Google - News, Features, and Slideshows

Features

• Microsoft-Yahoo deal: three reasons why Google should sweat it

  With the arrival of the Bing search engine and the Microsoft-Yahoo search partnership, it's been a hectic summer for search - not that you'll see market leader Google sweating.

• Microsoft-Yahoo's big hurdle: Google search loyalty

  The biggest challenge to the Microsoft-Yahoo search partnership may not be Google the company as much as Google the habit.

• Apple-Google dustup: winners and losers

  When Apple announced today that Google CEO Eric Schmidt is resigning from Apple's board, the blogosphere let out a collective sigh of relief. In other words, it's about time. "Apple is well known for its secrecy around future products and directions," says Gartner analyst Charles Smulders, "the increasing overlap in products in recent months was bound to raise issues."

• Chrome OS may fail even as it changes computing forever

  Google says it is working on an operating system designed for netbooks that boots in seconds, is impervious to viruses, and is designed to run Web-based applications really well. What's not to like? Plenty--if you're the number one software maker, Microsoft. Expect a showdown. Google faces an uphill battle rolling out its operating system, Chrome OS. The irony is, Google may not care if Chrome OS succeeds or fails. Here's why.

• Microsoft, Google make sure IT has no dull moments

  Microsoft is launching Windows 7, Google has fired back with Chrome OS, and today Microsoft is turning up the volume on Office 2010. That's a lot to juggle, and soon you'll be asking yourself: Can I afford to upgrade or can I afford not to upgrade?

• Google: the world's most successful failure?

  The amazing thing about Google is how a business that makes 97 percent of its revenue selling advertising has people convinced that it is a technology company. And then gets a free pass despite a series of failures outside its core competencies in search and online ad sales.

• Does Google know too much about you?

  Do you trust Google? If you use its multitude of online services on a daily basis you might, but is that assumption wise? For some, Google is a wonderful company with a broad selection of useful online tools that make life easier, but for others Google is a looming, unregulated monster just waiting for the moment to drop the 'don't' from the company's unofficial motto, "Don't be evil."

• Google Chrome OS: Five big obstacles in the Windows war

  Google announced yesterday that it has an open-source operating system for PCs in development that shares the same name as the company's browser: Chrome.

• Search party: why security pros should master Google

  One of the reasons security is fun and interesting is that it requires a constant upgrade of your skills and knowledge.

• FAQ: Google Chrome OS

  News of Google's Chrome operating system is sending waves though the tech world with some saying the OS signals the beginning of the end for Microsoft and others who say Google will fall flat on its face and fail.

• The cloud takes many forms

  When putting your systems in the cloud, a few options are available depending on exactly what you want to put there and for how long. Although each vendor offers essentially the same service — a place to move your computing efforts away from your own infrastructure — they break down the pricing in a number of ways. Make sure you take into account your specific needs to find which cloud suits your company best.

• Who is in the Cloud?

  Salesforce.com may have made the early headlines, but it has since been joined by a plethora of software-as-a-services companies selling almost any service that can be hosted in a data centre.

• YouTube readies redesign amid chorus of complaints

  YouTube plans to soon switch all of its members to a redesign of its channel pages that it has been testing for several months, although many people want the Google video-sharing site to give them the option to keep the old layout.

• Google and Grameen launch mobile services for the poor

  Google has launched its SMS service and a new SMS-based classifieds system in Uganda, in collaboration with the Grameen Foundation and mobile operator MTN Uganda.

• China warns Google over porn links

  Google promised to step up control of "vulgar" online search results in China late Thursday, after a government-backed arbiter warned that its filtering of pornography was too weak.