• by Shankar Gupta , January 6, 2006

In a move that appears to be aimed directly at Microsoft, Google co-founder Larry Page is expected to announce the release of Google Pack, a bundle of software that includes the Firefox open-source Web browser.

The software pack, first reported Thursday by The Wall Street Journal, is also expected to include open-source instant messaging product Trillian, Norton AntiVirus, and RealPlayer, as well as a host of Google programs--Google Desktop Search, Google Earth, Picasa, Google Talk, and the Google Toolbar.

If the release leads more users to adopt Firefox, it could significantly boost Google because Firefox incorporate a Google search bar, making it easier for users to do Web searches on Google than other engines. The move also appears to be a preemptive strike on Google's part against the possibility that Microsoft will incorporate a toolbar in the next version of its browser, Internet Explorer 7.

Rumors that Google might enter the software market have swirled since at least last March, when the search giant hired Mozilla developers--fueling talk of a potential Google-branded Web browser to compete with Internet Explorer. The more recent pact between Google and Sun Microsystems, announced in October, sparked speculation that Sun's OpenOffice and StarOffice could become Google's answer to Microsoft's MSOffice suite.

Search expert Gary Stein added that the Google Pack could represent Google's willingness to move further away from Web search, and more into content delivery and management. "At first, maybe they were thinking 'we think we can do Web search better,'" he said. "Now, they're probably thinking, 'the way you access information, the way you get at data--we think we can do that better, too.'"

Stein also noted that inclusion in Google Pack will be an enormous boon for each individual product. "That's a pretty good present to anyone who gets it along with the pack. If you're Trillian, you're stoked about that," he said.

Page also is expected to announce today that Google will launch a pay-per-download video service, which will include offerings from CBS television (See related OnlineMediaDaily story, Google Expected To Unveil Pay-Per-View Video).