3 ms·

No, not at all. They've been pretty hands-off with their most recent acquisition, but one studio does not a trend make.

SahAssar 6y ago
Looking outside of the gaming space their recent acquisitions seem to have gone fine, no? For example Github seems to go well, Linkedin was always pretty shit and unethical, so I'm not sure it's any better or worse. Citus seems to still be going well and still offers on-prem or enterprise versions on other clouds than Azure. Xamarin is more open-sourced since Microsoft took over. IMO, (and if you told me I'd say this 10 years ago I'd say you're crazy) of the big tech companies right now I think MS might be the best steward.
- the_hoser 6y ago
  Maybe, but that really depends on how independent Microsoft's gaming business is from the rest of the company. I'm still waiting on the other shoe with github.
- ssalazar 6y ago
  Skype is a very loud example of a poorly handled acquisition by Microsoft. The client has been turned into a real fan-spinner and it seems like they sacrificed a great standalone service for something that pushes consumer and business users towards tight integration with Microsoft's platform. 2020 could have been a banner year for Skype; instead Zoom is now shorthand for any video meeting whatsoever.
  - SahAssar 6y ago
    Yes, Skype was handled incredibly bad. I don't think MS knew what they bought and both the client and the platform turned from being the kleenex of voip to similar to seeing a yahoo email nowadays. I think MS'es ways have changed since then though, looking at acquisitions since 2013 to 2015-ish they seem to have been handled better IMO.
    - WorldMaker 6y ago
      Also, an argument can be made that some of Microsoft's mess was being too hands off with Skype. A lot of Skype's own development woes were projects they started back while owned by eBay and simply finished in time for Microsoft to get the blame. Also the whole "Skype for Business isn't Skype and doesn't share anything but the brand name" was a hands off decision that was dumb in retrospect.

Looking outside of the gaming space their recent acquisitions seem to have gone fine, no? For example Github seems to go well, Linkedin was always pretty shit and unethical, so I'm not sure it's any better or worse. Citus seems to still be going well and still offers on-prem or enterprise versions on other clouds than Azure. Xamarin is more open-sourced since Microsoft took over. IMO, (and if you told me I'd say this 10 years ago I'd say you're crazy) of the big tech companies right now I think MS might be the best steward.

the_hoser 6y ago
Maybe, but that really depends on how independent Microsoft's gaming business is from the rest of the company. I'm still waiting on the other shoe with github.
ssalazar 6y ago
Skype is a very loud example of a poorly handled acquisition by Microsoft. The client has been turned into a real fan-spinner and it seems like they sacrificed a great standalone service for something that pushes consumer and business users towards tight integration with Microsoft's platform. 2020 could have been a banner year for Skype; instead Zoom is now shorthand for any video meeting whatsoever.
- SahAssar 6y ago
  Yes, Skype was handled incredibly bad. I don't think MS knew what they bought and both the client and the platform turned from being the kleenex of voip to similar to seeing a yahoo email nowadays. I think MS'es ways have changed since then though, looking at acquisitions since 2013 to 2015-ish they seem to have been handled better IMO.
  - WorldMaker 6y ago
    Also, an argument can be made that some of Microsoft's mess was being too hands off with Skype. A lot of Skype's own development woes were projects they started back while owned by eBay and simply finished in time for Microsoft to get the blame. Also the whole "Skype for Business isn't Skype and doesn't share anything but the brand name" was a hands off decision that was dumb in retrospect.