Peter Griffin: Sun to shine again with Google

A week barely goes by these days without web search giant Google confounding the tech world with a new element to its sprawling business.

The latest in a long line of innovative and potentially industry-changing developments is Google's tie-up with Sun Microsystems.

To the regular PC user, Sun is a distant acquaintance, playing second fiddle to Microsoft, which sits at the centre of our computing experiences in the form of Windows, Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer.

But while Sun has struggled in recent years, it's done some great things in networking and server-centric computing. And Google has become a major player in this area, delivering Google Search, Gmail, Google Earth and a host of other programmes from central servers rather than from our hard drives.

The things I use my computer for are increasingly web-based, accessing services or email via a web browser using someone else's computing power, usually in another country, to run the programmes. So what does Sun see in Google? Quite simply, a distribution system that touches millions of web users daily.

While there were initial grumbles about Microsoft's online update service, it's turned out to be a very efficient way to keep software current, especially as more people access the internet over high-speed connections.

Only Google has the power and the numbers of users to challenge this distribution system, which is why Sun has taken a shine to it.

From Google's perspective, Sun is an attractive partner because it developed the Java programming language which is very good for deploying the network-based applications Google develops.

Java also works with operating systems other than Windows and is also used on millions of cellphones (Google has cellphone searches and information services in its sights.)

So the Google-Sun tie-up is potentially quite powerful.

Initially, the agreement will involve Sun giving those downloading its Star Office and Open Office word processing, database and spreadsheet software the option of downloading the Google search toolbar as well.

In the long term, however, I'm sure it will be the other way round - Google becoming the primary distribution network for Sun's desktop applications, with Java at the centre of it all.

I've never found StarOffice or OpenOffice, which are based on open source code, compelling enough to ditch Microsoft Office. But like millions of web users, I'm firmly in the Google camp when it comes to web and desktop searches and web email services. With Google services integrated into Sun applications, I might be more likely to ditch Microsoft Office for them.

The tie-up comes as Sun releases StarOffice 8, which appears to be an improvement on its predecessors. 

- HERALD ON SUNDAY