Microsoft has made literally dozens of acquisitions over the past few years, a few are telling when combined with what we know of the next OS, code-named Longhorn and due out late next year. The interesting ones, to me at least, are PlaceWare (now re-branded as Live Meeting), Lookout (the high-test desktop search engine), the anti-spyware product from Giant, and recently, Groove Networks. Two of these fix obvious shortcomings for Microsoft --- Lookout and Giant. The other two significantly extend Microsoft’s reach in the file sharing and collaboration space. Look for more action here. I’m betting an online backup / storage provider is next.
As usual, the winds of change are a’ blowin’
gll
