M&A works if there is a proper strategy in place. Look at Oracle, they bought Sun, Siebel and BEA and acquired deep software assets that would have been too expensive and time consuming to build on their own. Microsoft have in the past made an acquisition because it is a threat to them, then proceed to quash it rather than integrate it properly. Google the Danger/Hiptop platform - they could have had everybody's lunch on the smartphone arena, but they systematically killed it cause it threatened their Windows Mobile platform. Where is Windows Mobile now? They misread the potential of the internet and tried to dilute the Java platform by offering the broken J++ one instead; It backfired. It is not the acquisition that is the problem, its the strategy. Ballmer is too rigid to spur new growth of the company; If he lets someone else, who is more tech savvy manage Skype's integration into the Windows ecosystem, it might just work. Time will tell.