Big, Bad Meanie

     So, Microsoft is buying Skype.  This seems to have a lot of people up in arms about how Microsoft will kill yet another great part of the computing experience.  But honestly, does anyone really believe that Microsoft is still the big, bad meanie they once were.  What with lost market share in the mobile phone industry, the internet browser department, search engine, and in personal computer sales(thanks to Apple), I personally believe that Microsoft is having to put on a much nicer public face.  Times are changing.
     How I see the Skype purchase going is like this: Microsoft will leave it alone.  Right now Microsoft is looking for something that will bring in steady revenue.  Relying sole on the sale of software that moves in five-to-ten year cycles won't work in the future.  People have come to adopt new technology much quicker as prices have fallen and the market has saturated with competing products at lower prices.  This is where Microsoft has been hurting.
     To top that off, they have taken some major hits in what products they produce.  In the last year they have had to trim their company by quite a bit.  A lot of good talent was lost, and that makes Microsoft eager to regain some of their status in the computing world.
     So, I would have to say that I think the purchase of Skype will be in the best interests of Microsoft if they just leave it as it is.  Skype already has a huge customer base, and that means that they already have the ability to generate revenue.
     The only casualty I can see coming from this is the loss of support for the Linux variant of Skype.  It a long shot though, so I'm not really worried.