How time really flies. And how time changes everything. About five years ago, if we are to believe some industry rumors, Microsoft did try to get rival software vendor Adobe within its embrace.

Possible merger talks, however, failed to get past beyond getting-to-know-you levels. Microsoft was reluctant to merge with another tech giant at that time. After all, the U.S. Department of Justice was busy nibbling at its behind, running after the Redmond giant with some serious anti-competition issues.

Today, however, is quite a different story.

Microsoft is no longer the market giant that every fair-trade agency was running after and hated by almost all consumer rights activists. (OK, let us get real. Delete the last part of this paragraph’s first sentence.)

Other IT companies have grown so big and are now attracting much more attention and scrutiny from governments’ competitiveness agencies and organizations. Consumer protection guys are now ranting against Apple and Google.

Must be sad being ignored by regulators and competitors, but Microsoft is making the most of being “part of the crowd” by gearing perhaps for a highly probable acquisition binge, which some observers believe would start with Adobe.

But would gobbling an erstwhile rival do wonders for Microsoft’s fortune? As Bill Gates’ company struggles to keep itself significant in the mobile phone scene, would Adobe and its range of products and technologies help the Windows maker expand its diminishing-by-the-day market share?

Together, would these software be able to fight back against the Apple-Google onslaught?

Abangan!

Cloud’s Green Footprint

I have always subscribed to the point of view that cloud computing, despite most vendors’ efforts to make it appear as a novel way to do computing or data processing, is not actually something new.

The idea of using a no-frill computing device to manage data placed in an always-on, ubiquitous storage has been with us since at least the mid-1990s. Some writers argue the concept is almost as old as the Internet.

My misgivings about cloud computing notwithstanding, this corner is happy with the rate businesses and vendors are focusing their attention on this latest iteration of the client-server computing technology. For me, the more computing options there are for end users, both business and consumers, the better.

Cloud computing, its proponents aver, offers potential benefits to users. Remote storage of data and applications, in theory, should provide those who adopt the technology with some significant savings. After all, users can purchase less powerful and, hence, cheaper computers. They will also save money by “renting” software instead of buying them outright.

Recently, however, some researchers from the University of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, have discovered that cloud computing is not always the most environment-friendly option. After studying the use of cloud computing, the researchers found out that the technology consumes more energy than other computing platforms.

According to the study, data transmission accounted for a significant share of the energy consumption in a cloud-computing setting.

That’s all for the meantime, folks. Join me again next time as we keep on watching IT.