As previously posted, Microsoft doesn’t allow direct upgrades from XP to Windows 7. Dell also cannot sell you a PC with XP without also selling you Windows 7. Many version incompatibilities exist between different versions of Microsoft software. It seems that whenever MS decides to “innovate”, they leave someone or something out.

Google, on the other hand, makes their money from advertising. This frees them up to create all manner of products and services that actually deliver usability. It also frees them up to use the “group think” mentality of open source to increase the stability and usefulness of their products.

I just read a piece about the new Google Chrome OS and it will no doubt, be a work in progress. That said, it has a limited scope; phones, netbooks and other ultra-mobile devices. In the post, they openly state that they will need help from developers to make it work.

Contrast that to the Microsoft issues listed above and the secrecy and closed system that Apple has. I am seriously thinking about the new Nexus One phone from Google. If I can get that phone with Verizon service, I just may get out from under the iPhone and AT&T.

Google Nexus One