Next Up for Google: Launch MSFT Powerpoint Killer

Henry Boldget, famed Silicon Valley cheerleader, reports that after initially being skeptical of Google Docs and Spreadsheets, we now use them incessantly. We still use Word and Excel, but only rarely, and the former usually off-line or because people still occasionally send us Word documents (hint: don't! Just publish using Google Docs and send the link). We assume Microsoft finally understands the seriousness of this challenge--it's classic disruption*--but we can't understand why it is taking the company so long to respond with an online Office suite of its own. In the meantime, however, Google Apps are now being adopted by corporations and the company is about to launch its PowerPoint killer--which we, for one, can't wait to use. The Inquirer has more:

The coming-out party for the [Powerpoint Killer] is any day now. Called Presently, the slideshow program is likely to be based in part on code Google bought through the acquisitions of Zenter and Tonic Systems earlier this year.

Google had a bit of a coup last week when it said that ancient white-collar services group Capgemini will push Google Apps. Presently will be a near certainty to go into that suite, alongside web-based WP, spreadsheet and communications tools. Call it a PowerPoint killer or PowerPoint clone but, with Presently, Google now has a suite of the main productivity tools office dweebs spend one third of their lives in.

http://www.alleyinsider.com/2007/09/next-up-for-goo.html