Google and Microsoft at loggerheads again…Last year, Google announced a new plug-in that syncs Google’s enterprise versions of Apps, including Gmail, contacts, and calendar, with Microsoft’s Outlook. And Google just acquired Docverse, an application lets users collaborate directly on Microsoft Office documents.Strike two and Google is taking another swipe at Microsoft with a new tool that makes it significantly easier to make the switch over to Google Apps from Microsoft Exchange.

Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Exchange is a new server-side tool that migrates a company’s email, calendar and contact data from Microsoft Exchange, an email server software product from Microsoft, to Google Apps. Google promises ease with the tool, allowing IT administrators the ability to select the mail, calendar and contact data to move in phases and migrate hundreds of users at the same time.

Also, employees can use Exchange during the migration without any interruption. The tool works with Exchange 2003 and 2007 for both on-premise and hosted applications and is available to the enterprise and education versions of Google Apps.

Google Apps has been steadily growing; already 25 million people are using the Apps product,which also includes over 2 million businesses ranging from startups, to small businesses, to Fortune 500 companies. And Google is developing a compelling ecosystem around Google Apps, recently launching the Google Apps Marketplace, which is an an app store for enterprise apps in the cloud.

Socialwok, a product that adds a social layer to Gmail and other Google products, has just integrated as a partner in Google’s recently launched Google Apps Marketplace.

Last year Socialwok launched its enterprise-friendly, FriendFeed-like layer for Google Apps. The web-based application was praised for launching a social network that better than the unsocial Google Apps.And the startup recently launched a gadget to allow users access to all the features of Socialwok without leaving Gmail.Socialwok is becoming more than just a collaboration platform; the startup is integrating with Facebook, Twitter, Google Buzz, and RSS feeds to allow users to tap into their outside social networks within Socialwok.

Socialwok is a full-fledged Twitter client and allows users to Tweet directly from its platform, as well as track a brand or keywords on Twitter from within the application. Also, users can monitor and track updates on a Facebook page.

Socialwok is also allowing users to import RSS feeds and share it within a company’s Socialwok account. And Socialwok is integrated with Google Buzz, and allows users to tap into their Buzz streams from within the platform and share content in Buzz from within Socialwok.

With the addition of social networking functionality, Socialwok is becoming more than just a collaboration platform.After the startup’s launch on the Google Apps marketplace last week, Socialwok signed up over 4000 businesses to its service. Prior to the launch on the marketplace, 6,000 domains and tens of thousands of users were using Socialwok.

Socialwok, which employs a freemium model, has steadily been adding features and improvements to its application, including releasing a new version of its HTML 5 mobile version for Android and iPhone browsers. And in the process of developing an innovative application, startup managed to catch Google’s eye. In addition to joining as a pilot partner on the Google App Marketplace, Socialwok was chosen as one of the showcase companies for AppEngine technology at this year’s Google IO Developer Sandbox (Socialwok is powered by Google App Engine).

To ensure small businesses have access to the best tools, while still having the flexibility to choose the platform that best meets their needs,Intuit has unveiled its online payroll for Google Apps. Intuit Online Payroll, available on the Google Apps Marketplace, which gives businesses the ability to manage payroll with the online convenience of Google Apps.

From within Google Apps, businesses can use the application to check their paystubs or create paychecks in minutes. Also companies can continue to work on other office tasks such as e-mail or word processing without needing to log into another site or launch another program. For example, a employer can check Intuit Online Payroll to see when they need to run payroll or pay their payroll taxes, while employees can easily view their paycheck from Google Calendar.

Intuit Online Payroll for Google Apps is available on the Google Apps Marketplace starting at $39.00 per month.