Will they leave well enough alone.
I’ve been using Flickr more and more. I was reluctant at first to use it because I could just as easily write my own web page to host my own pictures. But as I began to take more photos, it became cumbersome and the utility of Flickr became apparent. It wasn’t until I reach my limit as a free user that I decided to pony up for a pro account. I think this was the first service on the internet that I actually paid for. I’ve come to a point where I really rely on it.
I’ve mentioned before my opinion on Microsoft buying Yahoo. Regardless of my opinion on why or why not that deal should happen, I worry about what will become of Flickr. I like it just the way it is. It is exceptionally clean, easy to use, reliable, and powerful. A rare combination.
Knowing what I do about Microsoft from working there for ten years, is that if they do wind up owning it, they will not be able to leave it alone. I can imagine it being clumped into the mess that is MS-Live. Worse yet, I could imagine it requiring MS-Silverlight (MS answer to flash) making it incompatible with any operating system other than Windows.
Both of these would be a tragedy to a wonderful service.