It all started before the market opened on a Friday in February 2008, or at least that’s when all hell broke loose for us journalists. Over the last 18 months since MSFT first came out with its public offer to buy Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO), a lot has changed with the nature of the talks—from buying the whole company to just a search deal—and of course, a completely different team at Yahoo is now at the helm. Microsoft’s search efforts have focused on Bing, to some early success. The history of the deal talks, in links (in chronological order):

—Microsoft Makes $44.6 Billion Cash And Stock Bid For Yahoo; 62 Percent Premium

—Yahoo Considering Combo With AOL?

—Yahoo Officially Rejects Microsoft Bid: ‘Not In Best Interests’: Yang Explains To Yahoos

—News Corp And Yahoo Talk On Combining Digital; 20 Percent Yahoo Stake; Outside PE Firm: Reports

—Microsoft Withdraws Offer For Yahoo