They'll let anything onto YouTube these days. No, I'm not talking about the millionth video featuring a squirrel lip-syncing to Right Said Fred, but a set of Microsoft-created videos attacking Google Apps. I guess Google, which owns YouTube, really has no inclination to censor anything aside from content that violates copyrights; but watching the Microsoft videos play out next to that YouTube logo is like watching promos for a TV show like "Dexter" (produced by Showtime) playing on HBO or another rival channel.

The videos are available on Microsoft's "officevideos" channel on YouTube. Here's the most visually interesting one, at least if you're a fan of traditional animation. It also avoids singing animals or any of the other YouTube tropes, which is a big plus in my book:

(As TechCrunch mentioned in a Feb. 16 blog post, this seems like just one component of a broader Microsoft strategy of going after its competitors on the cloud-based productivity and mobile fronts: At Mobile World Congress, Microsoft also tossed a left hook at the iPhone and its Apps interface during its video presentation for the Windows Phone 7 Series.)

Those anti-Google Apps videos on YouTube aren't the only reason to suggest that Microsoft could be concerned about its future in the productivity arena: As part of its Office 2010 rollout, Microsoft has been trumpeting zero-cost, stripped-down, cloud-based versions of Word, OneNote, Excel and PowerPoint available to Windows Live subscribers. Some higher-level functionality, though, is being withheld for those who purchase the full version of Office 2010.

As Nick Eaton pointed out in a Feb. 17 blog post, there may be growing concern in Redmond about some governmental and business users gravitating toward Google Apps as an Office alternative. But Microsoft seems to be taking more broad-based aim: Its YouTube presence feeds to a company-sponsored site that compares its offerings with those of Cisco Systems, Google, IBM and OpenOffice.org.

I haven't become attached to Google Apps--personally, I like storing my data on a local drive first and foremost, before I consider uploading to the cloud--and I'm hard-pressed to think of anyone I know personally who uses a cloud-based productivity suite as the primary method of getting things done. But evidently Microsoft thinks it's a threat. I'm interested in hearing your opinion: Do you think Google Apps is a clear and present danger to Office?