LIVING IN A GOOGLE WORLD.

WELCOME TO MICROSOFT'S nightmare. People don't buy applications like Microsoft Office; Google rents them browser-based alternatives on an as-needed basis. All their personal files are stored online in Google's vast network of broadband-connected data warehouses instead of on the user's personal computer. Microsoft--now as slow and bloated as the companies it vanquished back in the 20th century--watches in horror as the nimble newcomer becomes a predatory monopolist, using its market dominance to drive competitors like Microsoft out of business. At this point Gates, drenched in cold sweat, yanks the pillow off his face and gasps for air. Is this possible? Could Google actually reduce Microsoft to irrelevance in today's computing world?

Like Freddy Krueger, I slipped into Microsoft's nightmare to see if indeed it is possible to spend a normal business day living in the Googlesphere, untouched by Microsoft code. The conclusion: It's easier to go a day without stepping on concrete.

Yes, Google is a formidable software company, but until it creates its own operating system and browser--which it says it has little reason to do--Google relies on Microsoft to feed it millions of customers. Many of Google's newest innovations, like its 3-D mapping or its Picasa photo-management software, run only on Windows, at least for now.

But in head-to-head comparisons, it's easy and in fact enjoyable to bypass Microsoft. Google's search engines, both on the desktop and on the Internet, are superior to Microsoft's. Microsoft's Hotmail is woefully inferior to Gmail, which is still in test mode. For managing digital photos, Google's Picasa 2 is a much better choice than Microsoft Photo Story 3. Microsoft's new (and free) MSN Spaces blogging tool is a serious rival to Google's Blogger, but Blogger has a huge headstart. The situation is reversed as Google's Hello trails Microsoft's more widely used and newly improved MSN Instant Messenger.

When it comes to office applications, however, Blogger is a miserable substitute for Microsoft Word, and nothing matches Microsoft Outlook, although rumors of a Google online calendar persist. In theory, Linux-based Google could assimilate a broad range of open-source, web-based Microsoft Office competitors.

But that raises questions: Will consumers be willing to swap one monopoly for another? Does Google deserve the trust that Microsoft has squandered? I might trust Google to store my digital photos and e-mail in its Google servers, but my company's documents or my sensitive personal and financial files? You must be dreaming.