Microsoft has a long history of evil. I think most of us can agree on that. Google doesn't have any history to speak of. Google went from a search company with

Microsoft has a long history of evil. I think most of us can agree on that. Google doesn't have any history to speak of. Google went from a search company with no money to an ad-farmer with billions almost overnight. Companies, especially public ones, go for the bottom line. Which means making a profit. Google makes money from advertising. Not web-based office apps, navigation or moon-charts. What we really have to wonder about is 'what is Google planning?'. My guess is that Google has a two-fold strategy. One is pushing open standards - because that is the environment they thrive in. Hence the summers of code, etc. Two is going after infrastructure in the last-mile. Google is a third-party in most transactions and they are vulnerable to factors like regulation and telcos blackmailing them for access (or traffic prioritization). Google is making a profit and is flush with cash right now, but sooner or later they will have to make more money than they do now or watch the stock price go down. And preventing that will mean being less nice. Or slightly evil. Slippery slope and all that..