Microsoft has now joined Apple in a guerrilla war against Google's Android, and Google's next steps are far from certain. The smartphone industry is still in its infancy, but its strategic importance to computer companies big and small can't be overstated.

Microsoft fails to slow Google down; Google harms Microsoft's profits; Windows-only Microsoft Web rationalises temporary support of Google

Microsoft's rivalry with Google heated up considerably this past year when rumors surfaced that Google might release its own operating system to compete with Windows. Has Google finally jumped into the fray with its own OS?

More details about the Amazon patent deal; Microsoft confirms role in legal actions against Google and Murdoch joins the cause

Google and Microsoft are at it again. But this time Google is attacking Microsoft for threatening Linux users for patent violations.

This whole cloud-computer effort makes sense for Google to pursue, if it hasn't already grown its own cloud OS in secret. Google already has server-based versions of Google Docs, which duplicate the functions of Microsoft's Office software. However, the Google Apps aren't always as full-featured or heavy-duty as Microsoft's software.

How Microsoft works to create civil wars and Google hate/unrest (and even get Apple fans to distrust or dislike Google)

Google's protests over the way desktop search is handled in Microsoft's Vista OS have so far fallen on deaf ears. A U.S. district judge denied Google's request to extend Microsoft's antitrust agreement with federal and state governments, essentially saying the matter was none of Google's business. The judge suggested that Google appeal to DoJ, which has shown no sympathy for the search giant.

Google has been slowly, but surely, displacing Microsoft as the number one PC technology company. Google has done it by misdirection. Instead of taking Microsoft head-on in desktops, Google first consolidated their hold on Web search and only then started moving into Web-based desktop applications.