My work background is much related to batch work, and I have been dealing with Oracle, Unix and java on a daily bases. I used to look down MS product and only regards Google as a search engine. Now I have found that they offer much more. I love them.
Have you tried to use these products such as Google picasa, translate, adsense, maps and MS excel VBA? They are all greate.
Here are some beatiful photos I have upload by using picasa.
http://picasaweb.google.com/BScott98/Water