Microsoft Cheapens Windows 8 with Ads

I certainly agree that I would prefer not to have to look at ads. However, I don't know where people got this idea that you're only allowed one source of revenue (i.e., "only free products should be ad-subsidized"). People pay for magazines, which are full of ads. People pay for cable TV, which is loaded with ads. People buy Kindles, many of which are ad-subsidized.

You know it will be easy for Microsoft to resolve this problem. They'll just remove the offending apps from the base install.

Just like the next guy I don't like ads, I pay for Hotmail Plus and will purchase any app I use daily if it is ad free.

However, I also do understand that the apps and the core OS are two very separate pieces and as such are treated that way. Yes, I agree if MS puts ads into the basic OS they better give it away for free; however, I do not see that happening.

Now, for Xbox Live I agree the amount of ads are a little much but again do we really understand the cost of running that service and if not ad subsidized what would we actually have to pay for it? I understand it's a profitable division today but it wasn't for many years.

Now, as others have mentioned as long as the ads are unobtrusive and placed that way within the app I have no problem. Would I prefer there were no ads, of course.

Also, I look at the Bing app as an extension to their Bing service which is ad based. Granted much less than the ad king, Google.

Now, Paul I ask you this. When is your free Metro app for winsupersite.com coming out that is ad free?

And for the sake of humanity, get ride of that damn HUGE pop-up ad when you first come onto you site.

Other than that, great site and enjoy your podcasts you participate in and yes, I listen and look at the ads. ;-)

Paul, an interesting thing about ads. I was taking a consultation from Microsoft regarding a Windows Store App we're making. When I brought up the idea of ads in the app, the Microsoft evangelist said not to do ads at all in the app. He actually convinced me not to use ads. He said they've been rethinking the whole ads concept. He went on to tell me stories about how some of the top apps in the iPad/iPhone world get a whopping $10 per month of ad revenue. So he told me not to annoy my customers by having ads and do other things to monetize the app.

So, Microsoft may be changing their ad model in the future, based on the direction they gave me. Have you heard anything about this change in thought?

The question are these. Are the Bing app and Weather app "apps" or are they part of the OS? Should Apps in the Windows Store be able to have advertising? Should MS have to play by different rules than ISVs with respect to apps in the Store? Does it matter that these "apps" are preinstalled? Can they be blocked, opted-out of, or is there a premium version of the OS available sans ads?

There's a slippery slope here, but there's also a lot of nuance.

I paid $129 to upgrade from Vista to Win 7, only $40 to upgrade to Win 8. There may come a point when the ads feel like a bad deal, but right not I'm not too ****ed about it.

I agree, I think any app that Microsoft supplies for free, and is pre-installed should be ad free along with core OS stuff going forward. Or at least they should maybe put a mechanism in for a person to deactivate ads on a "Genuine" copy of Windows. Free third party apps and non-preinstalled free apps from Microsoft, I think that ads would be okay.

I agree 100% there should be no ads in Windows 8. This brings back a horrible memory of an eMachine that is preloaded with advertisements. Ads will be in certain places and have their place in certain places, and an OS is absolutely NOT one of them. To see these in all SKUs of Windows 8 really turned me off of the OS. I do not want Microsoft selling space on my desktop to advertisers.

To the ones that argue that its only in the free apps - the ones that come with Windows IMO are totally off limits. If I don't want to install apps from the Microsoft Store, that should keep me clear of them. I don't want to start having to clean up a fresh OS after an install like I have to remove bloatware from retail PCs.

I noticed this when Windows 8 RTM was released (at the time it was a static placeholder ad) but since them it has really made me thing of Windows 8 in a negative way.

The ads are in the web apps on the modern ui. The ads support the content served by the app since you are more or less viewing an web page.

So, the fact is, the ads show up on things like a news app and a weather app. Almost all sources of news are subsidized with ad revenue. Your site is directly comparable in that regard. You provide (what I am discovering is very good) news and you have ads.

If the control panel had ads, I would have applauded your article, but in this case, it is news. If they provided us with no news or weather app would that have been better? If I was a competitor, I would say yes, because the apps they provide are extremely usable (as is the USA Today app), but should they provide an ad-free news, weather, sports, and financial stream of data for free? They do, but at the cost of a few ads. Do you hate hulu plus because they include ads in the paid content? If we paid 2 or 3 times the cost per month, they might cut out ads. Honestly, I have clicked on a few of the ads and so far they are pretty awesome looking ads, all in a very solid windows 8 ui set up. So for as unobtrusive ad set up as they are, it is an acceptable tradeoff for a free stream of information.

I think it might have been nice to ask us in the installation if we wanted ad-driven content...but that would be my minor nitpick.

I will bring up another issue. Usability. Windows 8 is already confusing enough. It's live tiles and web-like interface quickly blur the line between what is and isn't part of the operating system.

It is extremely easy to confuse people about what is and isn't part of the application, especially when ads are placed in tiles and mixed in with an application or even your personal information.

For example, the music app already blurs the line between what you own, are renting, and what is in the store. Put an ad in a tile mixed in with your songs and you could easily swindle users into a) clicking on it, b) thinking it is part of the application, and c) giving you money thinking it is part of the application or necessary for their own music store.

Imagine if the windows desktop allowed ads to be put into 'files' in Explorer or Media Player listed songs that you didn't own and when you clicked on them asked for money? How about if icons appeared on your desktop for ads?

I'm just imagining dealing with an 8 year-old or a 70 year-old using this? Or an IT department having to manually go through pre-installed apps to see if it has advertising and then removing it and/or blocking the ad sites.

Yet another reason to stick with OSX. I recently had a chance to use a family member's new PC with Windows 8. Too busy and confusing for my taste. Difficult to set up and use exclusively in MS classic mode, but I was able to complete that task for the owner. Many people do not care for social networking, and "close integration" of that nonsense with their "computing experience". I would suggest MS lose the confusing Metro interface, which is useless without a touchscreen, and make Windows operate faster, more reliably, and less prone to malware. Just my 2 kronor. I will not pay for nor use software which displays ads.