Linux, yes. Unfortunately, Android seems to be stepping away from "Linux" proper and is becoming its own beast. (OpenBSD and FreeBSD are closer in form and function than Debian Linux and Android).
Chrome? Gmail? Maybe. Google however is pushing far more than Microsoft has as far as dropping my anonymity from Youtube, pushing me into their Google+ features and making me share sign-in information across Chrome sessions. I'd say its a Tie between Microsoft / Google here, both want me in their cloud services.
Although, Outlook.com works a hell of a lot better on Android than Gmail / Google Calendar works on Windows8. So from a usability point of view, Google is beginning to lose it in their anti-microsoft wars. I don't like getting caught up in the middle of their politics. So that's my tiebreaker: Microsoft's calendar platform is supported in more platforms than Google Calendar.
Google Docs vs Microsoft Office? That one is easy. One of them runs on my computer, and the other one is untrustworthy, in the cloud. Do I really trust Google's servers over my own computer? Will Google protect the privacy of my documents from prying eyes?
Nothing beats cold storage on my own computer, Microsoft Office gives me that. Open Office vs Microsoft Office is another story of course... but Open Office is pretty terrible IMO.
Open Office is pretty bad in my experience. Instead... its about Abiword and Gnumeric. Unfortunately, there is no adequate replacement for OneNote and Powerpoint, so I'll keep using those.
All android needs are sync adapters for your own mail/calendar/whatever service running on your own hardware. There is no need to discard entire platform just because you don't like Google cloud services.
Most people won't bother running their own servers though.
I was quite supportive of Meego, although my enthusiasm has dampered quite a lot with Tizen. There are only so many failures that one can put up with...
>Unfortunately, Android seems to be stepping away from "Linux" proper and is becoming its own beast. (OpenBSD and FreeBSD are closer in form and function than Debian Linux and Android).
You realize that Linux is just a kernel?
OpenBSD and FreeBSD are both server/desktop operating systems, meanwhile Debian Linux and Android are desktop and mobile OS'es respectively, your comparison is pretty worthless.
A similar comparison to Debian Linux with Android would be FreeBSD with iOS.
Chrome? Gmail? Maybe. Google however is pushing far more than Microsoft has as far as dropping my anonymity from Youtube, pushing me into their Google+ features and making me share sign-in information across Chrome sessions. I'd say its a Tie between Microsoft / Google here, both want me in their cloud services.
Although, Outlook.com works a hell of a lot better on Android than Gmail / Google Calendar works on Windows8. So from a usability point of view, Google is beginning to lose it in their anti-microsoft wars. I don't like getting caught up in the middle of their politics. So that's my tiebreaker: Microsoft's calendar platform is supported in more platforms than Google Calendar.
Google Docs vs Microsoft Office? That one is easy. One of them runs on my computer, and the other one is untrustworthy, in the cloud. Do I really trust Google's servers over my own computer? Will Google protect the privacy of my documents from prying eyes?
Nothing beats cold storage on my own computer, Microsoft Office gives me that. Open Office vs Microsoft Office is another story of course... but Open Office is pretty terrible IMO.
Open Office is pretty bad in my experience. Instead... its about Abiword and Gnumeric. Unfortunately, there is no adequate replacement for OneNote and Powerpoint, so I'll keep using those.