The "butterfly effect" gained a lot of popularity with the release of the less-than-Oscar-worthy Ashton Kutcher movie of the same name. But the concept has been around for a lot longer -- since the 1960s, as a matter of fact, when a meteorologist postulated that a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil could cause a ripple in weather patterns that generates a tornado in Texas.
As fellow Fool Rich Smith has recounted, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) created its own butterfly effect in the antivirus software industry yesterday, when it announced that it was buying tiny, pre-IPO Sybari Software for an undisclosed amount. It was the tech giant's second such purchase in three months -- it bought up Giant Company Software in December -- and signified that Microsoft was intent on moving into the antivirus industry.
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