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As widely 'gasmed-over round the net, Google announced the enterprise version of its Google Apps today. Rolling email, word processing, and spreadsheet functions into a hosted suite of office software, Google Apps Premier will cost a piddling $50 per user; service agreements guaranteeing "99.9% uptime and 24x7 tech support" are also available. What's it all mean, dad?

Certainly it's the first swipe at Microsoft's Office dominance; it's $329 to upgrade to Office 2007, and even site licenses are unlikely to approach Google's cheapie $50-a-pop rate. MS Office offers more programs and more complex versions, but honestly, those more elaborate functions (with the exception of Powerpoint) are not utilized by 80% of Office users. However, the real ripple of Google Apps Premier (or copycat systems) could be drastic reductions in corporate IT departments, as tech installation and support moves out of office. You may hate Microsoft, nerd lord, but their buggy products have kept you in cheese doodles and caffeine for the past 20 years. Best start looking into that phone support gig at Google.