I've heard complaints about the software selections in Google Pack. Indeed, the inclusion of RealPlayer is somewhat mystefying and not a little offensive. Others have wondered who will be drawn to Google Pack; new computer users are satisfied with the bundling that comes with the machine, while the more geekish element gets their own software piece by piece. One thing for sure, to whatever extent Pack is downloaded, the important element is the updater. With an automatic software updater purring on machines, Google has a working pipeline through which to introduce new software, or at least promotions of new software.

Curiously, as noted in comment number 15 here, the Google Video player was removed from Google Pack. That doesn't bode well for the Google Video Marketplace, which is missing in action today for the third straight day.

Another curiosity related to the inclusion of RealPlayer: the program is not a default selection on my screen. If I don't click on Add or remove software, I don't even see it. RealPlayer is one of four programs that are opt-in (Trillian, Google Talk and GalleryPlayer are the other three). How were these opt-ins determined? Not from a scan of my hard drive, which contains updated versions of nearly everything in Google Pack, but does not have Gallery Player.