Microsoft has finally closed the 8.5 Billion dollar deal to acquire the largest video calling software, Skype. What does this mean for Microsoft?

Users

With Google’s G+ user base quickly rising to 40 million users in competition with Facebook, Microsoft is also rapidly expanding its user base. Microsoft’s purchase of Hotmail in 1997 has allowed them to build up to their incredible 500 million active users a month. With the addition of Skype however, Microsoft instantly gains access to 145 million more active users.

Patents

With the acquisition of Skype Microsoft has gained 50 patents to its collection, including patents in “networking, speech recognition, and user interface”. The fact that Microsoft is also trying to purchase 6000 patents from Norton shows their aggressive competition against Google and their gains in patents from Motorola.

Integration

Skype’s video calling capabilities make deeply integrating the software into Window’s smart phones and positioned as a competitor to Apple’s iPhone Face Time very likely. Skype will also probably be found as part of the Window Live Messenger instant messaging program, adding features to their existing video chats. Finally, Skype has potential to be found incorporated into Outlook’s contacts and into the Xbox Live experience.

Read more at: http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/78945