>> Bull. Microsoft did NOT bet the company on .NET. They have a ton of money
>> in reserve (40? 50? billions) and they will easily survive if .NET
>> utterly fails.
>>
> I woudln't be too sure about that. Keep in mind, everything they are
> workingon right now is based on .NET. If .NET fails, what, pickup and
> start over from where they were two years ago? I don't think 40bill can
> make that happen
>
> And if it could, what about their image? Who could every put money into
> that company if they fell flat on our there face and it too 40 billion to
> make it stand up again.

In one word: Chrysler.

I wouuld invest money in MS after a .NET failure if I believe it was a good investment. There is also a good chance that the market would panick and drive the stock price to a value well below its "true" value. The stock price will eventually climb to its true value and the opporunists who bought low will make a decent profit. It wouldn't be anything I haven't seen before.

Daniel