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Microsoft Buying Adobe?

uk.reuters.com

191–200 of 226 posts

Re: Microsoft Buying Adobe?

#192
post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"yet outside of Flash/Sliverlight battle they don't cross each other paths" - what about Microsoft's Expression Studio and similar Adobe products?

Technically they cross but only in the way MS Office crosses paths with Apple's iWork - that is one utterly runs the other one down. Hardly anyone is paying for Expression Studio in the way they are for Adobe CS. The people using it are doing so because it was bundled.

only in the way MS Office crosses paths with Apple's iWork - that is one utterly runs the other one down

Which runs which down? For my requirements, Keynote > PowerPoint, Excel > Numbers, Pages ~= Word.

Re: Microsoft Buying Adobe?

#193
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Think of what great patent lawsuits would they make!

Is either company particularly litigious? Microsoft has filed on the order of 5 patent lawsuits in the last ever.

Don't think only about lawsuits but also patent extortion. If their IP lawyers send a threatening letter and the receiver just complies and pays, we usually never get to hear about it.

A lawsuit is like having to beat up somebody to make an example out of him. It only happens when people refuse to pay for protection.

Re: Microsoft Buying Adobe?

#194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are speaking out of ignorance.

Speaking as someone who worked multiple cf projects over multiple years, no, he's not.

Well... On the other hand, killing CF and JRun to doom them to IIS and .NET is not exactly helpful...

Re: Microsoft Buying Adobe?

#195

Jokes aside, it makes perfect sense for both of them. Adobe's CS and Microsoft Office are naturally self-complementing desktop giants. Both companies make a ton of money selling desktop software to the enterprise, yet outside of Flash/Sliverlight battle they don't cross each other paths. I, for one, welcome this development. It brings some hopes for better performing Flash, which I hate with a passion but its a fact…

"it makes perfect sense for both of them..." "I, for one, welcome..." Uh, yeah... I agree it makes perfect sense for both of them . For anyone who isn't Microsoft or Adobe, the prospect seems less appealing. Two companies with considerable monopolistic sway in their respective markets come together to improve their profit margins? Merging two huge globs that each can extract rent on their various properties into a si…

> What could possibly go wrong.

The combined corporate mass would exceed the Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff limit and they would collapse into a black hole?

Re: Microsoft Buying Adobe?

#196

This has one major implication that makes me want to root for the deal to close: Photoshop & Flash would be covered by an MSDN subscription. So, instead of dishing out $1000 for CS6, we need only enroll in BizSpark (or whatever Microsoft's next version of its ISV thing is called), and pay $400 for all our OS's, all our dev tools, and all our graphics stuff in one package. Now all they need to do is buy Codesmith, Red…

Thanks for telling me about BizSpark! I love you!

Re: Microsoft Buying Adobe?

#197
One big upside to this that I can see is that it might result in standardization of the Adobe CS GUI. It's been getting weirder and weirder with every new version, to the point where nothing I know about how Windows programs are supposed to behave applies.

That said, considering that MSFT just f*ed up the Office GUI (ribbon, etc) I probably shouldn't hold my breath.

Seriously, what's wrong with menus and windows?

Re: Microsoft Buying Adobe?

#198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking as someone who worked multiple cf projects over multiple years, no, he's not.

Well... On the other hand, killing CF and JRun to doom them to IIS and .NET is not exactly helpful...

Helpful to whom? of all the devs I've ever met that have used CF, the most positive thing I've ever heard said about it is that "they're used to its failings and it's comfortable". I can't help but think Microsoft's tools are a much more appealing value proposition than Adobe's in this particular space.

Re: Microsoft Buying Adobe?

#199

Jokes aside, it makes perfect sense for both of them. Adobe's CS and Microsoft Office are naturally self-complementing desktop giants. Both companies make a ton of money selling desktop software to the enterprise, yet outside of Flash/Sliverlight battle they don't cross each other paths. I, for one, welcome this development. It brings some hopes for better performing Flash, which I hate with a passion but its a fact…

But how does this counter Apple in mobile? That's what I don't get -- buy Adobe for Flash because, err, that'll hurt Apple somehow? If they just want Flash, I bet they're bummed they didn't buy Macromedia a few years ago.

Maybe pouring more resources into making Flash run well on all other devices, leaving the iPhone in the cold.

Re: Microsoft Buying Adobe?

#200
post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Adobe sells a lot of enterprise document software that could really boost Microsoft's Share Point properties. I really do think all product development for Linux or Android would be cancelled (Flash for Windows Phone 7 only).

Microsoft isn't stupid. They won't make Flash Windows only and they won't make Flash Windows Phone 7 only.

Why wouldn't they? What would be the benefit of offering Flash for Linux, or Mac OS for that matter? Actually, why would they make a Flash plug-in for any browser other than IE? It seems to me that a reasonable thing for Microsoft to do, after acquiring Adobe, would be to discontinue Flash support for any OS other than their own, and to stop making plug-ins for other browsers, which would help IE regain some (if not all) of the market share it's recently been losing.
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