With Google ferociously attacking the desktop of Microsoft, the larger question right now is how many existing Microsoft customers will change to using Google's web-based alternatives and how many new office productivity customers will never know Microsoft Office and will instead use Google's Writely (word processor), Google Spreadsheet and Google Gmail/Google Calendar. These three web-based Google apps are significant attacks on Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook, respectively. Or, are they?

A few caveats need to be mentioned here. One: a Google customer must be online to use Google's web-based applications. There is, not yet, a way to access Google's apps without having an Internet connection. But hey, aren't we all connected at high-speed all the time these days? Most of us are, but the few times we may not be does not mean we don't need access to our precious data.

Two: the in-depth and enterprise-wide design of Microsoft's apps, all of which can reside on a central server, are absolutely required for many millions of enterprises. Google's apps, so far, cannot come close to matching the intricate needs of an enterprise when it comes to detailed spreadsheets and manageable email and calendaring. I say "yet" because I am sure Google will not rest on its laurels with the current condition of its web-based alternatives.

So, will you be dumping your desktop apps for Google web-based apps? Drop me a comment and let me know.

In March, Google bought an online word processor, Writely. Recently, it launched the Google Spreadsheet (I did a piece on this recently for Bloggingstocks.com).

What's next?  Maybe a Microsoft PowerPoint wannabe?

That's what a recent report from Gartner speculates. Actually, the scenario is that Google will buy Thumbstacks, which is a Web2.0 presentation app.

Interestingly enough, Gartner thinks Google's Office-type strategy is really to target the newbie crowd (such as "soccer moms").  In fact, it is a way to make Google's site more sticky, which has been a problem for the company (after all, users mostly go to Google to search, not stay around).  If Google can keep users on its site longer, there should be more opportunities to rack-up even more ad revenue.