It’s no secret that Google has never been very friendly about using Microsoft products. Google’s engineering-driven culture necessitates that software tests be done on multiple systems, but lately Google has begun to move away from Windows. Google has traditionally given employees the choice of operating systems, however new employees at Google are no longer allowed to request Windows PCs. They are instead given the choice of Mac or Linux systems. This news was reported by The Financial Times, after an attack on Windows and Internet Explorer 6 specifically, resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google. Rumor has it source code was stolen late last year which facilitated Google’s decision to avoid the notoriously vulnerable operating system. Since so much testing and software engineering requires the use of Microsoft software, some employees will still get to use Windows PCs, but they will need special permission.

In the world of internet browsers, people have traditionally stuck with the installed option that came with their computer. Internet Explorer on PCs and Safari on Macs. Internet Explorer has been losing more and more market share to Mozilla Firefox and Google’s Chrome browser. Firefox edged out Internet Explorer for the #1 spot back in January 2009. Chrome has been growing fast, and is quickly stealing the market away from IE, but let’s take a deeper look at the numbers to learn more.

Google has released a tool to put some transparency on government requests for information. This demonstrates Google’s stance on open internet use and transparency. The online search provider is disclosing just how often governments request to remove content, as well as government demands to censor its applications. Google said it hopes to shed light on the practices of governments and their attempts to censor information on the internet.