Why did Microsoft acquire LinkedIn?

5 pointsposted 5 hours ago
by ninju

Item id: 49524564

3 Comments

fuzzfactor

2 hours ago

Didn't feel like they had anything better to do at the time?

bediger4000

4 hours ago

As a Linux user, I assumed it was to embrace, extend, and extinguish. Gradually make LinkedIn work only with Windows and gradually force all seekers of new professional jobs to use Windows. In 2016, you basically had to have your resume in Word format, so they were halfway there.

PaulHoule

3 hours ago

That's not what happened though.

I mean, Microsoft wanted to take over the world with Windows in the 1990s but today with Azure they are happy to sell you an instance with Windows or an instance with whatever Linux you like. It's not clear at this point that Microsoft takes products like Windows or Office seriously in 2026 except as places to stuff in Microsoft Copilot.

The story of the Windows UI post Win 8 has all been about turning away from native apps to the web and webviews. Like it used to be new versions of Windows came out and we got new widget sets, after Microsoft got flexbox and grid into CSS it seems Microsoft's answer to "how do I make a Windows app?" is "use Electron."