Wait... Are you telling me that we can now get wallpapers for your favorite game/band/etc OFFICIALLY??? =o

When I read the headline, I thought "Oh man, they better not..." but when I read that it was through optional themes, as in wallpapers and stuff, that is completely OK with me. I don't like the idea that it could possibly lead to mandatory ads, though.

well once everyone buys it and they rake in there profit maybe they will just give it free toeveryone and instead of having a uac it will be an add pop up yes or no choice... wtf

I'll never obtain a copy of Windows legally again if they put ads on my desktop without my consent, or if more apps have ads due to this than those that do not...

If I remember Apple got the patent for that! It will be interesting to watch the fight from the side line! LOL

You mean the couple hundred we pay for the OS isn't enough?!

Jeez, RTFA....this is about optional wallpapers and stuff for a product you like- for example, I LIKE my official, high-resolution Ferrari theme.

They can't do that! They would be sued by Apple because Apple patented putting ads in their OS remember???

It's already set in stone, it WILL be forced on you eventually... Linux FTW IMHO...

Is it ever enough?

Just MSs way of telling Apple what every 1st year patent lawyer knows: Apple's patent is (laughably) unenforceable.

A world without ADs.... I m a dreamer...

... it's time for adblock the windows7 edition...

Well, I use Ubuntu Linux on 2 out of 3 machines in my house. If this is really the direction that Windows is going, then it will be 3 out of 3 pretty quickly.

Why does everyone assume its going to become mandatory, they only made that statement at the end to get all the dumb asses panties in a bunch. If you don't want don't get it. Windows 7 will run fine with out it.

people get all up in arms so quickly it makes me laugh. If they did that I think they loose more customers and they know that. They don't need vista and more problems with customers. I think of it as, Call Of Duty T-shirts with Windows logo on them stuff like that. The more people see people using windows 7 the more they think it is ok or a good piece of software.

Well, if themes and wallpapers are concerned, it's OK by me - they are optional anyway. Should the ads become embedded in the OS, I will wait for the patch that will remove them all

There is no requirement to download and install any of that stuff. Everyone will be just fine without it.

Windows 7 Desktops Will Host 3rd-Party THEMES
The article title is BS. I know it may not be a stretch for some to think Microsoft would change this to ads but get real this is not even the content of the article. If a company wants to support its free themes with ads, that has little to do with Microsoft. There is a lot of ad supported stuff available now and that has nothing to do with the OS or even the platform for that matter. I am soon going to have to stop reading stuff from Kevin Parrish all together.

As I can understand the article MS will allow 3rd party themes and not ads popping up and changing in the background... but then again this is M$ so maybe next time you run a game you will see:

CRYSIS ----- BROUGHT TO YOU BY CARL Jr. ------ NOW WITH MORE FPS

First off, the title of this article is REALLY misleading. Judging from the comments, many of you just read the title and freaked out... What a great example of bad new communication practices and the effect it has on the general reader. /sigh MS isn't embedding ads in Windows (not at least according to any reliable source) and you don't have to download any sponsored themes either if you don't want to. Everyone just relax

This is definitely a step in the WRONG direction. I guess the question is how annoying will these adds be, and will the average point and click user realize what they're agreeing to when they install "that cool theme".
Seems like one more thing i'll have to get into the habbit of removing from people's computers when they complain that "it's to slow to do anything"...

"These are great examples of Microsoft innovation and technology coming together to enable top global brands to reach audiences in new and interesting ways."

Blaaa, haaaa, haaaa LOL. This is a trial, next step you MS users will have this shit forced onto your desktop if MS thinks they can get away with it.

Linux for me baby, adverts, we don't need no stinking adverts, Ubuntu, Debian, Mandriva, Suse are all good. I use Ubuntu right now.

I can see this, you can buy the cheap advert infested version cheap or pay through the nose for a advertisement free OS, Blaaa haaaa haaa LOL.

next big scandel will be subliminal messages in your desktop, CONSUME-SPEND MONEY-USE YOUR CREDT CARD

"The new Windows Theme Experience and Windows Personalization Gallery in Windows 7 allow consumers to customize their technology to reflect the things in life they are most passionate about."

This is a big long euphemism for "We've found another way to jam our product advertising down your throat, in addition to the myriad of other surfaces we've ruined".

Eff that shit man.

What is this world going to look like in another 10 or 20 years? I'm almost scared to imagine the corporate infiltration.

Banksy says it best:

"...They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you're not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are The Advertisers and they are laughing at you.

You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity.

Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It's yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.

You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don't owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don't even start asking for theirs."

I suppose I should mention that although my post was "Frothing at the mouth", I understand that these theme ideas are entirely voluntary.

It's just the idea of these titanic corporations handjobbing each other.

At some point in time, the inevitable will happen, and that inevitable is some company with a big enough bankroll to diarrhea their products into your face, from some new medium/surface which you did not choose.