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Would You Use Ad-Supported Windows?
An anonymous reader writes "ZDNet reported earlier this week that Microsoft was thinking of offering an Ad-Supported version of Windows. A blog post by John Carroll offers some reasons why Ad-Supported Windows makes sense. From the article: '4. More revenue through targeted marketing: The holy grail of marketing is to target an audience with the sort of ads that most appeal to them. Sending a bunch of male programmers advertisements for breast enlargement isn't terribly useful. Sending a bunch of male programmers advertisements for a four hour extended version of Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan is useful.' Is there any situation where you can see yourself open to the possibility of using an Ad-Supported operating system?"
from the advertisers' perspective, ad supported server software would be stupid. servers, in theory, aren't looked at very often.
personally, i wouldn't support any kind of ad OS from ms. they are a mega huge monopoly. they don't need additional sources of income.
I wish that I was a catfish.
If there is an ad-supported version of Windows, the ads would be intergrated on the level of the operating system (like a rootkit). Doesn't this sound like a bad idea? What will happen when a less-than-well-intending firm finds out how to use the ad system and hijack it? It would be almost, if not impossible, to remove.
The American computer-using public is used to "ad-supported" meaning "free to me." We're also used to "ad-supported" meaning "not going to last very long."
Would the OS be crippled? Could a purchase un-cripple it (and remove advertisements)?
And how intrusive are these ads? Is this a thirty second video commercial while the OS loads, or am I going to be receiving pop-ups every 30-45 seconds? Am I sacrificing monitor space to keep a banner ad on the screen at all times?
x = x + ++x;
If a business like an internet cafe could get a break on liscensing and initial payout they would probably jump all over it.
WHY? Ads have been tried by the free pc people and how many of those are around now? I am convinced that we must be in the beginnings of another nutty web bubble. 2 million to Revision3 and another 2 million to podshow. VC money going to REALLY wacky ideas.....crazy ideas like AD supported OS's? Stupid. A OS is supposed to allow you to run programs and manage the hard stuff that programmers used to have to do when writing for bare hardware. It should not have anothe rlayer of crud on it.
Gorkman
A non-intrusive Google-Ads-like system I could live with. A bar containing seizure inducing banners and annoying "Catch the monkey and win a gazillion iPods" flash ads would be intolerable. It depends on how it is implemented. Of course, why not just use a prexisting free OS?
the adware riddled Windows most folks currently use?
Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome. - Isaac Asimov
Even though you can try to justify it and I am sure there are some isolated usefulness, I'd say NO, at least for work PC. We have enough trouble with email and IM itself (there have been a lot of stories on those on /.); the last thing we need is some ads popping up when someone is trying to work especially in crunch time. It might work for home editions or home users, but professional uses - NO. I don't care how contextual the ads are, they are a distraction and I bet they will be flash based or something more silly and obnoxious or at least they will evolve in to those.
"No."
Now that that's out of the way, I wonder how well "Windows Defender" (the Microsoft "anti"-spyware offering) would work on an ad-supported version of Windows. I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that Microsoft purchased Gator^H^H^H^H^HClaria.
I wonder about these things, and I change my original opinion.
"Fuck, no. Not if you managed to throw a chair through Brin's head. Not if you manage suffocate Torvalds by stuffing his head up a penguin's ass. Not if you travelled back in time and shot the parents of Ada Lovelace, Alan Turing, and Steve Wozniak before any of them were born."
Why even bother to ask the slashdot crowd this? Of course the answer is going to be a resounding 'No!' because slashdot doesn't represent the demographic that would even entertain the idea.
The responses are going to consist of:
1) Something about Microsoft being evil
2) Something about Linux being free
3) Something about Microsoft's security track record
I can't see anything useful coming out of this at all.
You would be ok with running an ad-supported OS in your church? There's no moral dilemma in adding commercials to your church services?
Did you miss the episode of the Simpsons where Homer's model rocket hits the church, Mr. Burns pays to fix it, and he introduces changes to make it more profitable? "Get your money changed! Right here in the temple!"
At least it would give M$ a financial reason to tighten up their software and prevent all of these other popups and spyware. Only paying customers will be allowed to bother you.
I would pay NOT to see ads.
I can't leak into the urinal, without looking down and seeing someone selling me something, printed on the drain-cover.
"Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
Only paying customers will be allowed to bother you.
Who wants to bet on the odds that eventually a flaw in the ad system would be discovered, that allows _anyone_ to shove stuff in your face?
i ate crayons when i was a kid and now i have two braincells and the blue ones taste nicer
I have enough problems trying to keep spyware/adware ads from displaying on my Windows desktop. Now you want the OS itself to support the displaying of ads?! I can see a lot of users not realizing they have spyware then. Oh that ad? it's just Windows advertising.
Having a smoking section in a public restaurant is like having a peeing section in a public swimming pool.
The question is: how hard would it be to remove the ads from "ad-supported" windows. I would suppose it would just take Sysinternals' Process Explorer to kill a few "Critical System" tasks.
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Free Wndows with ads would increase the popularity of our favorite free without ads OS.
Not a bad thing.
I guess it was just a matter of time.
I'm so mad that I chose to run this Adware OS. Oh wait, no I'm not it was cheaper this way.
Ya, lots of grumbling over saving money. I hear Geico has the same problem. Incedentally, 15 minutes could save you 10% or more on car insurance.
"I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
Are you telling me, with a straight face, that MS isn't already gathering revenue by the ads they deliver through their OS?
The more likely result would be that the other versions would go up in price. Window's price is currently held down by the fact they need to remain cost competitive to consumers, but if they have a free or lowcost version for consumers who can't buy the "good" (relativly anyway) versions of Windows then they have no reason to keep the prices low. I would be surprised to see the equivilant of XP Pro hit $300+
Never administrated a Windows server, eh? ;-)
Read my blog.
In fact, we are actually paying for them to be there, through the products that are advertised.
Oh, and we all know that no open source Web browser includes bookmarks immediately upon installation. Care to think that maybe the bookmarks included might help some people get a bit of a start in finding entertainment news, etc?
No matter which browser I'm using, I always delete all of the included bookmarks immediately. They're annoying, ad-related or not.
Yes, Microsoft does gather big revenues probably from their ads, but from people like you who don't take the time to read while configuring/installing stuff.
MSN Messenger's installer offers you the choice to setup MSN as your home page with the MSN toolbar and all the other crap. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO UNCHECK THOSE. Therefore, it's your fault if you complain about those because they give you a choice. Same for WMP. Bookmarks with IE? Delete them or don't use IE. Products sold through Windows Catalogue? Who's pointing a gun to your head telling you to look at it?
Are you telling me, with a straight face, that you aren't a lazy geek who complains about MS-Related ads/services that can be turned off/disabled? Get that poker face out because you'll need it.