[minikites]

The difference is that people are stuck thinking it's still 1997 and that when Google does it, it must be good, because Google is an upstart and on our side. When Microsoft does it, it must be evil, because they're big and evil Microsoft and not on our side.

[aNoob7000]

Microsoft and Google are both monopolies, and thus bad for competition. One has a desktop/server operating system and office productivity monopoly and the other search and smartphone software monopoly.

Google figured out that to compete with Microsoft and Apple you have to basically give it away for free. Look no further than Android and Google docs.