“We’re sorry, but we can’t find the page you are looking for” is all that remains of a rather contentious and highly amusing Microsoft Office Blogs post in which a senior product manager for Office 365 writing under the name of Tim Carroll waxes lyrical on why he is opposed to Google Apps. The cached version is still available, and while it’s arguably far from fair in its criticism, for the sake of a good chuckle it’s worth a read.

In the post, which is ironically titled ‘Google Apps Brings Families Together’, the provocateur likens Google Apps to his ‘Knucklehead Son’, a young man who seemingly wants a life of ease without having to spend much effort in claiming his state of luxury. The comparison being that Google Apps might be easy to use, but that the best things in life ask us to engage our brains more.

“My Knucklehead Son doesn’t want to go to college,” the author writes, “No, instead he wants to wander around the country in a Volkswagen camper van, posting his adventures on YouTube for legions of adoring fans, pausing just long enough to cup his hands under a gushing spigot of money piped in by grateful advertisers. I tell him he sounds like Google.”

Later in the metaphorically charged missive, the writer humorously talks about a camping trip in which the son is asked if he would rather survive with only a fork and spoon and a corkscrew (Google Apps), or have at his disposal a Swiss Army Knife (Office 365). Partial collection of random components with extra bits you can pay for, he says in his allusion to his nemesis, or “one complete assembly of high-grade tools” in support of Microsoft’s product.

The highly critical blog, reminiscent of Microsoft’s Scroogled campaign, isn’t all put-downs; the writer admits that on the whole he quite likes Google. Still, someone at Microsoft had it taken down pretty quickly. The reason for this is likely its rant-like style that doesn’t really embody what we might call a fair analysis of the two products. It’s sure amusing though, and is already making its way around the global share space.

Microsoft are obviously somewhat embarrassed, telling Business Insider that, “The blog post was not properly vetted and has been removed. It was not a reflection of Microsoft views nor in keeping with the tone of how we communicate with our customers.”

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