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Google’s Gift of a Free Software Starter Kit

January 6, 2006

Google Inc has come out with a generous gesture of distributing free software starter kits for the PCs in the quest for making technology available to all and sundry whether online or offline.

The ‘Free Google Pack' will have even the third party tools like Norton Antivirus, Firefox Browser, Adobe Reader, and some six other programs supplied by Google on its own including desktop search and the Picasa Image Management Tool. The suite of programs is designed to make it easier to install and maintain basic applications that have helped turn the PC into a hub of information, entertainment and communications.

With the initiative, Google is setting out to prove that it is better positioned to help people get the most out of their computers than more-established software makers, particularly Microsoft - the maker of the pervasive Windows operating system. "We thought, 'Why can't using a computer be more fun, simple and empowering?'" said Marissa Mayer, Google's vice president of search products and user experience.

With the exception of a Norton antivirus program that is being offered in a free six-month trial, the seven other applications in the Google Pack are already available for free on the Internet. Mountain View, Calif.-based Google has simply negotiated agreements to create a one-stop shop for all the applications, supplemented with tools to simplify the process for installing and updating the programs. Neither Google nor the other participants in the Google Pack are paying each other any money, Mayer said.