Microsoft poses ultimatum if Yahoo doesn't come quietly
By Paul Miller 
posted April 5th 2008 1:44PM
posted April 5th 2008 1:44PM
posted April 5th 2008 1:44PM
A look back on popular stories from today in a specific year.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
who made you the police of the internets, ssuk?
1. microsoft & yahoo hold 25% of internet advertisement each
2. microsoft buys yahoo & pick up debt for the first time
3. most yahoo users move on to google
4. microsoft is back at square 1 with $40+ billions down the drain
Not a smart move cause the only reason yahoo exist is cause users hate MSN, in other words Microsoft created yahoo & google without knowing it, by making MSN so awful that users had to find something else. this is really a bone head move by Msft, oh well
Picassa Web Albums?
Did MS even ask the DoJ if they would even allow them to merge? MS is not exactly going to appear in a favorable position if they are buying out the 2nd largest competitor in this area.
Also, MS hasn't been having very good luck with the EU, and it would be extremely surprising if they would approve the merger.
Here is the actual letter of ballmer
http://www.thegermz.com/my-ramblings/war-of-the-words
Yahoo sucks, so why should Microsoft need it? I hate Yahoo, always have and always will. PRO GOOGLE!
what's with all this bashing? Notice lots of other companies do this too. Most of Apple's programs were bought over from other companies. And so was it's coverflow thing.
As long as microsoft doesn't screw it up, I think this would be a good thing. But knowing microsoft's track record. hm.
Funny thing is the combined Microhoo still won't be able to touch Google's search capabilities so in a way Google is the winner here, they loose a competitor and it doesn't cost them a penny, plus it will also funnel more users towards Gmail once MS screws up Yahoo mail.
Well for starters, I'm guessing you haven't seen Live Image and Video search have you? Not that you should, but if you have, you might be astounded at how better Image and Video search are on Live than Google.
I've said this tons of time before, and it's not going to hurt to say it again. But the technology behind these 2 are key indicators at how MS knows what they're doing.
Live Image search : Very clean page with only thumbnails. Hover over the pictures and you get the info. for that picture. The filtering tools far outdoes Google. Endless scroll means not having to wait to load the next page of results. You can drag-n-drop images to a collection bin on the right pane. It's just super handy.
Adding Flickr results to the mix will definitely make it even better.
Live Video search : Big thumbnails on the page. Hover over a thumbnail and get many seconds of a preview of the video, right on the result. Live indexes many sources of videos, while Google searches ONLY YouTube and Google Video. The refining tools on Live are also pleasant. You can ever Favorite videos you like.
Again, a step above Google. I could go on about other interesting tech tidbits about Live Search, but you're too much of a bigot to probably care.
Seriously, what's with the hate? Why not be reasonable?
Both Live Hotmail and Y! Mail have interesting neat features that aren't on both sides, but combining the two together, plus adding new features to keep users, will make a dynamic e-mail site.
I think MS happens to know what they're doing this time. They want to push the acquisition faster so they can put all their resources together and show off what they've done.
Microsoft have a great business philosophy. When they see something that can help the business, they'll either steal it via cunning and misleading methods, or simply buy it. Microsoft have no heart, no passion. I hope Google smashes Microsoft to the point where Microsoft have to stop and have a good hard look at themselves. Microsoft may have a huge market share, but whether they deserve it is a totally different question.
So what "cunning and misleading" methods have they've used? I haven't noticed anything big, really.
And doesn't Google buy things as well?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Google_acquisitions#Acquisitions
I still don't understand the hate behind all this. It sounds as if MS has oppressed or raped you in the past.
What's the fuss about? msft is as confused as it can be, and with yhoo in its kitty, MSFT2.0 would have twice the troubles and probably more internet sites than aol.
I wonder how they will deal with the bits of Yahoo that aren't completely owned by them (Japan, for instance).
Yahoo partially owns Japan?!
ugh i dont want Micro$oft to ruin Yahoo! i love my Yahoo games
I think this is going to be my last comment on this article.
@Craig : You're obviously just a hater. You are aware that Microsoft is a company just like any other company, and that they do have to make profits, right? So the $ isn't necessary.
And how will MS "ruin" Yahoo! Games? Do you know anything about MS and their gaming platform?
1. They made the Xbox 360, one of the truly innovative gaming consoles to have first came out.
2. Xbox Live - Must I say more? :^)
3. Messenger Games : Y! IM has only 9 games, while WLM (Live Messenger) has 32 games. Y! games require Java, which takes a really long time to load on their client, while WLM uses something else, and games load faster and are more reactive. I know from past experience about which messenger had better features. If you don't believe me, try both yourself.
4. MSN Games - While Y! Games is good in some areas, there are some areas that MSN beats them at. Like GameSpring is a service where you pay a flat monthly fee, and play many of the more expensive games for a rather flat fee. You can "Play for CASH". You can earn "badges" from online games, which is similar to Xbox "achievements". Plus more.
5. If you played many of the Games for Windows games, and have DirectX 10, it's really cool.
And that's just the top 5 that I can think of. So exactly how will MS ruin Y! Games? If you ask me, pairing the 2 sides together could only make a more dynamic gaming place.
Y! has the better friendlier site design, with some of exclusives, and a (rather dull) video game site, while MS has the stronger expertise in the gaming platform, a very competitive gaming site, and some actually better games.
I don't even know why I try making these long comments. I just can't stand people making crude remarks about things they don't even know. I've looked into a lot of stuff before, and I happen to know MS is not the absolute worst there has to be.
Oh man; this tactic totally backfired on me when I tried to use it to take the totally cutest girl in school to senior prom.
:nostalgia:
Agreed.
MSN and "Microsoft Live"/Hotmail/whatever-they-choose-to-call-it-now mail both are far outdone by Yahoo.
Stay out of Yahoo, please.
"If you can't beat them, buy them."
What do you mean by "choice"? There's many e-mail account services on the internet. There's more than just Hotmail, Yahoo!, and Gmail, you know.
What do you mean by "trust"? Exactly what can't you trust about MS, than you can trust with Y! or Google?
I mean, you do know that Google's known to index through people's e-mail for what they "say" is advertising? Though some privacy groups think Google's doing more with user's data than that. Have you still not seen "Master Plan the Movie"? It graphically illustrates some of the ulterior motives that Google can be going for.
http://masterplanthemovie.com/
Honestly, I'm not trying to be a stick-up for MS here. I'm just pointing out that some people are being rather ridiculous about what they think the outcome of this acquisition means. Just because we're talking about MS here. It could go bad or it could go great. But why always be pessimistic when it's MS? They've done mistakes before, but they've also done great things before. And chances are, with the many mistakes MS does, they're bound to have got it by now, or soon.
"1. They made the Xbox 360, one of the truly innovative gaming consoles to have first came out."
As well as one of the most failure prone consumer electronic product to have came out. Don't get me wrong, I'm not hating - I like my Xbox and I agree that Xbox Live is pretty damn good - but not knowing for sure that your Xbox is gonna work when you turn it on is pretty damn crappy. And yeah, sure, the repair system's kinda cool too - but weeks without a console you paid for just a few months ago really blows, especially when you know other different console owners don't have to go through all that crap.
@ MEAT!
Yeah, same problem here. My almost 5 year old uses the same strong arm monopolistic tactics. Time-outs so far have been ineffective, but she has promised to get her new OS out the door sometime next year.
The evil empire, I mean Microsoft must be stopped! The resistance must defeat the evil doers! Yahoo fight back! Fight for all the glory!
And if Google buys Yahoo! just to piss off M$? lol
Microsoft is the shit
This is a test.
[b]bbbb[/b]
[i]iiii[/i]
[u]uuuu[/u]
bbbb[/b]
iiii
uuuu