Microsoft vs. Google and Firefox

By most measures, Firefox has had a pretty good year. The upstart browser celebrated its first birthday this week, less than a month after marking its 100 millionth download. Devoted followers have trumpeted its 8.65 percent market share, mostly at the expense of Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

The response from the Windows empire has been largely a collective yawn. That could change quickly, however, given that Google seems to be sidling up to Firefox, a relationship that could bring back some bad memories for Microsoft veterans.

In the 1990s, Microsoft was obsessed with Netscape's Navigator because the company believed that the browser could displace Windows as the first screen people saw when booting up their computer, an enormous advantage in controlling desktop real estate. If Google increases its interest and influence in Firefox--and the rest of the open-source software world that it came from--Microsoft could again have its hands full with "disruptive" changes.