EFI Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Not exactly the latest news considering the patent was filed in late 2006, but neverthless the patent was only dug up recently by rumor sites. Who would have thought that Microsoft would be the one to patent this? Yes, it's true folks, the Redmond giant patents what will probably be considered as the largest adware system out there. Considering this will enter the home of any and everyone who will use the Windows operating system in the future...it's true impact potential is seriously mind boggling. It's such a tremendously bad idea that it's almost bound to succeed. Microsoft has filed another patent, this one for an "advertising framework" that uses "context data" from your hard drive to show you advertisements and "apportion and credit advertising revenue" to ad suppliers in real time. Yes, Redmond wants to own the patent on the mother of all adware. Yes, it gets scarier...read on: "Applications, tools, or utilities may use an application program interface to report context data tags such as key words or other information that may be used to target advertisements," says the filing. "The advertising framework may host several components for receiving and processing the context data, refining the data, requesting advertisements from an advertising supplier, for receiving and forwarding advertisements to a display client for presentation, and for providing data back to the advertising supplier." Scared yet? This should finish you off: "A word processor may display a banner ad along the top of a window, similar to a toolbar, while a graphical ad may be displayed in a frame associated with the application. A digital editor for photos or movies may support video-based advertisements," the patent application says. Full article Patent documentation page What will be the outcome of this proposal is yet to be found out, however, it has the potential to target users needs at a level far greater than just the traditional web ads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzuka Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Doesn't the US have some anti-adware law? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SurferSD Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 I've already seen this being used in the Microsoft version of the MSN Messenger as well as the "live.com" site (which now incorporates Hotmail if you are using the new beta interface...). Just one more reason I am purchasing my 2nd MacBook Pro this weekend... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bxsci(macuser) Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 mircosoft disgusts me in so many ways. this is their way of getting rid of hackers, knowing everything on their computers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erbic Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Oh, JOY. Real great... M$ wants to know more about us. Lousy f*ckers... This is why I only use Windows to play Halo. I can't wait to see what kind of adware will be in the new "Windows 7", and we won't be allowed to get rid of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cringemaster Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 This is why I'm so glad I dont really have a need for winblows. I just cant believe something like this is considered legal.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TvvqKMZ72bsklauw5 Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 That's another good reason why I switched from Windows to Mac. However, I doubt M$ will do something like this. Maybe, they might release an OS similar to Vista but free. This free one would have Ads. Also, M$ could just be getting ready to sue someone for using something similar to the patents. All-in-all, Mac OS X still makes me shed a tear of joy as it turns on. *sniff* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbz Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 Maybe, they might release an OS similar to Vista but free. This free one would have Ads. Lol even free and WITHOUT ads, I wouldn't use Vista!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve-o Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 Sounds similar to what gmail does, except it would be for your entire hard drive. The ads in gmail don't effect me at all, but sounds like Microsoft's plan would be a disaster to all windows users. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John the Geek Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 The thing is, they can't even begin to compare this with GMail or even Hotmail, because Web sites need banner ads to offset bandwidth and hosting costs. It's the nature of the web. A paid-for application - that already resides on your personal hard disk - should not ever be browsing my personal files, reporting to a mothership online, or displaying any form of revenue-generating advertising unless I consent and receive a cut of the profits. I can't believe they patented this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegodfaza Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 This is just like in some modern games. The splinter cell series is notorious for it. The game will connect to the mother server and download ads to your pc. Then the game puts the ads in the level your playing. Like on a computer screen or as a poster. Now as you write your MS Word document a pop up will come up with that annoying person screaming over your speakers that you have won a new iPhone. PS: Maybe, they might release an OS similar to Vista but free. This free one would have Ads. Before vista was released there were rumors of seven versions of vista. Home Basic Home Premium Business Enterprise Ultimate Another one which I forgot And a free one which would only allow 2 or 3 apps open at once. No Aero Glass and other restrictions. It's suppost to be a "test drive" edition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandmanfvrga Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 Good God! I can't believe this. I thought maybe, just MAYBE, some law would smack this down. *sigh* Oh well! Thank God I have a Mac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jglavin Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 If they implement this on a future windows release, it will be a matter of days before hacked ad-free install torrents start appearing. I think it would encourage more piracy than already exists, since the pirated copies would have such an obvious advantage of no ads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priority One Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 Whoa! If iTunes raised a scare with its Mini Store, this should create a war! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BreakTheChains Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 This is why I took Windows off of my computer. It's probably inevitable and will be on newer versions of Windows within the next few years. Good thing we use Macs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bxsci(macuser) Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 there was one a mac commercial depicting IBM as big brother in 1984.... perhaps they got the wrong company... Microsoft is the big brother Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LestatX Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 Let's just hope this doesn't prove to be a successful move... people, well most people don't care bout what happens on their pcs.. they just buy it and accept them as it comes. If microsoft are succesful with it, other companies would want to be in the money train as they call it... i wouldn't want to see mac os x ever having that kind of {censored} on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fridgerator Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 So glad i recently went mac, I really couldnt be happier with it. I still dont understand why people complain about windows, but wont switch over to mac. its kinda weird... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFI Posted July 28, 2007 Author Share Posted July 28, 2007 I still dont understand why people complain about windows, but wont switch over to mac. its kinda weird... Stalkholm Syndrome my friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apowerr Posted July 28, 2007 Share Posted July 28, 2007 I've already seen this being used in the Microsoft version of the MSN Messenger as well as the "live.com" site (which now incorporates Hotmail if you are using the new beta interface...). Just one more reason I am purchasing my 2nd MacBook Pro this weekend... Oh yeah. Since no other free software and services have ads. On the subject of the patent, I really don't think MS would do this. If my legit, paid-for Windows and Office had ads, I would permanently switch over to Linux (maybe OS X). Maybe this is for free, online-based software. Like "Word Online" or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antst Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 A paid-for application - that already resides on your personal hard disk - should not ever be browsing my personal files, reporting to a mothership online, or displaying any form of revenue-generating advertising unless I consent and receive a cut of the profits. It is very diffcult to estimate price of Software and prove that pricee is unfair :)What if they will set price for next Office equal to current and claim that it costs much more and if you want to have "unlocked version" you have to pay extra $600? Can you blame them? Noway :)But, generally, there is nothing wrong with that. Once Apple (or any other company) will became nearly-monopoly on the market, they will do the same. "Sorry, it's nothing personal, it's just business" :)Monopoly always use monopoly to gain more monopoly and more money :)You will not be able to refuse it, because MS Word is standard de-facto in this world. Even if you don't use Word(like me. Not sure that I even used it once to write something), you have to keep copy of Word in case someone send you files which can't be rendered normally by OO/Pages/AbiWord/WhatEverElse. Kind of the same with Powerpoint and Excell. I still dont understand why people complain about windows, but wont switch over to mac. its kinda weird... Because they got used to that. And they don't want to spend time for learning new OS, looking for/learning new programs and so on. It isn't so simple and fast for everyone. Also, there is a lot of things which are specific for MS products and are standards de-facto. And, lets be honest, not all software available for Macs.And, at the end, you know that your old shoes are crappy, but sometimes they much more comfortable than new ones I have one pair of shoes which is 4+ years old. I have few pairs of nicer and newer and more expencive shoes, But I still like that old ones more. My primary desktop OS was linux for many years. I can't say that it is the best desktop OS. It has a lot of weak points. But I KNEW this points and knew how to handle them. I didn't want to sudy new bugs And nobody wnat to study new bugs Every OS has strong and weak points. They just different for different OSes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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