A good reason not to use this agency any more...

This travel search site is most likely OK at the moment but will be pure crap very soon after this...

Can anyone tell me why MS keeps buying second rate companies?

(I know MS is a third rate company, at best.)

They want to buy yahoo. Who uses yahoo anymore?

They decide they need a travel booking company, they buy one nobody has ever heard of.

They have the money, buy more companies that add nothing to MS?

How can they be this stupid?

Yet look at all the press they get when they do it.

Not to mention that they don't HAVE to be competitive. They're still a de-facto monopoly in many markets after all, and have show a firm willingness to leverage that monopoly in all sorts of new, unethical, and (as shown in several jurisdictions) illegal ways. Meaning that nowadays they don't have to follow the rules, they just have to pressure (or buy) the right people to get what they want - from international standards acceptance to large government contracts.

Also, since the companies they buy will just get folded into the Microsoft banner, it doesn't matter much if the company was well known or not. Microsoft might be evil, but I don't believe they're completely stupid. It was probably a good deal for them.

I had never heard of this site either, so now I had to test. Farecast.com has some very nice features and their search seems fast. And they even cover non-US airports very well.

You hadn't heard? Last year Microsoft announced a five year plan (Shades of Mao!) to buy the internet, one piece at a time.

I'm not kidding... Just exaggerating... Slightly.

http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/10/ballmer-microso.html

Sorry bud but I use Yahoo as my main email and oddly (or luckily) I dont get much spam at all there. Might be due to the fact not many people know my email addy.

All in all though it isnt that bad, mainly use it for 3 things, some quick news fix, email and weather. Havent tried out many of the other parts in a long time though.

On a side note this just in:

Today Steve Ballmer of Microsoft announced they have acquired UK based news site TheRegister. . .

(sooner or later even the good fall :( )

/mines the asbestos lined one

With all the crazy attempted acquisitions going on recently, I had to chuckle at the tagline of this story.