[thelist] Microsoft to aquire Macromedia?

martin.p.burns at uk.pwcglobal.com martin.p.burns at uk.pwcglobal.com
Thu Jan 31 04:30:00 CST 2002


Memo from Martin P Burns of PricewaterhouseCoopers

-------------------- Start of message text --------------------



To:   thelist at lists.evolt.org
Subject:  RE: [thelist] Microsoft to aquire Macromedia?

>> Assume such a thing were true... how would the most widely-sold J2EE
>> application server be handled? (That's Macromedia JRun.) They couldn't
use
>> it, couldn't sell it, couldn't keep it...

>JSP.NET anyone?  Why could JRun not be marketed by MS, or sold, or spun
off?
>And who's to say MS even cares about JSP?

It doesn't - at least if you define Java as "as defined by Sun"

If you follow the current MS direction, you'd be looking at 'kill', with a
picking over
the entrails for anything useful that can be ported over to .NET

>I am aware that the last thing
>Microsoft needs is more focus on their aquisitions, but has it stopped
them in
>the past?

Up until now, there hasn't been too much focus on MS's dominance of
the corporate market.

>My original point was, why does Microsoft need CF? Or JRUN?

It doesn't, except to kill a competitor, and even then, more to stop the
distraction in the minds of developers who 'should' be developing for .NET

>> Would Dreamweaver
>> be thrown away in favor of FrontPage? comarketed? Neither seems to make
sense,
>> but that can't stop such a rumor either.

>Couldn't the same argument have been made about HomeSite, or ColdFusion
Studio,
>or JRun Studio?

Here's my scenario:
1) DW and FP merged to form FP Pro - bundled with OfficePro, Premium &
Developer.
    FP as is maintained as FP Home and bundled with Longhorn and Office
Home.
2) HS, CF & JRun Studio used as an input to the development of Visual
Studio

End result: MM/Allaire product suite as such disappears.

Now that's bad news if you're a MACR board member who cares about products
-
Jeremy Allaire in particular is going to be mighty upset as I assume the
MACR/ALLR
merger was sold to him as "Give your baby the space to really grow" - but
that's
assuagable by enough value being placed on their shares, particularly in
the
current market. "Hey, guys, an opportunity to realise all those options at
a profit!"

But it's particularly bad news for MACR employees who have a much stronger
personal investment in the products, and who may not relish the idea of
working for MS... the alternative isn't too hot either in the current job
market.

Cheers
Martin


--------------------- End of message text --------------------

This e-mail is sent by the above named in their
individual, non-business capacity and is not on
behalf of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

PricewaterhouseCoopers may monitor outgoing and incoming
e-mails and other telecommunications on its e-mail and
telecommunications systems.
----------------------------------------------------------------
The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to
which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged
material.  Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or
taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons or
entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited.   If you received
this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any
computer.




More information about the thelist mailing list