Windows Ad Edition Could Be Free
A free, ad-based version of Windows may already be in the making., if not completed.
Talk of a free edition of Microsoft's Windows OS isn't anything new: the idea has been around since 2005 at the very least. However, Stephen Chapman of MSFTKitchen seems the think the free edition is closer to reality than ever before, especially with businesses pushing to move software into the cloud. After a little digging, he discovered that an actual ad-based version of Windows has actually been created.
The latest finding stems around the LinkedIn profile of a senior program manager at Microsoft. In her "resume," she lists a prototype for advertising model in Windows called "Project Madision," and is supposedly not the same code name used for SQL 2010. ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley added her two cents to the speculation, pointing out that Madision (and yes it's misspelled, probably on purpose) may be derived from Madison Avenue in Manhattan: the name of this street is "synonymous with the American advertising industry," says Wikipedia.
If Microsoft is still pursuing the ad-based version, this could alleviate some of the problems with Windows-based piracy, or consumers intent on spreading their one license across multiple computers (via crack). But how would this work? How would Microsoft make revenue out of a free edition? "In theory, you could use a "Windows Ads Edition" or something where you’ve basically opted for ads to stream to you in exchange for your usage of Windows," Chapman surmised.
The idea isn't farfetched. Businesses would certainly scramble to get their ad on millions of Windows-based desktops, and Microsoft would simply float in a sea of money. Naturally, consumers who actually purchase a version of Windows wouldn't receive the ad-based input. Instead, it would be locked on to those individuals who can't afford-- or refuse-- to purchase a copy of Windows, but still want to use the OS in a legal, non-pirating sense.
Would you use a free, ad-based edition of Windows?
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I wonder how long it will take people to hack it and remove the ads.
^Isn't hacking the ad version pretty much the same as downloading illegally a non-ad version? Why go with the ads in the first place then?
When buying a manufactured PC your OS is already has a ton of advertising on it.
yes i would use it. Its free windows.
I wonder, if Steve Jobs going to sue MS!? If I remember correctly Apple got a patent on the AdWare-OS.
I would use it.. I just spent 300 bucks on my copy of Win7 Ultimate... and I have 5 other PC's in the house I want to upgrade. I'd take a free version any day!
MS can make a really basic windows OS for free. They can remove stuff such as themes and other apps. Maybe leave the most basic networking features.
They can limit the number of applications it can run at once to 5, if you enable adds, you can have more features, like Home Basic edition...
Who really looks at the ads anyway? I've never in my life bought anything from the ads on websites and........ Office 2007 Home and Student for $150 bucks!! I'm in!!
Possibly too little too late. For instance, Reactos is a open source Windows clone and ad free. www.reactos.org. Also, google has their own OS coming out and of course you have the many flavours of BSD/Linux. The big question is who would benifit from a ad version of windows?
AddBlock Plus is our savior
student pricing on pro = 40$
first time I've paid for windows since 95
I can see it working in the corporate world, and on some home PCs, but for the most part this will have zero impact on piracy rates. If people who already don't pay for Windows want to continue to get Windows for free I'm sure they're going to get it without ads.
I'd pay more just to get rid of the ads.
I wonder what would happen if you dont have internet on the PC, or if you set all their ad servers to localhost in the hosts file.. Can you really cripple windows anymore than adding ads to it?
This version could be very useful in public "hot spots" where licensing might be a problem. However, I'm not sure the average home user will like it's desktop looking like a hockey arena.
When I was younger (and broke), I'd consider this. However, the Ad version does not currently have a place for me. Though, my parent's machine seems to think they have an illegal copy (they do not), and the Ad version might be a solution to that.
If this becomes a reality, I'll welcome it with open arms, why? I'm in an I-cafe business...
The problem is that the OS gets pirated mostly in low income locations where it does not make much sense to advertise brand-name products. Why should advertisers pay for marketing coverage of people who can't afford to buy their products?
This might, however, be good for free internet kiosks to pay for connection and computers.
couldn't you theoretically block the ads with your hosts file? assuming they would be web based
I would use it as well, as long as an ad doesn't pop up every 5 minutes.
1.Who would want to advertise to people who cant afford an OS for their PC?
2.Who would run an add driven OS instead of a full featured Linux distro that's also free?
Strange
data costs increases
Finally.... hope it happens.
There's always spyware and such to hassle you anyway.
Hopefully it's full version and you get to play games and such.
Hope it's not a crappy limited software where you can't go on the net, install programs, games or others....
Depends on how frequent the Ad's are and when they pop up, and how many.
if say, the desktop wallpaper were just continuous ads, and nothing else got touched, i could live with that... i guess it really depends on how obtrusive the ads are, and their performance impact.
this could be worse than win7 for netbooks. i'm not interested.
Wow it's like having adware and spybots pre-installed wtg MS!
The internet cafés in the third world countries would be interested in the Free Windows Ad Edition. It will depend though on how the ads will be placed.