar, released in April. Although the programs are still affected by the speed constraints of browser systems, meaning they tend to contain fewer features than their desktop counterparts, they do allow users to collaborate on a document over the web, and to save documents to a remote server. Because the program code is also stored on a remote server, the user is not responsible for updates and patches. 鈥淭he big advantage is you don鈥檛 have to constantly install upgrades,鈥� says Chris Sherman, Colorado-based executive editor of search industry website Searchenginewatch.com.

These developments have sparked speculation about a future in which all software would be accessed through a browser, vastly diminishing the importance of Windows.

It is not yet clear if Google is planning to go this far, but at the moment it probably couldn鈥檛 if it wanted to, as many applications require more bandwidth than a browser could cope with, even with AJAX to speed things up.

For this reason, Google Earth and Picasa, Google鈥檚 photo-editing and sharing software, must still be downloaded from the internet and then stored and run on the desktop. 鈥淭he question is whether the browser can ever really compete effectively with PC-based applications,鈥� says Helm.

Unsurprisingly, Microsoft鈥檚 answer is an emphatic no. Gary Flake, director of the company鈥檚 Live Labs in Redmond, Washington, says that not only will you have more privacy storing your digital data on your desktop than on a remote server, but certain things just cannot be done using a browser. Video editing would be frustratingly slow, for example, as you would have to exchange gigabytes of data with a remote server. Desktop email will always be better because messages can be downloaded when you are online and accessed later without an internet connection. This would be impossible with a browser-based service.

Combo packages

Instead, Microsoft is attempting to develop programs that will run most effectively with a combination of browser and desktop. One idea Flake has is a system to automatically compare the playlists of users of Windows Media Player across friendship groups within Windows Live Messenger, the next generation of MSN Messenger. The system would find people with similar interests and then recommend music for them to share, he says.

Running the application on the browser alone would mean stripping out some features from Media Player such as creating playlists and burning CDs, but without the browser the ability to compare playlists would be lost, so both are needed.

Flake is also hoping to use the desktop to enhance web searches. Each user would have a file stored on their desktop that records keywords they have used for searches. When one of their Windows Live Messenger buddies then enters the same keyword into a search, Microsoft could use what they know about you from your file to make assumptions about what your buddy is likely to be searching for. Since your habits file would be stored on your computer rather than on a central server, it should allay some privacy concerns, says Flake.

Despite this, analysts claim Microsoft feels threatened by Google, whose researchers have a reputation for innovation and may come up with speedier ways to program browsers in the future. This would allow almost any application to be run online.

Microsoft can take comfort though. Even if a browser-based world were possible, not everyone would want it. There will always be times when people are not connected to the internet, and companies and governments are unlikely to want to store sensitive data on an external server over which they have no control.

So rather than a fight to the death for Microsoft or Google, this latest software skirmish will likely result in greater choice for computer users, as elements from each vision are incorporated into systems, says Sherman. 鈥淔or the average user it鈥檚 going to be more about personal preferences.鈥�