Up to now, you had to buy a software licsense and installed the software on your PC. According to Google, Microsoft, Apple and Adobe this is subject to change. Using Cloud Computing is no longer required to install the software. You can directly using it in the cloud. For a private user it looks like it got only advantages. The user does not need to backup the data anymore, can access the data always and everywhere, the programs are always on the latest version. And the best, in case of Google, it is free.

Of course, Google gives you nothing for free. They are collecting the data of the user, analyze them and sell personalized advertisements. Google promises to be very serious concerning data protection. BUT: to use these programs you have to sign the End User License Agreement, short EULA. By accepting the EULA you give Google a worldwide license to multiply, modify, change, translate, publish and distribute the contents which you produce, upload, store or display in the cloud.

In other words: your data get lost in the fog.

Cloud computing is not generally bad. It makes a lot of things simpler for you. But you have to admit, that the most difficult part of IT is still your part. The security, maintenance and administration of your client computers.