Apple, Microsoft, and Google are huge companies in the U.S. and worldwide. As leaders in their respective fields, these companies recently have been encroaching on each other’s markets, which has resulted in a game of one-upmanship.

Apple is known for the consistency and ease of its popular hardware: iPhone, iPod, iPad. Microsoft is king of software development and third party applications, such as Word, Windows, Powerpoint. Google owns the Internet with its search engine and cloud-based applications, such as GoogleDocs.

While Apple and Google easily have the most popularity, they’re not the richest of three companies. According to Fortune, Apple is 56th with an annual revenue of $36 billion while Microsoft is ranked at 36th with an annual revenue nearing $59 billion, Google comes in last of these three companies with a ranking of 102nd with an annual revenue of $24 billion.

But what is the secret behind Apple’s popularity? According to Fortune, Apple ranks first in customer satisfaction. And the happier the customers, the more popular the product will be.

“I think Apple is more popular,” sophomore Kate Harrison said, “because it has a cleaner more high-end product.”

A brand popularity Poll on TechCrunch ranks Google as the most popular brand above both Apple and Microsoft. So what makes Google such a popular brand? It’s all about reliability and scope. According to NetMarketShare, Google accounts for 86.3 percent of the search engine market globally. It’s no wonder that when Google’s servers go down, even for less than hour, it makes headlines.

Now Microsoft isn’t that popular, but it does have a small base of die-hards, and a larger base of people who can’t afford Apples or who don’t care. So how is it then that Microsoft makes so much money?

For Microsoft, their success is all about scope and size. According W3schools.com Microsoft accounts for 88.6 percent of the operating systems. And compare that to Apple’s mere 6.5 percent, it suddenly becomes much easier to understand why Microsoft is so much wealthier.

In an attempt to increase revenue and beat Apple and Microsoft, Google has begun making a smartphone operating system, a feat previously dominated first by Microsoft, which has been providing smartphone operating systems with its Windows Mobile OS since 2000 and second by Apple, which released its groundbreaking iPhone in 2007.

The smartphone industry is truly the field that has most benefited from the competition between these companies. Apple set a standard for smartphones that has caused many other smartphone manufactures to step up their game. Whether it be faster processors, better cameras, or a more intuitive user interface, phone companies are doing whatever it takes to beat each other in this quickly growing field.

Android Froyo, iPhone OS 4, and the upcoming Windows Mobile 7 are each company’s best effort to take control of the smartphone industry. Of the three companies, iPhone currently seems to be winning. According to Canalys, the iPhone accounts for 15 percent of the market while Microsoft accounts for 9 percent and Google a mere 5 percent.

“The iPhone is the best,” said David Hoffman, the school’s Educational Technologist, “It’s an intuitive device that’s fun and easy to use.”

It seems that the overall simplicity of the iPhone’s user interface is part of what makes it such a popular device. The Android user interface is more complex and relies on widgets, menus, and multiple off-screen buttons. The same is true for Windows Mobile. The Iphone’s simplicity is perhaps why the phone has received more followers.

For this round of comparison, Apple will have to sit on the sidelines, as Apple does not currently have its own search engine. So now for one of the most popular tech questions of last year: Which is better–Bing or Google?

“I think Google’s the best.  It’s the one I’m more familiar with, and Bing seems like it’s more for travel,” sophomore Marguerite Daw said. “Google is better for more random searches.”

Compared to Google’s main page, Bing seems like a far more polished website. Each day a new striking, and often beautiful, picture is displayed in the background of Bing’s main page. The Bing website exudes a contemporary air with its sleek fonts and clean homepage.

On Google’s homepage, there is white interrupted only by the search box, search buttons, and the Google logo with its famous multicolored lettering. The homepage is not at all as aesthetically pleasing as Bing’s, and yet by far it’s the one the public prefers.

Perhaps it’s an understanding of what Google is capable of. Yes, it can perform the simplest of searches but it also provides an emailing service, an online document editor, a personal calendar, an RSS, and a video service (YouTube) just to name a few features.

Sophomore Allyson Sander said she felt Google was better because it was simple and easy and also preferred it because she had always used it.

Google has a great search engine, but which company has the best web browser? Apple has its Safari web browser, Google has developed the Chrome web browser, and Microsoft has its Internet Explorer.

Microsoft again shows its prowess, being the most used browser globally. Internet Explorer holds a 53 percent usage share followed by Firefox with 32 percent and then finally Chrome and Safari with 8 percent and 5 percent respectively.

Internet Explorer is the most used browser, but is it the best? A lot of people seem to think it’s not. If one searches Internet Explorer compatibility issues, a plethora of user complaints and tech articles will show up. Safari has some of the same issues albeit far fewer than Internet Explorer’s.

Chrome is the newest player in the web browser market, but it’s already acquiring quite a following. What Chrome boasts is speed. According to CNET.com, Google Chrome beats every other major web browser in a JavaScript speed test. The competition in these races didn’t even come close to Google, which was 20 times faster than the browser in second place.

So which browser is the best?

“Chrome, because it’s generally faster than Internet Explorer or Safari,” said Tyler Markham, a Clayton Student. “It’s also cleaner in design.”

Chrome might not be on top for long though. Microsoft is working on Internet Explorer 9 and Safari will continue to update so that Google will have to work to retain the fastest and cleanest web browser.

All three of these companies are extremely successful. Apple offers clean, sleek, and intuitive devices. Apple has become a company that exudes uniformity amongst a culture that’s all about individuality, which is no small feat.

Google, which started as a simple search engine, has evolved into a huge company with its hand in just about every field imaginable. Despite Google’s growth, it retains that small start-up business feel and never takes itself too seriously.

Microsoft offers an affordable option that is consistent. Microsoft once was the developer of all the new cutting edge technologies, but in recent years they have failed to produce anything amazing. However, Microsoft is perhaps back on the rise. Some of its rumored prototypes exude some of that old technological valor; the future for Microsoft looks good.

All of these companies are competing for the top spots in their field. Their competition will no doubt continue to produce cheaper and smarter technology for the public.