Microsoft buys Groove

I was surprised to see this press release:

Microsoft will make its growing business and technology bonds with Groove Networks permanent today as it announces plans to acquire the Beverly, Mass.-based provider of collaboration software for ad-hoc workgroups.

The acquisition will add Groove’s products to the lineup of Microsoft Office System products, servers and services, as well as bring the development talent and technology leadership of top Groove executives to Microsoft. Groove founder Ray Ozzie, the creator of IBM’s Lotus Notes, will become Chief Technical Officer of Microsoft, reporting to Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates.

I haven’t used Groove in a few years, mainly because I haven’t worked on any projects where I needed it. But it is genuinely cool and useful business software – kind of like BitTorrent meets Office. And the news that Ray Ozzie is going to Microsoft is big. He’s one of a handful of extraordinarily smart people in this industry, and he will make a difference at Microsoft.