Google has refreshed its online word processing (Google Documents) and spreadsheet (Google Spreadsheets) applications. In the process, it has put Microsoft on notice: realtime collaboration and online-only software are here to stay.

Realtime collaboration for Spreadsheets users was already a done deal, so Google's rewrite of the application focused on and tinkering under the hood to add more muscle to features and performance.

So, who will reign in this battle for the collaborative backbone of business computing? No one knows, of course, but a collateral winners are already emerging. CIOs and other IT decision makers, like the Los Angeles City Council, are finding reasons to switch.