Looks like Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is sparing no expense -- literally -- in bringing its free Google Spreadsheet and recently-acquired Writely word processing software to all customers who want both products. Both are free of charge, of course. The new "Google Docs & Spreadsheets" program is an extension of the web-based spreadsheet and word processing access Google already provides for free on the web. The new access for the combined word processing and spreadsheet is available here, and a Google account must be created or used.

Does this up the ante on Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) regarding its billion-dollar Office software franchise? Well, that's been said ever since Google purchased privately-help Writely earlier this year and later introduced the Google Spreadsheets program to all web users. My guess is that most Microsoft Office users use Powerpoint, Word and Excel more than any other piece of the Microsoft Office productivity package, so Google has two of those bases covered here -- and all you need is a web browser and Internet connection.

It's true that the intricate capabilities of Microsoft Office are far ahead of the relatively simple capabilities that Google's offerings allow, but for millions, what Google offers is enough and will suit then just fine. So, is this another stab at Microsoft by Google? You could say that, but I actually think it's an extension of the stab from earlier this year, and we'll see how Google progresses here. If the Internet search giant can create or buy a web-based presentation tool that emulates Microsoft Powerpoint, then things will really start to take shape.

Google closed the week prior to the Labor Day holiday by ending Friday at $378.60, an increase of $0.07 or 0.02% over Thursday's close. In other words, GOOG shares just middled through this fast Friday -- yesterday -- with nothing but a whimper of movement. With Google shares down from a high of nearly $437 in April, the shares have seen seeing smaller ups and downs in the last five months, with some spikes and some dips, but an overall downward trend except for the late June-early July spike. Hey, this is an equity -- what else is new, right?

Some highlights from the just-concluded Google week are below:

• Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt, joins the board of directors at Apple Computer, sending strong signals to some industry players (in my opinion)

• Google's PayPal-killer not showing its teeth -- yet. Give it more time to become a standard in the web e-commerce community and Google Checkout may start making inroads. I hope so, since eBay's PayPal sorely needs some competition

• Google and eBay form alliance to ensure "click to call" and Instant Messaging can connect auction buyers and sellers as efficiently as possible. Hey, the key here is communication, in real-time, right?

• Microsoft can answer Google's new "Google Apps" web-based office suite and email alternative for businesses -- if it innovates to stay ahead of the web search leader

Have a safe and prosperous Labor Day weekend everyone.

Will Microsoft mount a defense to the just-announced Google Apps suite of web services? More importantly, is Google gunning for more than Microsoft as it rolls out more pieces of the Google Apps suite in the coming year? Symantec? Intuit? Anyone is up for game against Google and its apparent voracity of trying to be everything (possibly) to everyone -- all over the Internet and all though a single, billion-dollar vessel -- the web browser.

Microsoft does not have to worry -- at this point, at least. Its Office franchise, while complex and expensive compared to Google's streamlined and free offerings, are also a way to keep data private and secure on company networks (and in homes). The trust issue that will inherently come up with Google's web-based offerings will take quite a virtual handshake to assure potential customers that data used "on the Google network" will have very cohesive semblance of privacy and security.

What about product quality? Microsoft's Office franchise has the perception that many useless features are added just to give the company an excuse to release another version (and to grab more consumer and business dollars). But, it's hard to say of Google Apps will have the robustness of a Microsoft Exchange server arrangement for email and calendaring, and Microsoft Excel, at this time, is legions ahead of the simplified Google Spreadsheets product.

But, Microsoft cannot rest on its laurels -- Google will be improving these products most surely, and the competitive strife will only tighten up further. Microsoft can innovate and keep an edge or, well, not. But, with its Office franchise bringing in billions every year in revenues, Microsoft has little choice in the matter.

[Disclosure: I own MSFT shares as of 8-29-06]

What is Web 2.0? That term has a different meaning for the tech elite than the average consumer. There is one "world wide web" in a general sense, but there are migrations of products to the web in another specific sense. In effect, the openness of the Internet has created an world-changing equalizer, and that equalizer function is starting to show the signs of "shaking up" established industries. This is the basis for the countless Microsoft vs. Google comparisons that are seen almost daily in some form.

What about Office productivity software? You know -- Microsoft's second-largest revenue generator outside the venerable and ubiquitous Windows franchise? Is locally-installed software still needed for this purpose? For complex documents and calculations, there is a large argument that locally-installed software is still king, and will be for some time.

That's not to say that alternatives like OpenOffice are not competitors to Microsoft Office, because they are. To many OpenOffice is just as good as Microsoft Office, and its free. That's huge. But the brand and perceived universal compatibility that Microsoft Office has is overpowering, especially to IT departments charged with installing and maintaining all this stuff, not even counting the millions of home systems with Microsoft Office installed.

Will Google's offerings ever catch up to speed, usefulness, compatibility and universal access to the Microsoft office productivity universe? Some of the bases are already covered -- except one: you must be online to use many "Web 2.0" products and services, if not all of them. Are many of us connected 24/7? You bet we are, unless we're flying or on a mountaintop. Some say that's not healthy and some say it's required for today's business world. If you don't do it, your competitor will. Web 2.0 means online accessibility, all the time. I thought Web 1.0 was the same way, wasn't it?

Brian White has worked in various executive positions in technology and telecommunications and now focuses on editing and writing.

Microsoft wants to turn up the heat on the impending launch of Microsoft Office 2007 -- so it's using the web to offer a preview of the new office suite. See, web-based distribution is quite a bit speedier than physical distribution (or huge preview downloads).

Good going, Microsoft. I can only image the hundreds of megabytes needed just to download the beta and test versions of Office 2007 -- a fully-featured web preview (no downloading) is a perfect fit for this.

Microsoft, whose last Office edition was Microsoft Office 2003, may be having issues convincing both personal and business users to purchase and use the new Office 2007 suite. Sure, I've seen the previews installed locally and there are some nifty features in Office 2007 -- along with quite an improvement in visual polish.

Just the ease on the eyes of having a well-designed graphical interface makes using an office suite much ore enjoyable. But, along with the new Office 2007 suite is a considerable price tag -- even the least expensive version. With this preview, hopefully Microsoft can give prospective customers a taste (that they won't forget) and the convincing will be quite a lot easier.

[Disclosure: I own MSFT shares as of 6-27-06]

After just reading the latest issue of BusinessWeek, I was intrigued about the cover story -- which prominently figures Google VP Marissa Mayer, an AI and software engineering expert who also has an uncanny knack for releasing products that work sleekly, efficiently and are incredibly simple to use. For many people critical of Google Spreadsheet, I see it for its simplicity and usefulness for the tens of millions who are intimidated by Microsoft Excel and all the lavish functions it offers. Sure, there is a place for both products -- but they are targeting, for the most part, different audiences. Therein lies the "innovation" moniker that continues being placed on the Google folks.

Every tried Google's Gmail or Google Calendar? Both are fantastically easy to use and learn with very little configuration and tweaking. Compared to the incredible amount of settings in Microsoft Outlook, both Gmail and Google Calendar are, for many people, highly innovative and useful. One thing gearheads and power users tend to forget is that not everyone needs complex functionality out of their software -- whether locally-installed or web-based.

After reading this blog post, several question leaped to mind regarding many of the newer Google products that have surfaced recently, and why some of them have not gained the marketshare they've probably earned. Well, it all comes down to familiarity with many customers: there are many who argue that Google's Gmail service is the far-superior web-based email product, and it beats Yahoo! Mail and easily creams Microsoft's Hotmail with its speed and ease-of -use. So, two years after becoming available (not to the general public until recently), why hasn't Gmail upped its marketshare?

While this blog post -- and Google itself -- has said that Google's products are generally launched while not complete, I think Google hopes that by version three of four, the kinks will have been ironed out and people will flock to the product, whatever it is. Well, this is misguided thinking. There are plenty of examples of clearly-superior products not making inroads to established competitive products. Many customers are creatures of habit, and once they use a product or service for a while, the old "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" saying comes into play.

What about potential Office-killers like Google Calendar and the just-announced Google Spreadsheet application? Can these services gain customers by virtue of simply existing? Perhaps -- Google's search dominance has blossomed over the years due to a superior product and largely by viral marketing (and the press' obsession has not hurt, either). But can this situation translate into usage success for newer Google products? Gmail is gaining popularity and such, and other Google programs are just starting to walk. As usual, time will tell whether Google's past success can translate further into new and future Google products.

While Google has hinted at not really being a direct competitor to Microsoft, it has a strange way of showing it. As Sarah blogged on yesterday, Google has just announced a spreadsheet web-based application (as opposed to a locally-installed program) that will do away with the non-centralized editing that generally has to be done with Microsoft Excel.

Who hasn't created an Excel worksheet that needed to be sent around to many people as an email attachment? Google hopes to bypass this wary situation and create a spreadsheet program that is web-based and centralized for sharing among as many people as possible. Although Microsoft has hinted at online collaboratin with its Office suite, either it's been s dismal failure in implementation, or this feature has been marketed really badly. Up steps Google to bring online spreadsheet functionality to the collaborative environment, then.

In fact, Google says that the sharing aspect is central to the new web-based application's reason for existing in the first place. With Google's acquisition of online word processor Writely, and with Gmail and Google Calendar now being available, it seems that Google is systematically taking on Microsoft's core consumer products one by one. Although the new Google spreadsheet application will be available in a limited release at first, expect this new product to be live to the general public sometime this year.

I remember when I first got my hands on a copy of Microsoft Word. After years on WordPerfect, the creative soul in me was drunk on the pretty way you could view pages as pages, not words separated by dotted lines, the user-friendly layout, and oh, the fonts. But now, I get my kicks off in-line editing and next-gen blog software and AJAX (it's the wave of the future, dontcha know).

According to Jason Calacanis, CEO of Weblogs, Inc. and attendee at the D conference, Bill Gates is still in love with his software product. Jason writes that Bill "demoed a very cool version of Office that had a very clean -- but still packed -- GUI. One thing I noticed while the demo was going on was  that Gates was smiling like a kid on Christmas. As the audience oooed and ahhhhed you could see him get more excited and smile more. I thought to myself, 'wow, this guys been building the same pieces of software for over 20 years and he is still excited about it -- that's pretty cool.' "

Jason's other big takeaway: Microsoft is about to create "storage in the sky" for your MS documents. Now that would be truly useful and a worthy rival to Gmail and, if it wasn't imitated by Steve Jobs in a hurry, an Apple killer. In the world where everyone's mobile, you can't keep your data on one machine.