They’re at it again! Microsoft just signed an NDA (non-disclosure arrangement) with Yahoo!. These two companies have history of unsuccessful negotiations, but this time the situation is different.

In 2008, talks between giants took many unsuspected turns, creating a lot of media buzz. There were talks about Microsoft taking over Yahoo!, some negotiations were also about creating one unified search engine, that could compete with Google. In the end, companies couldn’t come to terms on serious business, and after long struggle, Microsoft had to stop the pressure. Negotiations led only to search engine cooperation on a smaller scale.

Much has changed since 2008. Microsoft improved its reputation with Windows 7 (first great OS in their portfolio), but made a lot of bad decisions too. Their mobile OSes have a generally bad reputation, and even considering partnership with Nokia is a suicidal thought. Yahoo!, even though it’s still a major player, is slowly shrinking. Facebook takes what Facebook wants (well, maybe excluding Deals).

That pressure is probably what made Yahoo! open their doors and talk to so many companies about different forms of cooperation, including (again) Microsoft.

Many options are possible. Yahoo! board knows they need to make those tough decisions, and better make them quick. The pressure is ever-growing, as Third Point LLC demands two board seats and demands Jerry Joung (co-founder) to step down from his director position. TP is a serious investor in Yahoo!, with 5% of all the shares, so their demands are not to be taken lightly.

That’s why the company hired some investment scavengers (by which I mean Goldman Sachs) to help them make strategic plans for proper moves in the upcoming future.

In the next few weeks, maybe 1 or 2 months, we can expect some deal to be made. In the meantime, please don’t tell Goldman Sachs I called them scavengers. Multi-trillion dollar friends in post-apocalyptic world sure won’t hurt. Maybe playing less video games won’t too…