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Shareholder Backs Yahoo!, Supports Independence
mikkl666 writes "In a follow-up to yesterday's story about the struggle between Microsoft and Yahoo!, major Yahoo! shareholder Legg Mason has announced that they are ready to back the company in their effort to keep out of Microsoft's grip. According to portfolio manager Bill Miller, 'the problem is Microsoft blundered with the letter this weekend. Telling the shareholders you're going to take something away from them is not a way to get their support'. Nevertheless, he believes Microsoft will end up paying what it takes to own Yahoo."
They've realized their future in the Operating System market is pale at best.
Remember the EU court's decision about Microsoft being a monopoly? Well this was on Sep 2007. Is it a coincidence that less than 5 months later Microsoft offered to buy Yahoo!? I think not.
Sooner or later Microsoft would have to lift the veil on the APIs for their most popular products, and *anyone* (including GPL software developers) can read them. Microsoft knew this day would come, and their desktop market dominance will be destroyed sooner or later. How to prevent the competition from making better products, if you can't hinder them from being compatible? You can't.
So Microsoft was cornered into getting hold of an existing successful market: Internet services - that's the only way they can survive in the long term. But if they offered to buy Yahoo! after they released their APIs, the public would realize Microsoft's disadvantage. So they first offer to buy Yahoo, and THEN they release their APIs.
The fact that Steve Ballmer wrote that open letter only shows Microsoft's struggle against extinction.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is it. This is the beginning of the end for Microsoft. Congratulations.