Today Microsoft announced more delays in VISTA. This jived in an interesting way with several conversations I had with former MS employees and some high level geeks with big companies attending MIX06. Most expressed frustration at how s-l-o-w things tend to move at Microsoft, and all seemed very enthusiastic about the explosive potential of Web 2.0 *approaches* which encourage experimentation, speed, and flexibility, and platform *independence*.

I’d suggest that the LIVE initiative at MS is very exciting and has great potential in every way …. except …. protecting Microsoft’s core cash cows of Office and XP (make that Longhorn…Avalon….no VISTA!)

So, who ya gonna call to fix this MS?  Google? No way – not enough chairs to throw over there, and most are beanbags anyway. Yahoo? Hey…now there’s a Web 2.0 play….if I were Ballmer I’d look very hard at ways to buy or partner up in a long term big way with Yahoo hoping their culture would help invigorate some of the bright but sometimes seemingly… demoralized or disinterested…. MS teams. The problem? I think Jeremy posted that he’d leave Yahoo if that happened and that would NOT be good for Yahoo or Web 2.0 in general.