Most intriguing of all is the possibility that Skype will become part of the Windows operating system package. When you boot up a new version of Windows for the first time, you could be asked if you want Skype installed, too. That would be a real door-opener for Skype because it would remove much of the friction caused by many users reluctance to install products downloaded from the Internet.

In a blog item on the consummated merger, Tony Bates, former CEO of Skype the company and new CEO of Skype the division of Microsoft, declared, "By bringing together the best of Microsoft and the best of Skype, we'll deliver amazing new experiences for consumers and business around the world."

Let's hope that Bates can deliver on that promise and that Skype won't be left to languish in the bowels of the Goliath that gobbled it up.

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