Okay, so the shock has subsided, and the news has sunk in. Microsoft, under Satya Nadella's seemingly able (albeit radial, in some circles) leadership just went shopping and bought LinkedIn for $26 billion in an all-cash deal.

While many may think that this was something expected, others may laugh at this move because Microsoft had an opportunity to buy LinkedIn for way cheaper in the past (Ouch!), a few others may try to convince themselves that this is the beginning of the end for two major brands that may be in the last decades of their lives. Personally, I see this differently. I think it's a wonderful move, and something that's bound to make my life and your life so much cooler in the years to come. If they play this right. After all, this isn't Microsoft's first purchase in the social media space. Microsoft bought enterprise social-networking vendor Yammer for $1.2 billion in 2012, and since then has ended up cribbing a number of Yammer technologies in its own Office 365 service. Yammer is one of a number of overlapping technologies from Microsoft that is part of its social-networking portfolio. [source]

Microsoft is ubiquitous in my life - both personal and professional. Though I only trust Microsoft in their mobility game as far as I can throw a Windows phone, I absolutely love their desktop and cloud game. I may be stirring a hornet's nest here, but I love Windows 10. For someone who's grown up with Windows right from the time I could draw a cloud and an ugly flower on MS Paint running on Win 98, this current version of Windows is the culmination of all those years of pain and frustration. A right-click-and-refresh is still the cheapest, most easily available therapy for a tired brain. Cortana is still growing up, but she's getting there. And she's better than Siri. Period.

The most stable and most aesthetically pleasing version of the most used operating system in the world has now become the one with the most potential. What I see happening with the LinkedIn acquisition is simple: my Windows experience is going to go through the roof. Here are some things I hope will happen, and if the rumors are true, I may be on to something.

A More Powerful Search Bar

The current search on Windows 10 is pretty cool - it lets you search both internally and externally for whatever you're looking for - a feature that's a spillover from Microsoft's tentative foray into mobility and more prominently, Surface. Imagine a version of Windows where this search is merged with LinkedIn's Job Search, Company Search, and People Search features. Even if it's only the Job Search, this may well put job search engines like Naukri and Monster in jeopardy.

Seamless Connectivity

And I don't mean connecting to the internet. You connections on LinkedIn will now be available to you on Outlook, and in your Contacts. Your Outlook calendar will now be seamlessly integrated with your LinkedIn connections, and keeping in touch with them will be that much more easier.

The Rise Of Bing

Bing, which has been struggling to find a reason to exist, may now get resurrected to specialize in professional search than continue to fight a losing battle against Google. This will certainly be good news, especially to SEM advertisers who can now stop pulling their hair out in frustration.

These are the three major upgrades that I am hoping for. There's a lot of discussion online about what direction Microsoft's business is going in after this deal, and what it intends to do with career graphs of a hundred million professionals, but not many people are focusing on the user experience implications of this deal. Nadella has proved in the past that his main job will be to make the Windows experience spectacular, and this may certainly turn out to be a rabbit out of the hat.

What do you think of this deal? Rich people getting richer? Or do you foresee (or hope for) a better version of the internet? Let me know in the comments.