I was pretty excited about the Google Pack concept when I first heard about it -- I'd assumed that Google would group together the best free software they could find and provide an easy install and update process, while perhaps introducing some new software of their own and ways to integrate the various third-party applications.

I assumed that I'd probably already have most of the software found in the Pack, but I also figured Google would find a couple of things I didn't have. And the ability to let the Google Updater worry about keeping it all up to date sounded great.

The reality, though, is that many of the programs Google chose are not that hot:

(1) The big corporate Norton anit-virus software is not an exciting choice -- why not use the free AntiVir, etc., instead? -- and you have to pay for it after 6 months.

(2) AdAware is an essential piece of free software, sure, but again it seems like Google is only going with the obvious choice. To keep a PC clean and tweaked and spyware free, what about offering SpyBot S&D and CCleaner in addition to AdAware? Maybe even integrating these products to a certain degree....

(3) Most of the Google programs are bundled into the Google Pack, and that's fine and well, but it's also expected, so again we have no great revelations. Plus, to me, programs like Picasa and Google Earth, while fun, are not exactly "essential." Picassa, especially, isn't everything I want a basic picture editor/organizer to be: I prefer the fast and free IrFanView for picture editing, and I don't like the ini files that Picassa leaves in every PC folder. And yet one of Google's most interesting new offers is the Google Web Accelerator -- but that's oddly not included in this initial Google Pack.

(4) Google desktop is a great program if no one else ever gets near your computer. I mean, I'd love to use Google desktop. The problem is that if anyone else sits down at your PC -- at home or at work -- they'll be able to use Google desktop to get all sorts of dirt on you in seconds. It's too tempting. A girlfriend can sit down and do a sea4rch of your entire hard drive and your email for the names of your ex-girlfriends in seconds, for instance. Nerve-racking.

(5) No free firewall. No firewall at all, actually. One can assume that Google will add a firewall to their Google Pack in the future, but from the look of the direction they're going in right now, it'll probably be a big-name-brand and you'll have to pay for the service.

(6) Google not only left out the free Open Office products in this version of the Google Pack, but they also don't provide us with a good alternative to Windows Media Player or iTunes. How does Google hope to compete with MS and Apple if they don't hit 'em where it counts?

I mean, REAL PLAYER? You've got to be kidding me. RealPlayer/RealOne is a horrible company with horrible products. Google is supposed to "do no evil," not "bundle evil in with our products." It's really sad. Personally, I pay for the excellent JRiver Media Center for all my video, audio, and picture playing, tagging, and organization needs -- honestly, it's one of the few programs that I'm willing to pay for, because it's so powerful and inclusive (eliminating the need for multiple programs) while also being very open to customer suggestions (it's got huge forums) and it's modestly priced. So obviously I think Google would have been smart to bundle the JRiver Media Center in with the Google Pack if they really wanted to battle MS and Apple on the media player front while also opening up a revenue stream for themselves.

On the other hand, if Google wanted to keep everything free, then there are some solid free media players out there as well. JRiver has it's free Media Jukebox 8, for instance; there's the free and slick "Media Player Classic" (I'm not sure if it's legal, but it good) that is found with the Real Alternative and QuickTime Alternative programs popular among the AV communities, etc.

As it is, I'll probably recommend the Google Pack to my many friends and co-workers who are to tech-dumb to even install and run a simple but vital program like AdAware on their own. Sure: this is "Google Software Help for Dummies," so why not recommend it to people like that. At least it'll bring FireFox, AdAware, the Google Toolbar to more users -- to me, that's a good thing. And Trillian is quite cool for people that are into live Internet chat/instant messaging (I'm not).

But if you recommend Google pack to someone, then of course you've also gotta tell 'em to make sure not to install RealPlayer and to consider a free anti-virus program before handing their computer over to Norton, and you'll want to mention that a few of the Google Pack programs are just kinda pointless (a screen saver? a video player?) and will just take up space on your hard drive .... but having to explain stuff like that just puts me back at square one, because suddenly the promised simplicity of Google Pack begins slipping away.

wel done

gkl.k