OK, so Microsoft got sued b/c their operating system worked too closely with Internet Explorer, right?

So, fast forward to 2010. I've got my Google OS netbook. I go to my e-mail. Someone sent me a Word doc. I open it -- oops? What happens now? Do I have to have a Google Docs account to view it? What if I use Hotmail or Yahoo mail (like sachin007 said)? What if Microsoft creates an online Word Viewer?

Google has this ecosystem of web apps that all work together & now it will all be delivered on a computer. Microsoft will probably do the same thing leveraging Windows Live (and Gazelle???). But will these ecosystems be closed, or will they play nice with each other? If not, will lawsuits come?

And I'm STILL not going to store all my sensitive personal documents in a cloud. I'm not ready to give up my hard drive.