Microsoft Bing vs Google Bard: It's not even close

Who else is being massively disappointed with Google?

Asking Bing and Bard to summarize my resume, let me pose a question to you all: Who wore it better?

Prologue: When personal computers first hit the scene (Apple ][ anybody?), to the early days of the internet (Mosaic browser, anyone?), I've been on the bleeding edge of technology since I was little. I'm curious by nature and a huge geek.

It would come as no surprise to most who know me I was piloting Microsoft's Edge Dev builds with Bing well before public release, same for Google Bard, and was hopeful that when they did their public beta rollout, it'd get better, but it's honestly gotten worse. What the hell is Google doing?

In the aughts, Google gave the legions of tech-centric people sick of decades of Microsoft's malaise by giving us lightweight, web-based solutions that, unlike Microsoft's offerings, just worked. Google's G-Suite, now Workspace, was lightweight and did what you needed, usually without drama. From an IT POV, instead of costly teams of people to keep server-side software barely running, Google cut those expenses to a fraction and gave any and every progressive tech-focused company a superior, more affordable option for Microsoft's costly enterprise bloatware.

Then, in the late twenty-teens, Microsoft began a massive pivot. They redesigned their software from the ground up and created actually usable sometimes free web-based versions of their office suite that could work on any platform from any browser. From a UI/UX to a customer-side philosophy, Microsoft slowly became a nearly unrecognizable company of its 800-pound drunk-with-power gorilla past, and for the better!

Now, in 2023, Microsoft is simply killing it with the AI game while Google is, at best, seemingly just winging it. Microsoft, at least if you've signed up to beta test, is releasing viable products while Google makes press releases and announcements for not-yet-ready for prime time products we *may* see in the future.

To those of you who don't live, eat, and breathe tech — either as their profession or, in my case, just as a passion and interest — this is insanity. The insanity that Google, for all intent and purpose, blew past Microsoft, becoming a Goliath, and Microsoft, for all intent and purpose, became David. From seemingly out of nowhere, as if back from the dead, or at least irrelevant to those who pick the best tools for the job, Microsoft has come back swinging for the fences and connecting daily, giving us tools that make our lives easier.

Some of the automation and integration I've been using with Microsoft products has made me switch my default browser to Edge (developer) from Chrome... who am I? Not that Edge isn't without flaws, and it certainly feels like its UI/UX is old school Microsoft, and I do NOT mean that in a good way; it doesn't even feel like their 365 tools.

365 Copilot has, thus far, worked nearly flawlessly as well, or rather, AI is truly a what-you-put-in is what-you-get-out. There will be many people not savvy enough to get the most out of Copilot as a tool, not in its current form. But it's in that differentiation that those who, like myself and others, understand the nuance of AI will certainly not be out of a job. It's why I stay on the bleeding edge of text, job security, from being hired at Adobe to hiring to creative director of global websites.

AI has shown this old dog not only new tricks but just when you think you're sure of tech's trends and trajectory, something will come along and turn everyone on its head. Kudos to Microsoft for being "small and scrappy enough" to take advantage of this massive sea change. And to Google, I may need to switch my business colinnekritz.com Google Workspace accounts to Microsoft 365.

#bingai #bingchat #microsoft365 #ai #gpt4 #bardai #google #technews #googlebard