Getting 'forked' (so to speak) by Microsoft was the norm, and might again be.
Up until the dotcom boom (and in the earlier days of it), one of the questions I'd heard of software startups was something like, "What will you do when Microsoft decides to own your space?"
Fortunately, the broad tech industry overall got a decade or two reprieve from that, though it might be starting to return.
A long related question, when partnering with Microsoft, which sounds like it still applies, is "What's your plan for when Microsoft stabs you in the back?"
Microsoft never had a self image of "Don't Be Evil", and is more a close releative of Cantrill's Lawnmower.
My suspicion is that ruthlessness and the long-con have deep roots in Microsoft's culture.
Microsoft only appears to play nice when it has to, and is shameless otherwise.
Up until the dotcom boom (and in the earlier days of it), one of the questions I'd heard of software startups was something like, "What will you do when Microsoft decides to own your space?"
Fortunately, the broad tech industry overall got a decade or two reprieve from that, though it might be starting to return.
A long related question, when partnering with Microsoft, which sounds like it still applies, is "What's your plan for when Microsoft stabs you in the back?"
Microsoft never had a self image of "Don't Be Evil", and is more a close releative of Cantrill's Lawnmower.
My suspicion is that ruthlessness and the long-con have deep roots in Microsoft's culture.
Microsoft only appears to play nice when it has to, and is shameless otherwise.