Google Pack Software Package

A few days ago, Google launched a new bundled ensemble of downloadable software applications known as Google Pack.

The "free collection of essential software" includes, among others:

• Adobe Reader 7
• Ad-Aware spyware remover
• Google Desktop
• Google Earth
• Google Talk
• Google Toolbar Mozilla Firefox
• Norton AntiVirus
• Picasa photo organizer

Users can choose to download everything quickly or only the software they want. Using something called the Google Updater, users can run, manage and/or uninstall any part of the Pack and automatically make updates.

For commentary on the Google initiative:

• Thoughts on Google Video Store and Google Pack, by John Battelle: "Google is now officially a Really Big Company, and is acting like one. Diversify your revenue streams, for one thing. Leverage and consolidate your core strengths, for another. And protect your vulnerable flanks, for yet another... Pack, if it becomes popular, will bring a whole new set of users to Google, mainly because it includes Toolbar and Desktop, which of course means more searches, and more data, and more money for Google."
• Google Pack Offers 1-Stop Downloading Of Software, by Danny Sullivan of SearchEngineWatch: "The genesis for the pack, said Google vice president of search products and user experience Marissa Mayer, was the frustration of Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin having to track down and register software for computers they were setting up a year ago. 'They spent all afternoon setting them up. Hundreds of clicks and license agreements later, they had it the way they wanted,' Mayer said."
• Hands on With Google Pack, by Paul Thurott: "Google Pack is indeed a collection of free software. Whether it's useful or improves the online experience is, I suppose, up to the individual. From what I can see, Google Pack is decidedly mixed. And if you're interested in installing this package, you're going to want to choose which applications you install quite carefully... And though Google goes to great pains to tout how each application in Google Pack is free, it's worth noting that many of these applications feature annoying upgrade advertisements aimed at getting you to purchase the full versions. They're limited in other ways too, as I'll describe below. But most problematic, many of these applications aren't even up-to-date."