oh really! That can Create a win-win situation !

why would they want to buy skype when they already have similar abilities within live messenger and OCS!? Only thing I can think of is they want a slice of the money from calling landlines with skype I dont think they need the company from a technology standpoint.

My guess it is the brand/userbase they are really buying.

I agree. I hope they do something with it, maybe add it to Windows Phone without the App. They now have a pretty large marketing opportunity available to them through the Skype interface.

I think it's a combination of things.. the users/technology/marketing/etc... Microsoft has always been a big player in the tech industry, buying out companies that they felt could benefit them... I am not surprised really. I am sure they're going to integrate that into their technology in one way or another.