Tech Talk with David Behrens

Could Microsoft be next? The purveyor of Windows and Word has been synonymous with the rise of the PC, to such an extent that few computers would even turn on without a kernel of expensively-licensed Microsoft software in the background.

But it’s becoming clear that the PC era is over. Netbooks, tablets and other portable devices have captured the domestic market now, and many run operating systems by Apple and Google, not Microsoft. Even your Windows PC, reliant as it is on Microsoft’s flagship product to run, can now well do without the other software on which the company built its name.

Why, for instance, pay £170 for Microsoft Office when you can get the essential parts of it for free online? Google Docs lets you edit documents, spreadsheets, presentations and drawings in your web browser, storing the results online so you can access them from anywhere, not just your own PC. For everyday use, I find it easier and more convenient than either Word or Excel.

OpenOffice is another alternative – a software suite that encompasses the same modules as Microsoft Office and can read and save documents in a compatible format. It isn’t pretty but it is functional and, best of all, it’s free.

Internet Explorer, the Microsoft browser that comes with Windows, is also surplus to requirements.

Its market share has fallen from around 90 per cent five years ago to less than 45 as users abandon it in favour of the sleeker and generally faster rivals, Google Chrome and Apple Safari.

Both of those owe their new popularity to the rise of the mobile, but they’re a better choice for your Windows PC, too, and both are freely downloadable. They will automatically import your bookmarks and contacts so the switchover is quick and painless.

It would be wrong to write off Microsoft completely, of course. It makes the popular Xbox games console and has partnered with Nokia to produce a Windows mobile phone (relatively few takers yet). It is also spending a fortune extolling the “coolness” of Windows-based laptops in bright colours.