Microsoft & Macromedia

While giving a final presentation for my Advanced Web Development course, one of the professors made a comment that Microsoft was looking to purchase Macromedia.

Has anyone heard anything similar, or have any knowledge of if this is fact or fiction?

i like microsoft (pause for booing) and i like macromedia, but i would hate it if this was true. but for the following reasons i don't think it is...

a) google has nothing about it (going way back)
b) slashdot has nothing about it (also going way back)
c) in my experience, professors know nothing

but what do i know...rob

Well I can say that I haven't heard anything about it, but I wouldn't put it past them.

I do know that if they do, they will destroy it. Just look at what they did to Visio...

I also like Microsoft (also pauses for booing), but I'm not crazy about Macromedia (pauses again). I would hate for this to be true because I would hate to see more forced-integration into Windows, and less ability for the user to modularize a computer. That's the only reason I like Linux as much as I do because nothing is forced.

If Microsoft were to own Macromedia, imagine how much that would slow down Windows. I can't even begin to think what Bill would put into Windows if he owned Flash technology. Animated start buttons? Flash wallpapers? Who knows, but it would be a bigger resource hog.

I searched Google and Slashdot and also found nothing. I searched press releases by both corporations and found nothing. It kinda scared me a little because that particular professor is usually on the ball with stuff like that.

I guess time will tell.

Imagine if MS bought MM and then a little later bought Adobe. That would be WAAAY too much for me to handle.

*Crosses fingers and hopes Adobe stays Adobe*

http://slashdot.org/articles/02/12/...2.shtml?tid=109

Caveat... the story originates from The Register...

Well, I'm not the biggest fan of Microsoft (pauses for mixed response...), but I am a fairly big fan of Macromedia. Flash, yes; but more importantly Dreamweaver. Back before my hardcore PHP days, I made a living as a web designer, and Dreamweaver became a lifesaver, after time wasted with FrontPage, Corel Web editor (anyone remember that one), and Netscape Gold's webpage editor (from Netscape 3.1). After that, I used Dreamweaver from version 1 to version 3.

Macromedia deserved kudos for being the first to implement a (mostly) cross-browser solution for HTML 4, Javascript, etc... and for providing a nice collection of Javascript applets, complete with configuration widgets.

I agree with many of the Slashdot posters that Dreamweaver/Coldfusion is the real target for Microsoft, not Flash. Think about it: Dreamweaver MX with Coldfusion MX is now the primary crossover place for non-programmers to dip their feet into a Java-based server-side solution.

Now, you just know what Microsoft is going to do with that solution: Dreamweaver.NET!! And Java will be completely out of the picture (well, maybe not completely, but it will definitely be the red-headed stepchild).

Also, Dreamweaver MX is PHP-friendly. Hmm... wonder what Microsoft will do with that one...

>>Also, Dreamweaver MX is PHP-friendly. Hmm... wonder what Microsoft will do with that one...
Don't say that - not even joking

I have not heard anything about this also. Macromedia is a good honest company; and quite large now I might add. I have been using DW since version 2 and have grown with macromedia over the years. I am a registered user and just got something in my post office box from them like two days ago; an add pushing thier studio mx.

As big and powerfull as microsoft is, it would still shock me if this were to happen. Macromedia to web development is like M$ on the desktop - they have like over 80% of the professional web development market.

I just can't see this happening - think about it. Microsoft would totally wipe out coldfusion and the macromedia jrun server, which I believe SUN would have to throw a monkey wrench into the mix....

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I think your professor has been smoking a little to much of the strong stuff....

Or maybe your professor knows a little something / something that we don't know....

Crap who knows, I don't even know where my cigarettes are right now...

<-> we need a new smiley - a :stressed: smiley.....

>>we need a new smiley - a :stressed: smiley.....
Take you picture right now, upload it and we'll have :stressed:

I probably ought to duck when I say this, but frankly, the Register doesn't exactly have the highest of journalistic integrities... for those uninitiated members among us: they're pretty much a rumor mill and nothing more. Here's the actual story:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/28667.html
The whole thing is full of quotes such as:
"Industry and analyst sources believe..."
"Analysts believe Macromedia is ripe for acquistion"

Not a whole lot of meat on the bone...

Still, if the acquisition were to occur I think it would strike a serious blow against anyone off the Windoze platform. Whether Flash is the target or not, you could be sure that future versions of it would be Win-compatible only (excepting of course, if your Windoze OS is more than 3 minutes old... then you need to upgrade). That would be a big loss for some people (not me personally... I hate Flash).

Also, the acquistion of ColdFusion would undoubtedly send it the way of Interdev or mangle it into something that the poor developers would rather not think about at dinnertime. I doubt Microsoft would try to merge the technology when they have a direct competitor in ASP that they can easily "leverage" (read: force down throats) with their existing customers of other Microsoft products. Gee... which is easier.. kill ColdFusion and make the developers switch to ASP (even if they switched to PHP, CF doesn't have a serious enough entrenchment to cause any great hurt to M$ during the migration ), or try to support a similar technology that they almost certainly don't already have the in-house tools to do.

Ah well... only time will tell if the rumor ever comes to a more serious stage... like /. ! <--- that's sarcasm for those of you who don't frequent /.

Speaking of posting to /. I don't think I've EVER posted a topic or response that didn't get modded up (or down) as Insightful I could post a whole list of dry, utterly mind-numbing facts and factoids and I think the mods would still call it Insightful

Ahh... Slashdot... 99% chaff, 1% wheat. As long as your post doesn't contain juvenile insults or anything that remotely resembles approval of Micro$oft, you are freakin' insightful, man...

Yah, I don't give this story a lot of credence yet, either. If it were to happen, we would have a whole new DOJ circus on our hands. (By "we", I mean the government of we, the people--largely a fiction these days .). I don't see how Microsoft could get away with it. But you never know... there is nothing greater than Microsoft hubris, except next year's Microsoft hubris.

HAhaha

If it aint in the textbook 90% of the professors dont know it. Of course there are always exceptions to the rules

True.. there are always the ones who make stuff up and insist they know it... I uh.. read it in a magazine.. yea!