Google, Microsoft Battle for Control of the 'Cloud'

The lightning you might see and the thunder you may hear are the fallout from the stormy battle between Google and Microsoft for control of the "cloud," the new big thing in the tech world.

Google and Microsoft are trying to get businesses to lease its hosted versions of essential communications and office programs, instead of maintaining these basic programs in house. This digital outsourcing often is called cloud computing.

Microsoft recently released an almost-final test version of its Office 365, but Google recently announced Chromebooks, stripped-down computers optimized to run its hosted messaging, calendaring and collaboration tools, USA Today reported Wednesday.

"Chromebooks is actually a huge leap forward for cloud computing," Dave Girouard, Google's president of enterprise, told the paper. "We're excited about putting more pieces of the puzzle together. Our aim is to be No.1 in cloud computing."

Not so fast.

"At Microsoft, for the cloud, we're all in," Ballmer told University of Washington students last spring, according to USA Today. "It's just a great time to be all-in and really drive the next generation of technology advances."