The commentariat seems to think that the reason Google suddenly rushed out its Chrome OS announcement is because Microsoft is going to step on Google Apps' toes Monday July 13 when it will supposedly say something about the Office 2010 beta and at least demonstrate, if not release, its free, lightweight, browser-based, shareable, ad-supported or subscription-based versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote at its Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans.

Compared to Office Web Applications, Google Apps should look rudimentary. Maybe Google should have left them "in beta."

Maybe Microsoft will clarify whether it's actually going to ship Office 2010 bundled with Windows 7 come October 22, as rumored. It's never done that before but it's reportedly trying to cut down on the number of buying decisions a user has to make.

For sure, it's going to talk about its Azure cloud and probably admit more developers into the sanctum sanctorum ahead of productization later this year. Maybe it'll even outline pricing and licensing terms.

Oh, yes, and nobody will leave New Orleans without a copy of Win 7.