this post was submitted on 13 May 2024
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Ethically, if not legally, this is terrible, as are all other steps Microsoft has taken to force ads onto your computer.
Seriously, think about it. You own the hardware, right? And the OS is present to run the hardware, right? To do that, it needs to be able to perform various tasks without your specific approval, and that's fine, but using your bandwidth to download advertisements in the background, then using your computing cycles to force them in front of your eyes regardless of what you're using the computer for, is awfully questionable. I would go so far as to say it's a form of theft.
And no, ads on websites aren't comparable. You, the user, are actively opting to view a web page that carries ads. You are choosing to grant them access to your eyeballs and the resources used by your browser. But nobody is actively seeking to view ads through their operating systems, and they don't get anything in return (such as the content you went to that website for).
You want to advertise to me in the OS? Don't charge me $200 for the OS then!!
The funny thing is, there isn’t even really a free OS with ads. At least none that I know of. Linux is open source and thus usually non commercial. Worst case you get a "please donate" the first time you log in. macOS is technically free (although you kinda subsidize it through the hardware, I suppose) and it doesn’t have ads and even chrome OS is ad free afaik. It’s really only Windows and some Android flavours, usually those running on very cheap chinese devices. And Samsung of course.
Ubuntu has ads, or at least takes money to have shortcuts to Amazon and the like
Edit: I might be wrong here, please read the replies
To my knowledge, this hasn't been the case for nearly a decade, after the backlash they received specifically for it.
Thank you, I haven't used Ubuntu for nearly a decade 😅 I've updated my comment suggesting people look at the replies
In Past
Ah right. Count on canonical to make my point moot.
Historical truth not active truth.
IIRC macOS will sometimes beg you to subscribe for more iCloud disk space. Far better than Windows, but still an ad.
Yeah and Apple TV, Apple Music, and care plan advertising. It's not as in your face though.
It’s less begging than a "Your iCloud storage is full. Want some more?" which is fair in my books.
This is what finally got me to switch to Linux years ago. Back when Virtual machines were relatively new I was messing around with them and hated having to scrounge for windows licenses to use in the VM's. (Back then you had to enter the CD Key to begin installing the OS, they didn't have trial periods, or 'activate later' options) started using Linux in VM's to try it out, and boom 15 years later, I'm never going back.
What's interesting is that they haven't been enforcing antipiracy all that heavily.
Maybe they're making more money now from ads shown in pirated copies of Windows than they do from actually selling Windows.