Google goes after Microsoft

Google Inc. took direct aim at rival Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday by unveiling several search products while simultaneously calling the Redmond, Wash., software giant a "convicted monopoly."

Some new products were also announced on May 11th:

Desktop software is Microsoft's traditional turf. Google's increasing interest in the area has ratcheted up an already formidable rivalry.

Google Notebook, to be released next week, will allow users to keep notes on a scratch pad. Users will be able to store text, links or images as they sift through results while shopping or for school research; users can then review the information privately or share it.

Google Co-op, another new product, makes searching more of a social event. Users can help others by labeling Web pages or creating specialized links to which others can subscribe.

Google also unveiled Google Trends, a product that allows users to see the popularity of specific search results over time. A user who enters "full moon," for example, will see a trend line showing that the popularity of the query spikes about once a month, but because of proprietary concerns, users cannot actually see the number of individual searches of specific terms.

Source: SFGate.com