For months, The Browser has been grousing behind the scenes about Blogger, the Web-based software we use to publish this blog. "It doesn't do tags!" we cried. "It republishes the entire blog every time you update it!" we sniped. "It keeps breaking!" we groaned.

Well, it seems like we weren't alone -- and Google has finally heard the chorus of complaints. Today it's rolling out a significant new upgrade to Blogger -- the first since Google acquired Blogger back in 2003, -- according to TechCrunch.

Everyone's so agog about the new features like tagging, customizable layouts, a smoother routine for publishing posts, and improved RSS feeds -- features that have long been available in rival blogging software -- that no one's asking the obvious question: Isn't the timing of this rollout a bit curious?

Google may claim it doesn't pay close attention to Microsoft's moves, but this Blogger upgrade, coming so close on the heels of Microsoft's introduction of its own blogging software can hardly be coincidence.

Can it be that Google is actually playing catch-up to Microsoft for a change?