Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Update: Google is pushing OpenOffice

Ah, looks like Sun is including Java Runtime engine with Google Toolbar and Google will be somehow pushing OpenOffice as well. I thought they were only going to do the Toolbar and Java Runtime addon. However this seems to be a strange thing for McNealy to say:

Financial terms were not disclosed. "There is going to be a lot of money flowing both ways if we do this thing right," McNealy said.

Isn't all of this stuff free? So they seem to be getting together to push a bunch of free software that I guess will generate traffic for Google's web page or something. I can see how Google will make more money if people are jumping on to view the ads while they download OpenOffice.

I'm not sure how Sun will be making any money though. I guess it increases the installed base of OpenOffice and Java Runtime Engine in regular users homes. I really don't think most companies will be wasting their time with OpenOffice anytime soon. I mean they could have switched over a long time ago but haven't. I don't think Google pushing OpenOffice on their webpage (or whatever they will try to do) will make these companies switch any faster.

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