Windows 10 Is Just 'A Vehicle For Advertisements', Argues Tech Columnist (betanews.com) 353
A new editorial by BetaNews columnist Mark Wilson argues that Windows 10 isn't an operating system -- it's "a vehicle for ads". An anonymous reader quotes their report:
They appear in the Start menu, in the taskbar, in the Action Center, in Explorer, in the Ink Workspace, on the Lock Screen, in the Share tool, in the Windows Store and even in File Explorer.
Microsoft has lost its grip on what is acceptable, and even goes as far as pretending that these ads serve users more than the company -- "these are suggestions", "this is a promoted app", "we thought you'd like to know that Edge uses less battery than Chrome", "playable ads let you try out apps without installing". But if we're honest, the company is doing nothing more than abusing its position, using Windows 10 to promote its own tools and services, or those with which it has marketing arrangements.
The article suggests ads are part of the hidden price tag for the free downloads of Windows 10 that Microsoft offered last year (along with the telemetry and other user-tracking features). Their article has already received 357 comments, and concludes that the prevalence of ads in Windows 10 is "indefensible".
Microsoft has lost its grip on what is acceptable, and even goes as far as pretending that these ads serve users more than the company -- "these are suggestions", "this is a promoted app", "we thought you'd like to know that Edge uses less battery than Chrome", "playable ads let you try out apps without installing". But if we're honest, the company is doing nothing more than abusing its position, using Windows 10 to promote its own tools and services, or those with which it has marketing arrangements.
The article suggests ads are part of the hidden price tag for the free downloads of Windows 10 that Microsoft offered last year (along with the telemetry and other user-tracking features). Their article has already received 357 comments, and concludes that the prevalence of ads in Windows 10 is "indefensible".
Google envy (Score:3, Insightful)
Sounds like Google envy to me.
On the other hand, I don't actually recall seeing a lot of ads in my Windows 10 installation. Maybe Mark Wilson is just installing the wrong kind of software?
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Maybe it's the Home edition displaying a lot of ads? I'm running Pro.
Re:Google envy (Score:4, Interesting)
Although I've seen popups that urge people to use Edge over Chrome of Firefox on Windows 10 machines of other people.
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That's just ignorance if you think turning off those settings visible to you stops Windows from Spying on you.
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There's huge and ugly text box [imgur.com] when you set the telemetry value in gpedit, stating that you can't really turn telemetry off. It even states that setting it to 0 won't work on non Enterprise machines.
All those things including Classic Shell only hide some the issues, they don't fix them.
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Yeah. It's a two-position radio button, with the overall label "Spying Theme" and the two choices "Shameless" and "Discreet".
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Reminds me of the stupidity machine in Zak McKracken.
Ad Blindness (Score:5, Interesting)
Are you sure about that? Both myself and my coworker were given Windows 10 Pro laptops, fresh install, no third party bloat. I started to complain about all the adverts and set about turning telemetry and ads off by any means neccessary. Meanwhile he says "I don't have any ads on mine". I walk around and there's literally big blinking animated squares advertising computer games on his monitor. Some people are so desensitised they can't even identify adverts that are staring them right in the face.
Re:Ad Blindness (Score:4, Interesting)
Yep, sure about that. Windows 10 Pro here and after I disabled the 'base installation' panels I've seen almost nothing that would count as an advert.
I did spend a couple of hours configuring the system to minimise telemetry, disable automatic updates and generally stop it being obnoxious though. Most users lack the patience, knowledge or bloody mindedness to do that.
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At best I got a "you need to log in to your OneDrive account" sort of message recently that implied to me that I hadn't logged in in a while and my session had timed out. I just clicked through it.
The only sidebar messages I get are the occasional Windows Defender, everything's okay, and the occasional "you have x nextdoor messages in your gmailbox" from Google. I have an asus popup on the lower right about checking my bios for upgrades that's annoying (nothing like having the stupid thing kill my gaming se
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Sure, you can turn the ads off, but you really shouldn't HAVE to. If you paid for your copy of Windows, the display of advertising should be disabled by default. Make that shit Opt In, not Opt Out.
Now, if it's one of those "free" upgrade installs to Windows 10, I guess that I'm OK with that. Anyone with half a brain should know by now that nothing that Microsoft makes is truly free.
Re:Ad Blindness (Score:4, Insightful)
Now, if it's one of those "free" upgrade installs to Windows 10, I guess that I'm OK with that. Anyone with half a brain should know by now that nothing that Microsoft makes is truly free.
It's not Okay even then. People should have everything spelled out to them upfront. Donations are completely voluntary in my Linux distros, but I don't get served ads if I don't contribute.
Amazing!!! People allow abuse. (Score:2)
Quote: "Buried in the service agreement is permission to poke through everything on your PC."
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That might tell you something.
For some people it's so out of the way they don't give a shit. Seriously, if I don't notice the 'blinking squares' and go on with my normal activities am I damaged? Did I get harmed somehow?
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They certainly dropped their Scroogled campaign just in time, didn't they!
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Not just Google envy: everyone envy.
Google has Android and all their consumer products. Apple has their vertically integrated fandom. Every social media platform is their own thing.
What do all those things have in common that MS has never been able to cultivate on their own? User data. MS decided to capture it by buying Skype and LinkedIn, both highly strategic because MS only understands business customers: those buys made sense to MS. What they don't understand, never have, and likely never will, is
Re:Google envy (Score:4, Insightful)
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Microsoft routinely brings in more than $10 billion NET revenue a year. Whatever they're doing, it's working fine.
So do Drug cartels. You made your point.
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So basically for Microsoft in this day and age, the end user is not the customer? The end user is a commodity that Microsoft sells to other corporations who are the customers?
Gee, that sounds familiar. I left Microsoft for Linux in 1999 because of it. I have never looked back.
--"Windows is not the answer. Windows is the question. The answer is 'No'." As true now as it was then.
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Re:Google envy (Score:4, Insightful)
At this point, basically you're their hostage. And until the critical mass of non-Windows programs that can replace their Windows counterparts, which would allow you to leave Windows for a superior OS, has not been reached, you will remain in that position.
Re:Google envy (Score:4, Insightful)
I tried to switching to Linux but went back to windows on my main machine because gaming. If I spend money on the latest graphics card I want to be able to use all the new features. With Linux, I always had to fiddle to get things to work, which is fun and dandy sometimes but after work I just want to play a game that runs/looks well with minimal fiddling.
Many of the Linux drivers were a generation or two behind so they couldn't take advantage of a lot of new feature. I like Linux, still use it on my secondary machine but there is still one dominate OS for gaming and it isn't Linux. I am no more a hostage to windows than a victim of Linux being perpetually behind the times.
OpenGL had a hiatus of development and support until recently (few years). The new stuff is good and look forward to more support but too many games I play would be unplayable. Especially when I want the most performance out of my hardware (looking at you wine).
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Microsoft is run by marketing flacks, not by developers. It's been that way since Bill Gates handed over the reins.
Re: Google envy (Score:2)
I installed Windows 10 Pro the other day for testing - the Start menu is filled with ads - Candy Crush, Facebook, Minecraft, Bing, Office265 just to name a few and those apps aren't even installed, they take you to the ad-riddled package manager where you can pay for more ad-enabled things. When you start Internet Explorer you're taken to an ad about IE vs Chrome and Firefox. OneDrive pops up at every file operation "this would be easy with OneDrive" "share with your friends through OneDrive"
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I installed Windows 10 Pro the other day for testing - the Start menu is filled with ads - Candy Crush, Facebook, Minecraft, Bing, Office265 just to name a few and those apps aren't even installed, they take you to the ad-riddled package manager where you can pay for more ad-enabled things. When you start Internet Explorer you're taken to an ad about IE vs Chrome and Firefox. OneDrive pops up at every file operation "this would be easy with OneDrive" "share with your friends through OneDrive"
Right, but you wouldn't have that user experience with a lesser Operating system.
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When you start Internet Explorer you're taken to an ad about IE vs Chrome and Firefox.
I assume you mean Edge, not IE, and ALL the browsers out there hit you with pages re: how they're better than every other browser out there. It's been that way for years. Choose a browser as your default and stick with it, and this problem will go away.
but File Explorer and the Start menu is another thing entirely. Live Tiles in particular have been click-bait advert vehicles since their conception. You can manually remove them all, but it's quicker to simply install ClassicShell and you'll never have t
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Sounds like Google envy to me.
On the other hand, I don't actually recall seeing a lot of ads in my Windows 10 installation.
Between uBlock Origin and NoScript, I don't see ads on Google services, either. Not even Youtube, usually. Occasionally they slip a video ad in, and I skip it in five seconds, but I've gone to their site. It's not something that just popped up on my PC while I was doing stuff.
Re:NVIDIA (Score:4, Interesting)
I have two nVidia cards and regularly upgrade my drivers but don't see any advertising either. Same with general Windows 10 mucking about. I've been spending a lot more time on my system over the past 3 months as well and no ads.
I did buy Windows 10 Pro vs go with the downloaded version as I was building a new system and didn't upgrade my prior systems (still on 7). Maybe that has something to do with it?
[John]
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I haven't seen any Nvidia driver install adds with mine as well. However I did just start seeing One-drive upgrade adds in my File Explorer... which I immediately disabled. Under the File/directory options checkboxes, there's one there for Sync service notifications.
But that was the only place I've seen them to date.
Comparision with competition (Score:5, Interesting)
And, somehow, Microsoft is responsible of the shit that NVIDA puts in its drivers, obviously.
Given that Microsoft is making the only platform where it is possible for Nvidia to show said slideshow of adds, yes, indeed, Microsoft might be sharing a bit of the responsibility.
(e.g.: under Linux you add the 3rd party repository from Nvidia containing the driver to you package manager, and then let the package manager handle the installation as with any other base or 3rd party package. At most, some package manager can show *textual* release notes or licensing information.)
(on the other hand:
- the official market for NVidia on Linux is professional users who use the cards for art rendering, scientific computations, etc.
They pay already premium for the card. And there might not even be a human user to see the ads during the upgrade of some node on the compute cluster.
- the biggest market for Nvidia on Windows is mostly gamers.
So shove as much ads as possible down their throats to get them to buy even more extra useless gizmos.
And don't be afraid, they'll come back to the (overfilled with ads) installer next week, when they need the latest patch with hacks for optimise that week's new game.)
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If they wanted, nVidia could write a Linux driver installer that showed you ads. The Linux install base is so small it's not worth it to them.
Your package manager isn't magic, and it only works because nVidia packages their drivers for simplicity. So check your smug.
Re:Comparision with competition (Score:5, Insightful)
If they wanted, nVidia could write a Linux driver installer that showed you ads. The Linux install base is so small it's not worth it to them.
Your package manager isn't magic, and it only works because nVidia packages their drivers for simplicity. So check your smug.
I just knew tat someone would make the installed user base argument. So we should all install Windows 10 so we can see those ads because..... better! More users! Famous cigarettes!
Most of us hate ads, don't want ads, do anything we can do to block ads. You tout it as a mark of how "popular" Windows is, like extolling the virtues of a Toyota Corolla or Trabant over cars that sell less, like a Corvette or a Tesla.
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You're the one getting butt hurt over numbers. Numerically, the Linux/nVidia install base isn't big enough to justify writing a custom installer with ads.
I use OSX Linux, and Windows. It would be kinda weird to get butthurt over numbers.
I use whatever will do the job better.
And just out of curiousity, exactly what is the degree of difficulty in writing the code to serve up ads that makes it prohibitive to do this in Linux? You made the claim, you do the explain. If your logic held true, there wouldn't be a driver written for Linux at all - no driver period.
Re:Comparision with competition (Score:5, Informative)
The whole nvidia thing is a moot point; you don't even need to get that far to see the ads. Here's a collection of ads that have been found on Windows 10:
Ad to install Microsoft's shopping extension:
https://www.cnet.com/news/wind... [cnet.com]
Ad to buy tomb raider from Windows store:
https://www.howtogeek.com/2432... [howtogeek.com]
(Side note: This is why Microsoft no longer allows you to disable the lock screen on desktop systems. Yes, you can turn the lock screen ads off, but Microsoft wants you to get used to seeing it there meanwhile.)
Ad to browse bing for rewards points:
http://core0.staticworld.net/i... [staticworld.net]
Ad to install Office:
http://images.techhive.com/ima... [techhive.com]
Ads to buy Solitaire:
http://images.techhive.com/ima... [techhive.com]
(Side note: Windows 10 now includes lots of freemium and trialware apps in general, like Candy Crush, which is another form of advertising. Also, didn't solitaire used to be totally free?)
Ads in the share tool:
https://betanews.com/wp-conten... [betanews.com]
(In that screenshot, most of these apps aren't installed, thus these are ads to install these apps.)
Ads in the ink workspace:
http://cdn.windowsreport.com/w... [windowsreport.com]
Ad telling you to stop using firefox:
https://i.stack.imgur.com/l6JL... [imgur.com]
Ad telling you to stop using chrome:
http://www.laptopmag.com/image... [laptopmag.com]
Another ad telling you to switch to edge for bing rewards:
https://www.howtogeek.com/wp-c... [howtogeek.com]
Ad telling you to subscribe to onedrive:
http://images.techhive.com/ima... [techhive.com]
Ad to buy apps on the start menu:
https://davescomputertips.com/... [davescomputertips.com]
So TFA is correct, windows 10 IS an ad platform.
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Ridiculous. You can run nVidia installs silently on Windows if you choose. I have also seen executable based installers on Linux that show advertisements.
It's the same silly argument where people blame Microsoft for all BSODs when, again nVidia being the majority culprit, bad drivers are the root cause - then people like yourself say "well, Microsoft should build a driver model that doesn't allow for BSODs."
Re:Comparision with competition (Score:4, Interesting)
Ridiculous. You can run nVidia installs silently on Windows if you choose. I have also seen executable based installers on Linux that show advertisements.
It's the same silly argument where people blame Microsoft for all BSODs when, again nVidia being the majority culprit, bad drivers are the root cause - then people like yourself say "well, Microsoft should build a driver model that doesn't allow for BSODs."
Or you could do like Apple does. Writes their own.
This driver issue with Windows has gone on a long time. Personally I don't care who's at fault. My problem isn't fault. My problem is I'm sitting in front of a computer that won't do it's job. If I have a Operating system that is superior above all, but surrounded by incompetence, well it hardly matters the gemllike perfection of the operating system, does it?
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The other way to look at it is not enough people use the Linux driver for them to even bother with advertising.
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The other way to look at it is not enough people use the Linux driver for them to even bother with advertising.
Well first off, congratulations for an attempt to make a really really bad annoying problem into a celebration of the installed user base.
Then do you have some idea that it is so difficult to write the adware into the driver that a few hours is a bridge too far?
differential diagnosis: Linux users won't put up with that bullshit.
Not true! (Score:5, Insightful)
TFA is false and absurd! Windows 10 is not 'just' a vehicle for advertisements.
It also spies on you.
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It was also never "free". It cost users a perfectly usable Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 OS.
There were people warning about how Microsoft would quickly start tossing advertisements everywhere. I'm surprised people didn't believe them. Especially with how deceptive and dishonest they were in their tactics with trying to force everyone onto Windows 10 with their "Free upgrade" for a year. (Resetting user defined system settings, removing cancel buttons on the install, changing the meanings of the cancel button on
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You're right it's a brain-wash! And it's good for your hair, too!
Re: Not true! (Score:2)
Unless the ads are served from your server, they are spying. You don't need JavaScript to spy.
there's a simple solution (Score:5, Insightful)
Microsoft has lost its grip on what is acceptable
I agree.
In fact, they lost the grip when they first shipped MS-DOS that was a decade behind other operating systems with its single tasking and lack of memory protection and small memory limits and being a decade late to the internet and subsequent security clusterfuck when legions of insecure machines finally got online. Culminating now with spyware and adware built right into the OS itself. That does not even talk about their unacceptable business practices and abusing their monopoly to damage open standards and hold back personal computing. This is a company of foul colour.
There is a simple solution for all of these problems. Do not use their OS, if you find it unacceptable. It is unacceptable to me, so I don't use it. Problem solved.
Marketing 101. (Score:2)
In fact, they lost the grip when they first shipped MS-DOS that was a decade behind other operating systems with its single tasking and lack of memory protection and small memory limits
IBM went out shopping for an OS that would run on the more or less affordable commodity x86 PC hardware available in 1980 and provide a natural upgrade path for developers and small business users familiar with CP/M.
Bonus points for being priced at 1/5 the cost of CP/M-86, retail list. The MS-DOS PC was a viable commercial product before the cloning of the IBM PC BIOS.
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Microsoft has lost its grip on what is acceptable
I agree.
In fact, they lost the grip when they first shipped MS-DOS that was a decade behind other operating systems with its single tasking
What are you comparing to? Can't be something realistic anyway...
and lack of memory protection
The hardware didn't support memory protection and the hardware wasn't fast enough to do that protection in software. That wasn't in anyway unique to MSDOS and several later unrelated operating systems also had no support for memory protection, in some cases even though the hardware supported it.
and small memory limits
Again MSDOS supported what the hardware provided. While 640KiB is the "accepted" limit in the IBM PC due to hardware design MSDOS and the IBM derivativ
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I have it on good authority that this year will FINALLY be the Year of Linux on the Desktop.
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Win7 was my last Windows OS. (Score:5, Interesting)
Ok this is going to sound like a shameless plug for Linux.
Win 7 was my last used OS from MS. I do have a win 8.1 VM I use on very rare occasions. ( Win 10 won't install as an upgrade on it. ) Win 8.1 was possibly the worst operating system I have ever worked with. What's with these invisible hot spots on the screen that you must magically know exist. Hot spots that just happen to be where the close on a window is. The tiles that are of No use to anyone that every used a computer. And the nightmare navigation of tiles menus and dialogues that essentially have no flow. The command line still after all these years is so utterly broken that only professional that live in the OS would understand it.
Now you have a Windows 10 that is like the article points out is simply and ad machine. Ad's which I expressly do not want to see. Do not want to have at all. Ads that eat resources. Ads that are yet another vector for infection and attack on my computers.
I want none of this garbage. Over the years I have used well probably all the major OS's out there. Some minor forks probably not. I have basically migrated everything to a Linux OS of some flavor. ( Some BSD in there ) And I've automated all of them. All my hosts do automatic updates, All hosts are scanned for the bad dudes. Even my routers and modems are now Linux. I've implemented a DNS blackhole for ads and malware. I've implemented backups and snap shots of all hosts. And I have built a central Network/Device health status that monitors basically everything.
All for the cost of the hardware alone.
Most of the shops I work in the first thing I do with the corp issued laptop is to clone the horrible MS OS nightmare they have on it to a VM image and run it as a VM on the same host. I then replace the original OS with a Linux variant. Now all of a sudden I have the ability to do all the corp BS stuff but I also have the ability to run my own development and test lab on that corp issued laptop.
Windows has gone down this path of making my computing life a royal pain in the backside. Where as Linux in the last few years has become fantastic OS for small tasks, server tasks, and even as a desktop. It's almost like MS doesn't want our business. Without MS as the OS there is very little if anything compelling me to purchase and use the other MS office tools. MS office tools are pretty horrible but since they don't play well at all with the whole computing eco system these days I really have no need to use them. So if the OS is annoying as hell and the alternatives aren't and the apps I use run on all OS's and/or browsers why do I need MS anymore?
( Excuse the typo's I'm dyslexic so it's difficult to see errors. )
Re:Win7 was my last Windows OS. (Score:4, Insightful)
But ... but ... you can now resize the cmd window by dragging the window border! Isn't that amazing?!
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All for the cost of the hardware alone.
The cost in time is one of the biggest reasons I stick with Windows for now. I'm not a Linux noob, I've done Unix shell scripting and can find my way around a Linux system, but because I use Windows at work I am far more knowledgeable about it. For example, I can knock up apps very quickly in Visual Studio, even full GUI stuff or device drivers for custom USB devices, because I'm familiar with the process. I'm sure I could learn how to do it on Linux, but then I'd have to invest time doing that instead of j
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I can knock up apps very quickly in Visual Studio, even full GUI stuff or device drivers for custom USB devices, because I'm familiar with the process. I'm sure I could learn how to do it on Linux, but then I'd have to invest time doing that instead of just writing the thing I actually want.
Microsoft has finally got themselves the bad reputation they have long deserved, and it's probable that their stranglehold on the industry will continue to relax from this day forward. Perhaps this is a good time to explore the use of a more cross-platform toolkit? Your primary familiarity with Windows will serve you well here, because it's the odd OS out where everything is strange and annoying. Everything is both easier and more similar (to one another) in the rest of the computing world.
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It's definitely time to start making the effort to move, I just don't because I want to dedicate my time to other things. Work will never change because all our clients use Windows and require Windows software, unfortunately.
Hey, MS (Score:2)
I have 2 PCs running Windows XP.
Where's *their* free upgrade?
Re:Hey, MS (Score:4, Informative)
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Yeah, I wouldn't recommend trying to install the latest version of Ubuntu on a PC that's old enough (2001-2009) to have come with a pre installed version of Windows XP. You're probably going to have a bad time because of the slow CPU and not enough memory.
Lubuntu would be a better choice.
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People didn't actually use winME did they? I thought it was some weird concept OS when it came out.. Like one of those cars you see at car shows that never even smell a production line. normally built out of cardboard and scotch tape. I guess they had the same engineers O.o
Ads.. (Score:3, Informative)
And there's ads on the internet.. and on TV.. and at the bus stop. Its almost as if advertisers want you to see their ads all the time!
Meh. Sure its a bit annoying to get ads in software you pay for but that's hardly a new phenomena -- pay $20 for a movie and enjoy 15 minutes of ads for future movies, cars etc. Buy the dvd for $40 and get the same treatment. Yadayada.
I'm not saying its a good thing. Or even something we shouldn't complain about. I'm just saying its systematic everywhere. To the point that its more surprising that they waited this long to toss advertising hooks into Windows.
That said, I never see ads. Its not that hard to find the option to turn them off in the start menu (though I don't recall where off hand.) And I turned Cortana off after the first time it took 10+ seconds to find a program in my start menu (ie: the first time I tried using it) since it feels like it needs to search the entire interwebs first Using Bing no less. And I do many if not most things through the start menu (though I imagine I'm in a small crowd on that one) so I didn't even get to the point of considering the privacy implications -- the sheer inconvenience of the "improved" search function had me running for the "off" slider on day 1.
Disable Cortana. Disable the "suggested content" in the start menu. Disable a few of the "notifications" that spam you to buy Office or whatever every other day, and install Spybot's Anti-Beacon. Its certainly more steps than necessary but once done, you have a reasonably decent and usable OS again.
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... pay $20 for a movie and enjoy 15 minutes of ads for future movies, cars etc. Buy the dvd for $40 and get the same treatment. Yadayada.
Torrent it.. and.. you don't.
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I rip mine to my media server. No ads there either.
[John]
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That said, I never see ads. Its not that hard to find the option to turn them off....
Statements like this just astound me. It's as if you've just been raped with a spintered stick for the hundredth time, keep begging for more, all the while justifying the perpetrator's behavior by saying, "it won't happen one hundred one times.
Wake up and smell the delusion.
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To me, that's a little like getting your wallet stolen and someone saying, "Yeah, there are thieves all over the place. Maybe if you put a chain on your wallet, you won't have that problem again." Which is to say:
A) The fact that it's "all over the place" doesn't excuse it.
B) Yes, obviously if you're more careful it will be less likely, but...
C) I'm not sure how careful I want to have to be, and...
D) Your advice won't keep it from happening in the future, so...
E) Maybe we should think of some other s
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I never said it did. In fact I said exactly the opposite.
Stil, the nature of your post is an excuse. It like, "Listen guys, I don't condone this behavior, but it's a fact of life, so we all better get used to it."
Your options are being careful or getting plastered with ads. You don't have a choice of middle ground (or at least not much of one.)
I'm not looking for a "middle ground", I'm looking for an alternative. Refusing to use Microsoft products is a good start.
But it will stop the ad ticker in Win10's start menu, which is what I was talking about specifically.
Until Microsoft issues an update that doesn't respect your choice.
In terms of ads, that means you've managed to avoid a couple small (and easy-to-disable) ads in Windows and a handful of less-easy-to-disable ads in Skype and a few other places.
Then don't use Microsoft. No Windows, no Skype, no Microsoft Store, no Microsoft Edge. Like I said, don't use Microsoft.
Now you just have television, newspapers, buses and much of the internet to avoid!
Well first, a fair amount of that can be got
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pay $20 for a movie and enjoy 15 minutes of ads for future movies, cars etc. Buy the dvd for $40 and get the same treatment.
You talking Australia or Canada dollars instead of US American? That seems like double the amount I pay in both cases.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
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You get what you pay for.
I believe the point of this story is that you don't.
Ads are not even the worst part. (Score:5, Insightful)
The worst part of Windows 10 is the telemetry stuff along with dial home crap.
I don't know if this is a region thing or because I extensively thrawled configuration options, but I don't have any ads whatsoever on my Windows 10.
But Microsoft needs to change direction on this urgently. Fire everyone involved with these hamfisted stupid decisions before they completely ruin the reputation of an OS that otherwise would be just fine.
Ridiculous unacceptable stuff like the completely unethical forced upgrade strategy, all this crap about not being able to fully opt out of telemetry and dial home stuff, and now the ads everywhere where it does not belong. Hell, not even Chromecast would put ads on places like file manager, task bar and notification area. No sane OS ever would. This is pop-up ads with malware infected Flash stuff level.
The worst part of it all is that aside from those, Windows 10 is actually a good OS. But whoever is dictating to shove so much unacceptable crap in it is risking not only to make this the worst most scummy OS in history, but also to completely ruin Windows and Microsoft's reputation. I know there are plenty of Microsoft and Windows haters here on slashdot, but whether you like it or not, plenty of people still use and like Windows. Now, stuff like BSoD, malware and virus can be acceptable to a point from a technical standpoint. Vista and Me had a whole lot of problems making them some of the most hated versions of the OS, but those problems are in a whole category apart from Windows 10 problems.
All of the major problems in Windows 10 are not only intentional, they serve no other purpose than profiting from users. They have no other practical purpose than making money out of the misery, irritation, poor perception and degradation of user experience. It's like Microsoft is purposedly putting a BSoD scheme on the OS to take money from users. It's unethical, unacceptable and indefensible. It's abuse of power and they know it.
A freaking scummy practice that I would've expected from some freemium mobile app coming from some unknown chinese developer willing to make a quick buck, not an OS used by a huge ammount of professionals in business settings. What value has the Windows name for Microsoft to risk making it look this bad just to profit some more from users? If things continue this way, I dunno why a huge number of users would risk going for a Windows 11 or so. It puts a whole host of things that Microsoft invested truckloads a money at risk. Should I even consider going for a Microsoft backed Augmented or Mixed reality device if it's expected from the company to shove intrusive ads and turn their hardware into spying devices? Should I buy a console system that will try to harvest all the money the company can from me? Should I buy into this Continuum concept of one device for everything if this device is expected to keep pestering me with ads and sending my data back for whatever purpose? F that shit.
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is that why they have QR codes on BSOD now? Take you right to a "pay $19.99 to fix your windows problems" page.. all make sense now. Glad i crippled the install im on. Broke a few things real quick after install.. Been using the same windows 10 os since the "free upgrade" even used paragon to get it across 4 different motherboards and 3 processors.. never have i seen a BSOD. So, Word to the wise. INSTALL WINDOWS 10. BREAK ANYTHING YOU WONT USE THROUGH A LINUX CLI. Continue to use windows without issues.
You don't say. (Score:2)
As much as I like Windows 10 from a technical standpoint I read that entire summary and all I could picture was the Nicholas Cage meme "you don't say!".
What Version of Win 10? (Score:2)
I've been using win 10 since release and never seen any adds on it, Maybe because I have the Pro version?
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Here's the cold hard truth. (Score:5, Insightful)
Dear 21st Century Society,
So, Windows 10 is nothing more than a "vehicle for ads", riddled with telemetry that spies on you? That's funny, I thought that was exactly what the fuck you turned the entire internet into.
You love your always-on listening devices in your home. You love your telemetry-riddled smart phones, smart cars, and IoT. You love your "free" products and services, and your addiction to social media narcissism. A EULA never stopped you from clicking "I Agree", and you don't care about your entire online identity being bought and sold.
You're proud to let the world know everything about you because you don't give a shit about security or privacy anymore. You haven't for years.
Anyone who assumes otherwise at this point is an idiot. I don't give a shit how many comments show up in some "revealing" article. Nothing will change. If Wikileaks and Edward Snowden couldn't change public perception, you can bet your ass Microsoft won't either.
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To be clear, people care about their privacy, but they are happy to sell it when deemed not important.
A government pinpointing and knowing details about a specific person is frowned upon even by a person with the most Things connected to the Internet.
A private organisation knowing some details about a random account number, that is anonymised in a database, sold in exchange for a discount on a product (e.g. Facebook), and used within a defined scope (anonymous targetted advertising) on the other hand is ver
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Corporate data hoarding and surveillance is kind of scary, but I often think people think of privacy as mattering less and less the further away from their personal spheres it goes. That some details on them may exist in some database far away doesn't matter, but if their co-workers knew they smoked pot and enjoyed anal sex they would be mortified.
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That some details on them may exist in some database far away doesn't matter, but if their co-workers knew they smoked pot and enjoyed anal sex they would be mortified.
They don't care about the former because they assume that everyone has all their personal data anyway, and because they can't see it affecting their lives. Too bad they don't feel the same way about the other stuff. Then we could have some progress. They're actually only worried about that stuff because they know how judgemental they are, not that most of them would admit it if you asked them. Inside, they know. And they fear.
Sadly, free information is the cure. If people had any idea what percentage of the
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To be clear, people care about their privacy, but they are happy to sell it when deemed not important.
To be clear, people are cheap as hell, and don't buy or sell anything anymore. They happily give it away for free in exchange for using a "free" product. And much like a drug dealer giving out free samples, product addiction plays a part too.
A government pinpointing and knowing details about a specific person is frowned upon even by a person with the most Things connected to the Internet.
Given what consumers happily give up, I'd love to see some proof of this. If they don't care about a capitalist corporation following their every click and move, I find it hard to believe they would care about their government doing the same.
A private organisation knowing some details about a random account number, that is anonymised in a database, sold in exchange for a discount on a product (e.g. Facebook), and used within a defined scope (anonymous targetted advertising) on the other hand is very different.
Ironically, targeted adve
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I have never seen these Windows 10 adverts (Score:3, Interesting)
A Certain Inevitability (Score:5, Interesting)
When Microsoft licensed copies of earlier editions of Windows to large PC manufacturers [the likes of Dell, HP, Acer, Asus, Lenovo, and so on] they would charge something in the region of $15 per copy of Windows. That amount covered the cost of generating holograms and tracking the number of licenses issues, as well as adding [given the volumes involved] quite a bit to Microsoft's bottom line. However, this was quickly offset the moment you moved away from these volume channels to smaller vendors, local "Mom+Pop" PC support shops - because even though this channels were charged an awful lot more per license, there was also much greater piracy involved.
With Windows 10, Microsoft are charging $1.49 per month, or $9.99 per year to disable advertising just in their free desktop applications [i.e. Solitaire]. However, that payment does not stop your copy of Windows 10 from slurping vast amounts of usage data from your PC and sending it to Microsoft. Obviously, they then use that data to build detailed profiles which they sell to advertisers. Expect much more of this to happen in the future. The remarkable thing is, estimates suggest that Microsoft could be earning as much as $15 per year per user from this "sale" of their user base to advertisers and other consumers of bulk data.
So if you were Microsoft, and faced with generating an average one-off fee of $15 per paid copy of your OS, or earning $15 a year from "giving it away", which would you choose?
Much as I hate to say it, I think this is with us for good now. And, bad as it is, this isn't my greatest fear. No, what is worse is that my favourite GNU/Linux distributions could take a look at the Microsoft model and think, "Hey, we could do that" - and before we know where we are, everything has gone the Canonical/Ubunut route and all our favourite FOSS platforms are also shipping with spyware by default... Let's hope that doesn't come to pass...
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Ugh, and the ZOMBIE "ad" apps (Score:5, Insightful)
I want Candy Crush gone from my Win10 box. I have no interest in it. Apparently all of my clients feel the same.
But
It JUST. WON'T. DIE!
Worse, folks don't seem to associate that if they right-click and Uninstall, that next 10 minutes of slow internet/computer is thanks to background file transfer/install of Windows putting the crapware back on. They do it over and overand over in defiant hope it will magically disappear, under the mistaken impression they've done something wrong. (Along with Paid Wi-Fi, Minecraft, Twitter, etc)
Whatever happened to the old skool idea that the USER controlled the computer? Where, oh, where is Tron when we need him most??
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Re:Ugh, and the ZOMBIE "ad" apps (Score:4, Insightful)
Industrial control systems typically run on Windows. WTF is gonna happen when they're running Windows 10 and the IT management people can't lock it down? Engineers and scientists use Windows.. and now they also get Candy Crush. Medical equipment and hospitals run on Windows.. and now Windows needs to update right now "FUCK YOU, I'M UPDATING."
Yes.. I can run linux.. or Mac.. But where Microsoft is currently sitting, I don't know how anyone can say they haven't crossed the red line on abusing their monopoly.
Bullshit (Score:2)
Duh, this is why I switched to Linux (Score:3)
I realized this even before windows 10 back around the Vista era. All those stand-alone software updaters were starting to get out of hand. The Java Updater, The Flash Updater, and the various other updaters. What's more, about the same time they started to become marketing apps.
Although you paid nothing for windows 10, and Linux, Windows 10 costs you:
1. Bandwidth for advertisements
2. Screen space for advertisements
3. Privacy
If you don't need Adobe, use Linux. If you need adobe, learn GIMP.
Re:The article suggests ads are part of the hidden (Score:5, Informative)
If you purchase home or Pro you get ads just the same. Only Enterprise, I believe, doesn't have them.
Also, if you like playing Solitaire games, brace for ads. Unless you pay a yearly subscription fee.
If you buy something, prepare for a deluge of offers and rewards in email.
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Also, if you like playing Solitaire games, brace for ads. Unless you pay a yearly subscription fee.
Or download and install one of the several hundred freely available alternatives that don't include annual fees or adverts.
Or better yet, skip solitaire and buy Hexcells.
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Any OS with Windows and Server in the name is just a band-aid for normal windows enviornment. If you really want stability like what a SERVER should have. Try Linux or BSD or hell even OSX. Windows is the WORST desktop OS, Always has been and Always will be until they replace the kernel with Linux or BSD kernel. If youre being forced to use windows as a server environment, you need to take a step back and evaluate your situation. Windows OS has NEVER been safe. Every hacking convention has 20-30 0-day windo
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None of your examples are walled gardens. Android is a garden, but it has no walls. EA, Activision, Valve... they don't even make gardens let alone a walls. iOS is an actual walled garden, but you didn't bother to name drop it.
Re:There is a solution (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not complaining. I switched from DOS/Windows to Linux in 1999. But in my experience, most people don't want to hear about alternatives. Sometimes when they see my X terminals they say I must be some kind of a hacker, so I guess the whole Linux thing is somehow intimidating. As if that's the only way to use Linux, but I guess people are used to one single OS looking exactly alike on different users' machines.
It's basically the same Stockholm syndrome you see in failed relationships. People fear stepping out of the familiar territory, even if it would be better for them in the long run. Complaining about Windows or your spouse to your friends or cow-orkers is a shared experience.
Re:There is a solution (Score:5, Informative)
No offense man, but there are actually applications that folks use that have no Linux variant or replacement that performs on equal footing with its Windows counterpart. Some of us actually require a bit more than a few Xterms and a compiler or two :D
I know everyone loves to say: " Switch to Linux " as the end all, be all answer to the problem but, for some of us, you simply can't. So we improvise.
Examples of some software I use that require Windows:
Zbrush
The entire Adobe CC Suite of products
Rhinocerous 3D and Brazil Renderer
KeyShot
Corel Painter
3DS Max
My DSLR Camera Control Software
The vast majority of Steams Libraries
My solution to Microsoft and their bullshit is rather simple: For the Windows 10 unit, I keep the workstation off the internet. When I have to reauthenticate with Adobe's servers, my ACL's allow connections ONLY to Adobe Servers. Nothing else.
I see no ads.
I see no updates.
All of my software works as expected all the time since the aforementioned updates aren't allowed
Microsoft sees no telemetry.
I still run Win 7 on a physically separate system for my Steam and VR stuff.
I run Mint in a VM when I want to roam the net.
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Yep, Spybot Anti-Beacon [safer-networking.org] to the rescue!
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What did you pay for Chrome?
How much did you pay for Google?
What was your financial outlay for Facebook?
Did you get Windows 10 for free?
Thus endeth the lesson on the difference between ad-supported software and software you pay real money for.
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