Is an Adobe Acquisition in the Cards for Microsoft?

[JMcEntegart]

Don't panic, it's just one of many possibilities that Steve Ballmer and Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen talked about when discussing how to take on Apple.

Is an Adobe Acquisition in the Cards for Microsoft? : Read more

 

[soundping]

Maybe Ballmer wants someone to photoshop hair on his head?

 

[Ragnar-Kon]

Gonna second that "No."

Microsoft is already one of the top software companies, if not THE top software company. As much as I dislike Apple's business practices, I still think the consumers could only be hurt by the merger.

But if it does happen, should be interesting what they decided to do with the Mac versions of Creative Suite. Creative Suite is definitely in the top 5 most used Mac software, if not the top 3.

 

[zoemayne]

Adobe is too big of a name. Adobe has a lot going on for itself. Its is doing very good for itself.

 

[jsc]

If it's making money for them, Microsoft will continue to sell it.

Most of you are undoubtedly too young to remember that when Apple was suing Microsoft over "look and feel" issues in Windows 3.0, Microsoft was still licensing ROM code for the Apple II computers.

 

[Nesto1000]

Why are you guys making such a big deal over the "Microsoft buying Adobe" thing?
The main point is that Adobe and Microsoft want to team up against Apple in the mobile market.
I'm fairly certain that Microsoft will never buy out Adobe...

 

[bison88]

That photo soooo fits Steve Balmers Microsoft situation right now lol. As for Microsoft buying out Adobe? I doubt it, they would have done it when Adobe was cheaper if they were going to.

 

[fflam]

an Adobe Microsoft merger/friendship brings some interesting things to the table. like flash getting merged into the .net framework. yes MS has Silverlight but Flash has the name and market penetration MS wants. also Adobe air could fit better in to windows better much like java intended to. not that i like flash much, just interesting prospects.

 

[eddieroolz]

I realize both dislike Apple, and both want to band together to fight it.

But I don't think an acquisition is the best way to take on Apple. It would brush against antitrust laws, and Adobe and Microsoft are too different.

There's also the issue of Silverlight vs. Flash if Microsoft does indeed acquire Adobe.

 

[Gin Fushicho]

Adobe should remain it's own company, but I would like to see the two collaborate on something.

 

[dEAne]

That's good possibilities too.

 

[belardo]

Nooooooooooooooo!

It would be bad.

New "Microsoft Office Photoshop 2015" type icons appear on your desktop. Ugh.

A good chunk of Adobe software is sold to Mac users. It could seriously de-value Adobe and their products overall. IF Adobe had half a brain and wanted to make more money, make LINUX versions of their products.

 

[randomizer]

Linux versions of Flash are already garbage, no need to make them vanish altogether. Competition is important, and megacorporations don't help competition.

 

[back_by_demand]

Why merge to take on Apple?
Apple bad mouths Flash and most of the world takes up Flash on their smartphones
Hasn't Apple indirectly done Adobe a huge favour in free advertising?

 

[JOSHSKORN]

Ugh, it's not Apple you have to worry about, anymore. It's Google (Android). It's gaining on the iPhone. Adobe can't and won't do "Jack" for them in the mobile business.

 

[ta152h]

Microsoft and Adobe is a marriage made in Hell. Both make really bad, bloated and slow software. It's as natural as two sloths mating.

Their company traditions of slow, buggy software give the merger the strong values for bliss. Opposites may attract, but they don't stay together. These two companies have suffered more angry screams from their customers than any, and I for one think these unifying values present an attraction that can not be ignored.

You know Ballmer is an ass-clown by the fact he has to look at other companies to combat another company getting too strong. Microsoft was always the target of these alliances before he took over. It's strange to see them threatened.

 

[theoutbound]

In the desktop space, a merger with Adobe would make a lot of sense. Microsoft has been chasing Adobe with silverlight, the XPS document format and expression studio for quite a while. But how exactly does this help them in the mobile market? Flash is the only thing Adobe has the seems to apply, and it hardly seems like the killer feature that will allow WP7 to gain significant ground on iOS or Android for that matter.

 

[ihs97]

Not sure I see where the anti-trust lawsuit comes into play here.

1) By buying Adobe Microsoft would not have a monopoly on image editing software

I really don't see where the lawsuit has legs. TBH, you would think Adobe would have faced a similar suit back when they bought out macromedia. I don't really see how this would be any different.

 

[rhino13]

Adobe is the new Microsoft as far as loop holes go.

 

[rohitbaran]

What the hell. I say MS taking over Apple could be an option, provided Jobs decides to sell!

 

[Vladislaus]

[citation][nom]TA152H[/nom]Both make really bad, bloated and slow software.[/citation]
Really bad software, like photoshop, premiere, windows 7, office,... Guess this is why they have a big market share.

[citation][nom]TA152H[/nom]These two companies have suffered more angry screams from their customers than any[/citation]
Don't you mean apple users? Most PC users don't have a problem with either of those companies.

 

[ta152h]

[citation][nom]Vladislaus[/nom]Really bad software, like photoshop, premiere, windows 7, office,... Guess this is why they have a big market share.Don't you mean apple users? Most PC users don't have a problem with either of those companies.[/citation]

I'm guessing you know next to nothing about computers, or you'd never make the remarks about Microsoft.

Microsoft gained market share because IBM chose them to make the operating system for the original PC. Of course, Apple beat them to the GUI idea, and IBM had a much better operating system in OS/2 (which Microsoft helped with, initially), but the inertia of DOS, and later Windows (which ran several DOS apps at once, since it used 386 Protected Mode) was too much to overcome. In fact, Windows was absolutely primitive compared to OS/2.

Microsoft then leveraged their monopoly in operating systems to gain hegemony with Office. Mind you, they never invented anything, but just created another 1-2-3, but because they were getting so much money from their OS division, they could make it much cheaper than Lotus, which did not have a huge cash cow. Of course, they did the same thing to Netscape.

There isn't a single piece of software Microsoft wrote that succeeded without the help of their monopoly position, that succeeded. You can see their failures all over the place, when they can't leverage their monopoly.

I have no idea what this has to do with Apple. Apple is a completely opposite company. They have created new things for the marketplace throughout their history, and gouged their customers for the pleasure. Microsoft is completely incapable of innovation. Apple creates markets, Microsoft blunders into them and hopes their size can make them a player.

I don't like either company much, but I prefer Apple to Microsoft. Actually, I prefer just about anyone to Microsoft. They are a strongly negative influence on computing, with their bloated, buggy software.

Adobe Flash is buggy as Hell. It's also slow. Didn't you read how everyone is moving away from it? It's got too many issues. Even the companies that say they'll keep using it never say it's good, just that it's out there, and a de-facto standard. But, its days are numbered.

 

[randomizer]

[citation][nom]Vladislaus[/nom]Most PC users don't have a problem with either of those companies.[/citation]
The companies, no, but definitely the products. Especially MS products, since Adobe products are normally used by people with a clue about them. Tech support exists for a reason.

 

[demonhorde665]

[citation][nom]TA152H[/nom]Microsoft and Adobe is a marriage made in Hell. Both make really bad, bloated and slow software. It's as natural as two sloths mating.Their company traditions of slow, buggy software give the merger the strong values for bliss. Opposites may attract, but they don't stay together. These two companies have suffered more angry screams from their customers than any, and I for one think these unifying values present an attraction that can not be ignored.You know Ballmer is an ass-clown by the fact he has to look at other companies to combat another company getting too strong. Microsoft was always the target of these alliances before he took over. It's strange to see them threatened.[/citation]


you hoenstly soudn like you enver actually sued photoshop or any creative swuite program , theya re industry standards becaue of their speed adn reliability you doofus nearly any art based industry requires thatr you know atleast photoshop rather it be the game industry or the fashion industry.

 

[randomizer]

[citation][nom]demonhorde665[/nom]you hoenstly soudn like you enver actually sued photoshop or any creative swuite program , theya re industry standards becaue of their speed adn reliability you doofus nearly any art based industry requires thatr you know atleast photoshop rather it be the game industry or the fashion industry.[/citation]
Speed and reliability can't possibly be the reasons why those programs are industry standards or the people who "define" the standard were drunk when they did so.

And because a program is mandatory knowledge doesn't make it superior. Some companies demand that all documents must be written using the DOC format when there is no valid reason for this (and plenty of reasons why such a mandate should be removed).