Doesn't seem that big a deal, it's an upsell for Microsoft's own file synchronization services, not some third party ad. And you can easily disable it.
In both cases they seem almost insane how many people are up in arms about this. It's them pushing a service of theirs in their os.
Apple does it, Google does it, Ubuntu does it, everyone does it. And it's such a non issue. They are promoting a service that is very tied in to the OS that a lot of people want and don't know exist.
Maybe I'm the weird one, but it just seems like a hit piece when so many websites started reporting on this so hard and it's not even a big deal to me...
How are those being targetted?
Ads on sites and apps -- yeah okay. We got to pay the rent for the content we're viewing..
Ads baked into the OS, especially one you'be paid for, is disturbing.. For me anyway..
I've not used windows in a long time, but I'm kind of dissapointed in the way they've been going. They appeared to be going in a good direction with the new guy after balmer -- for a while I thought they'd buy github.. More OSS, some cool tech -- but they've been slowly getting into the data business and when that happens by degrees it's hard for people to be outraged enough to call them on it.
Don't stand for this shit. Even if we don't, though, it won't make much of a difference since we're the minority who can even understand what's happening...
Just like how Apple pushes their cloud storage, Google pushes drive, even Foss software pushes or bumps other complementary packages.
They are being "targeted" because you are already running the software, so if it's saving your shit to a paid account, just hide it, if it's not then show it. No tracking or nefarious stuff needed.
If they were really truly putting ads in explorer, I'd be right there with everyone shouting about how bad it is, but this isn't doing that, it's telling you they offer cloud storage.
It's a popup slinging integrated cloud storage? Mef. I'm with ya. Who cares.
They are all worded like MS is putting banner ads for "hot singles in your area" in your OS... And this story has been covered by every single major tech news site the same way... It's odd.
It's coming, eventually.
Yet.
Citation needed. If you're talking about Ubuntu, that does not represent all FOSS software just like Oracle does not represent all proprietary software; there's many other Linux distros out there, and there's lots of FOSS software which is not a distro. And if they're just notifying you about other FOSS software (with emphasis on the 'F'), that's rather different than a proprietary vendor which is trying to get you to spend your money on something else from them. Telling people about something they can go get for free is not the same as telling people about something they need to spend $$$$ to get.
MS's cloud storage (and Apple's too) is what's called an "upsell". It's one thing for a vendor to try it when you're already talking to a salesperson, like car dealerships do by trying to sell you overpriced accessories. It's quite another for a vendor to try it when you're using the product you've already purchased. If I were car-shopping and I looked at a car that openly advertised overpriced accessories to you while you were driving, that would be unacceptable, and I would not buy the car.
However, given how many people are perfectly OK with this kind of thing, and given how many cars have big-screen "infotainment" systems installed now, I'm actually surprised no car companies have tried forcing in-car advertising to make more money. Sure, they'd piss off some people, who would then buy other cars, but there's obviously plenty of consumers who will happily go along with this, especially if they're told (even if it's a lie) that this allows the carmaker to sell the car to them at a lower price. I could definitely see GM adopting this; their buyers are already perfectly happy to be tracked with OnStar.
Better get used to it; that's how people think these days. Just look at some of the other messages here that say "it's no big deal". Face it: people today are perfectly happy to be advertised to, even when they're paying money for it. And it's nothing new. Just look at cable TV: it was billed as being "commercial free" pay TV when it first came out, but it didn't take too long before they put the commercials back in. Did people abandon it? Nope. It's still highly profitable, and only recently having some problems with "cord cutters", which was caused not by the commercials alone, but rather by the availability of internet services and the general loss of interest in TV due to other interests (using the internet, video games, etc.). But for 30+ years, people have been perfectly happy to pay for cable TV and then watch the ads on it.
>Don't stand for this shit. Even if we don't, though, it won't make much of a difference since we're the minority who can even understand what's happening...
That's the problem. A few techies switching to Linux at home isn't going to make much difference. More importantly than anything, all the businesses are sticking with it, all the software ISVs are sticking with it, and most of the consumers are sticking with it.
They know how to boil us slow so that it doesn't seem terrible at first.