I have been a huge Google whore for some time now. I routinely use Google for search, email, site statistics, advertising (and hence making money online), keeping up with news, spell checking….need I go on?

But, there is another thing that Google does that is really convenient. And, of course, they give it away in true Google, San-Francisco tree-hugging style. And that is: Google Pack.

What is Google Pack?

The Google Pack is a collection of software that Google makes available for free. It includes:

• Google Earth. Takes all the power of Google Maps and puts it on the desktop. But, being that it runs locally, it packs some nice features that are not available on the web. You can kill hours with this thing. Trust me.
• Norton Security Scan. What do you need from an anti-virus program? Ability to scan, fix and schedule, right? This free program takes care of it, from perhaps the leading name in virus fighting.
• Google Desktop. Use the power of Google to search your own hard drive. Really convenient. While the Mac has Spotlight, the search function on Windows sucks. Go, Google Desktop makes a nice alternative.
• Firefox. Need we say more about Firefox?
• Adobe Reader. You’re going to need this in order to view PDF documents on your machine.
• Skype. Free phone calls. Nice.
• StarOffice. A completely free, full office suite alternative to Microsoft Office. It is basically a parallel product to OpenOffice.
• Google Toolbar
• Spyware Doctor. Comes with the Starter Edition of Spyware Doctor, the popular spyware fighter from PC Tools.
• Picasa. This image organizer rivals the likes of iPhoto. Just great.
• Google Photos Screensaver. Cute way to make your own screensavers using photos of your choice.
• Google Talk. A free voice and instant messaging chat client. Kind of like Skype, but this is Google’s own (whereas Skype is owned by Ebay).
• RealPlayer. Not my favorite audio player in the world, but hey, its here is you want it.

The cool thing is that you are not forced to download all of these applications in one big download. You just check off the ones you want and grab them.

Focus on Security

Everybody needs to pay attention to the security of their computer on the Internet. If you’re online, spyware and viruses, particularly, are something you need to watch out for. One of the things I give Google kudos for providing is both a spyware tool (by way of Spyware Doctor) and anti-virus (by way of Norton Security Scan). As you can see in these screenshots, the Norton software provides full system scans with the ability to fix and resolve the issues that it finds. It also allows you to place automatic scans of your system on a schedule.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve paid upwards of $50 in the past for Norton Anti-virus just to get this exact feature set.

We All Like Free

Free is good. We all like free. So, does Google. This means I like Google.

The equation is simple.

NOTE: The preceding review was a paid review.