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Office 365 Vs. Google Apps: Who Will Win This Battle of Cloud? Posted: 28 Jun 2011 05:55 AM PDT On the eve of it’s launch, Google has attacked Microsoft Office 365 – their blog post claims that Google's Apps office suite is 'for teams' where as Microsoft's new cloud-based Office 365 is more expensive and 'for individuals'. But what’s it actually like to use Office 365, and is it really going to metamorphose your experience when compared to the desktop version of Office? Read on… to find out. What is Office 365? Office 365 — which is being launched today — is Microsoft’s latest attempt to push enterprise holdouts onto a new online version of its Office software. But if you pay attention, the basic Office 365 package is a mere upgrade to the 2010 versions of Exchange, SharePoint, Office Communications Online and Live Meeting. Interestingly, the last two have now been merged as one and are known as Lync. Office 365 gets interesting when we look at the additional Office Software Online options that it brings out of the box. And this is going to be interesting because recently Google declared war with Microsoft with launch of Chrome OS Laptops; and now as it appears – Microsoft has decided to respond back! What is Google Apps? features several Web applications with similar functionality to traditional office suites, including: Gmail, Google Groups, Google Calendar, Talk, Docs and Sites. With Google Apps you can work with multiple people in the same document. There's no need toworry about whether or not it's possible to share a spreadsheet, or co-edit a presentation. You can see people type in real time, and share a file in just two clicks. Discussions bring people into your documents for rich conversations. You don't need to buy additional licenses to work with others, or hope people outside your company have upgraded to the same software. If you have a Google account, you can collaborate. Office 365 Pricing: The software will cost small businesses $6 a user each month for a package with programs like Office Web Apps and Exchange e-mail software, Microsoft said. For an additional $12 a month, companies can add a full version of Office, including Word and Excel programs. Google Apps Pricing: Google charges companies $5 a user each month or $50 a user each year, and offers a free version for consumers. Google Apps has 30 million active users overall, and doesn't reveal how many of those are paying customers. Office 365 Advantages: Office 365 offers hosted versions of a family of server products launched by Microsoft last year: Exchange Online 2010, Lync Online 2010, and SharePoint Online 2010. Plus, you get Office Web Apps, a version of MS Office that runs in the browser. Google Apps Advantages: On the other hand, Google delivers its mix of Gmail for Business, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google Groups, Google Sites, and other applications entirely online. Born in the Internet age, Google argues its services were built for Internet-connected teamwork and collaboration–a generational advantage over Microsoft offerings born in the PC era. Google also touts ease of use, lower cost, and frequent feature updates (delivered online, of course) as key advantages. But the company’s services stop short of the breadth of capabilities–particularly the communications capabilities–included in Office 365. Usually, when it comes to selling new versions of Office, Microsoft’s toughest competitor used to be IBM or Google. But this time they are trying to challenge Google in their own battle field and it will be really interesting to watch how matters unfold. In a nutshell, Office 365 could be little costly than Google Apps but it could be a lot of net new business, and stable recurring revenue, if Microsoft can pull it off.

Top Five Gone But Not Forgotten Computer Games Posted: 28 Jun 2011 12:33 AM PDT Is it me or are most computer video games these days purely franchises? Each year we see a new FIFA, Tiger Woods Golf, Final Fantasy (oh the irony) or Pro Evo Soccer. And how many times can you honestly put a new spin on war? Each Call of Duty or Modern Warfare game I see is relatively the same, slightly different weapons, new missions but in all honesty could easily be a DLC. There must be games that are released by developers that don't even see the light of day due to the cash rich marketers employed by EA Sports. Yet it feels like most game studios are scared to try something new due to the time involved in development and investment needed. Recently I've been playing more indie titles like Stacking, Chime, Echochrome and World of Goo. The low cost involved for me as a consumer lowers the risk that I will feel ripped off once I complete the game. Plus the ideas are new and fresh with stunning graphics. And I've found that I'm more likely to buy DLC's for these smaller titles too, it's almost like giving the developers a little tip at the end of a meal. Top 5 Best Unknown/Forgotten Games You Should Play But it got me thinking. Why are there certain titles destined to become franchises? Why did some of the best games I ever played just die away quietly? I picked my top five gone but not forgotten computer video games and reawakened a desire to see either a follow up or a revamped version on the Xbox Live Arcade or Playstation Network: In Cold Blood Released on the Playstation back in 2000, this spy adventure game ticked all the boxes when I first saw it for rental in my local Blockbuster store. I ended up hooked and bought it. Playing as Special Agent John Cord, you attempt to uncover a conspiracy that could lead to war on a global scale. Featuring robots, EMP mines, puzzle solving and the voice talent of Nickolas Grace and Patricia Hodge, the main draw was the storyline which continually left me surprised. Black Hailed at the time for having impressive graphics and sound quality, Black was released by Criterion Games in 2006. Black was a first person shooter where you could destroy your surroundings with the clever use of graphic effects that really helped to immerse yourself into the game. Highly stylised, you play as a Black Ops soldier based in Chechnya and play through several mission based levels. It truly was one of the first FPS to add touches like screen blur when reloading and realistic handling of the weapons you discover throughout the game. Being able to pretty much destroy everything around me was fun and inventive and my only gripe was the cheating way you could finish the end mission by keeping your distance. All guns blazing I've not played a FPS that I've enjoyed so much since. Black 2 was shelved after problems with publisher EA but it is rumoured that Bodycount (Led by Black designer Stuart Black) is Black's lovechild and is set to up the destruction stakes. Impossible Mission First seen on the Commodore 64 then later on the Mastersystem and DS, Impossible Mission is possibly my all time favourite game. The gameplay is simple. You play as a secret agent who must defeat Professor Elvin Atombender by searching a series of rooms and collect puzzle pieces. The pieces form a password which allows you into the room where Atombender is holding out. It sounds easy but add in a collection of electrified robots, killer orbs and a time limit and this platform game becomes a heart thumping race against time. I loved the digitized speech in the game, from the scream your character makes each time he plummets to his death down a lift shaft to the mocking Professor "Stay a while…stay forever!", nearly twenty years later and I still get a warm glow thinking about playing this game. I'd hate anyone to make a totally updated version as the original graphics are part of what makes this game great but it would be immense to be able to play on my PS3 or Xbox 360. Parasite Eve If you ever played the survival horror role-playing video game Parasite Eve or Parasite Eve 2 then you, like me, probably spend a fair bit of time each year searching for that elusive remake or follow up. PSP owners are lucky to have the chance to play The Third Birthday which reboots the story of Aya Brea but there is no talk yet of bringing out a version for either the PS3 or Xbox 360. Made by Square before they became Square Unix I am surprised they didn't churn out a batch more like Final Fantasy, which in my opinion always lacks the charm and cohesive storyline of Parasite Eve. Frankie Goes to Hollywood Ok this one may sound a little off the wall and if you read the storyline it is. Based on the group as the name suggests, Frankie Goes to Hollywood was a gem of a game on the Commodore 64 released back in 1985. As you hunted for a murderer on the way to the Pleasuredome, you collected love, pleasure, war and faith in order to become a complete person. Yes really. It was a fun game that didn't always make sense and sometimes you walked into a room to search and accidentally switched the lights off rendering it impossible to leave the room and thus ending your game. I must have had much more patience back then as I reloaded the game several times having made this error. And as all of you who ever owned a tape based computer system know could take ages. I'm sure many people will disagree with my choices or cite other underground games that should have made into franchise status but perhaps the reason I still hold these particular games in high regard is the uniqueness of each of them. Had they gone on to spawn sequel after sequel would I love them quite so much? Guest Author: This is a guest article by Katherine Bond who works as a Content Manager at Review Centre. Review Centre is a community of real people sharing their product and service experiences.  The website was founded in 1999, and now has over 500,000 reviews, covering 100,000 products and services such as digital cameras, sat navs, and computer games.

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