Gates: Microsoft targets Web with Yahoo or alone

Redmond aims to create a more competitive, profitable search business, but Bill Gates says company would "get there faster" with Yahoo.

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[t8]

Common effort

QUOTE:
"But we also see that we'd get there faster if the great engineering work that Yahoo has done and the great engineers there were part of the common effort," said Gates, who is Microsoft's biggest shareholder.

What's this about common effort?
If that means that Micorosft becomes a recognisable player on the Internet, then "common effort" will be bad for the consumer.

Look at their history with the Windows platform. Secret APIs that they had access too, disabling competitors products, expensive price, and copying/stealing/bundling other peoples stuff/ideas.

Let's hope we never see Microsoft bringing that sort of behaviour to the Internet platform. Chances are Google will keep it's market share and so far they have been a good team player by working well with others, even smaller players like me.

Could you ever imagine Microsoft coming up with Adsense? It would have never happened if they were no1 on the Net. They are only interested in making money for their coffers and do not care nor understand what the Internet is really about.

Go Google. So far I think you guys have been good for the Internet.

[pilaa]

Microsoft is basically saying they can't do it alone!

What Bill Gates just admitted to is the fact that Microsoft has their thumbs in too many pies and is not able to focus its resources in order to compete against Google on the Internet. Yahoo is their vehicle to catapult them just enough to be competitive with Google.

The fact that they disable or severely retard features on other browsers (Firefox) to maintain their "edge" tells me this deal is bad for the Internet and the millions of Internet users as a whole.

I personally don't want it to go through and hope Yahoo fights to the bitter end.

Microsoft = Proprietary and Proprietary = bad! =/

[fred dunn]

MS better off going it alone & dump the bid...

MS has plenty of talent and that which it needs it can recruit. The purchase of Yahoo would provide overlaps in it's existing "Live" offerings which in itself means that they would be paying too much for Yahoo.

MS should take that money and shore up it's "Live" offerings, recruit new employees for the seach and advertisement side of the business but most of all....

START MARKETING "LIVE" TO A WIDER AUDIENCE!

Tell the what "Live" is and what it can do.

"Live" does not have brand recognition yet and will never have a broad following until MS starts marketing it to everyone!

Saturate the airwaves, get to the common non-IT person that does not follow or care about IT internals. Make it simple for the masses to understand.