Hooray for competition, which causes each party to strive to be better than the other. In the world of internet, that means new and exciting tools for us, the end user, to utilize and enjoy. Many times, especially in beta testing, we get to sample these goodies at no charge. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. :)

I always feel a little sheepish re-blogging things, but Solution Watch has highlighted the art of competition in the latest posts.

The first is Windows Live, which builds upon the Start.com interface for personalized start pages. In fact, Live is almost exactly the same interface as Google Personalized, which I use most of the time for my home page.

The second exciting feature that Brian has posted about is the new and improved Yahoo! Maps (beta). Read his detailed breakdown of Yahoo! Maps, and notice how it compares to Google Local. I never thought I would prefer a Yahoo! product over a Google product, but I have to be fair and give kudos to a superior product. Google still has features that Yahoo! does not, but the over all interface is smooth, functional and damn sweet. :)

Yahoo! and Microsoft both have to step up and present these features to the internet crowd to keep their patrons, otherwise Google is going to take over the web business. I am glad to see them making an effort to redeem themselves, and glad to see the net, which has been simmering in the same technology for years, finally evolving and moving toward fulfilling its full potential.

I can’t wait to see what the next few years will bring.