BLOG: Google Pack Nicely Integrates Key Online Apps

January 13, 2006

Much of the attention Google received at last week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) came from its new online video store, which will go head-to-head with Apple's iTunes service, among others. But the company's release of the Google Pack may have a more chilling impact on the company's role as a developer and distributor of software.

The new Google Pack is a suite of applications that consists of just about everything an individual needs to get online in a single download. And it's free, as co-founder Larry Page emphasized during his CES keynote. So I decided to check it out for myself.

The Google Pack includes the Mozilla Firefox browser, Adobe's Reader 7.0, Real Networks' RealPlayer, LavaSoft's AdAware antispyware tool, Cerulean Studios' Trillian instant-messaging, voice and video communications client software, and a free six-month subscription to Symantec's Norton Antivirus.

Moreover, it comes with Google's own offerings, including screensavers, the Picasa photo-management software, the Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer and Firefox, and Desktop, which will allow individuals to search for information within their computers as well as via the Internet.

Many of these apps can be downloaded free of charge individually. The Google Pack eliminates the dialog boxes that accompany each app, and they are patched all at once, Page said. "It's something that makes having the right software on your computer as easy as going to the Google home page," Page said. "It's no fuss at all."

Indeed. The download was quick and seamless. One caveat is you should remove any prior versions of software you already have on your machine. For now, at least, it only supports Windows PCs, which, for most, won't be a liability, but certainly if Google is looking to compete against Microsoft, don't presume Google won't expand its effort to other platforms.

While there's nothing particularly groundbreaking in bundling software, much of which is free, the impact of this move could prove significant. The Google Pack is prominently offered on the main Google search page at google.com. What's to say Google won't eventually include other wares in the Google Pack, say Star Office? And by giving customers a free six-month license to Norton Antivirus, what does that portend for Google's intentions as a distributor of software?

Clearly, this is something that can have an impact on Microsoft, as well as the channel, giving the search-engine provider direct reach to a huge universe of customers. What that impact will be, only time will tell.

As for the widely rumored Google PC, nothing there seems imminent. Page did point out the MIT Media Lab $100 laptop initiative, launched a year ago at this time, with the intent that every child attending school in developing nations would have access to a PC. The machine will be a Linux-based device.

Based on a 500-MHz processor, 128 MB of DRAM and 500 MB of flash memory, the machine will not have a hard disk, but will have USB ports and wireless broadband support (http://laptop.media.mit.edu). Noting only 15 percent of the global population has access to the Internet today, Page said, "We have a huge way to go to get people online."

Meanwhile, Google forged on this week, doing a deal with Research In Motion, maker of the popular Blackberry platform, making Google Talk available on those devices (http://www.personaltechpipeline.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=175803949).

No doubt, there will be more to come.