With all the talk about how the once-great Microsoft is losing talent, shedding massive amounts of consumer weight and facing increasing competition from companies like Google, is Microsoft doomed?

John Dvorak, noted PC World and MarketWatch columnist, thinks so. So do others. Is there reason for alarm? Remember this -- MSFT shares recently hit a five-year low on the heels of the Redmond giant's latest lackluster quarterly results and rumors continue to fly that the next Windows operating system, Windows Vista, will be delayed until the year 2010.

Robert Cringely from PBS writes rather eloquently that Microsoft's business model can't be re-engineered fast enough to meet these challenges and he hints at the software giant taking another corporate direction before it's too late, even though he thinks MSFT will survive no matter what.

Like Cringely, I don't think Microsoft is doomed. Why? Several reasons. First, it has the cash hoard to make acquisitions to catch up with almost any competitor it chooses -- and yes, Google will prove to be the biggest challenge.