Meanwhile essentially every version of macOS is free (gotta go back a few years to find retail upgrade copies, which are still far less expensive than Windows and never contain advertisements)
Oh no! Wait, why is this somehow a concern? You buy a Mac and get an OS with years worth of free updates to that OS and additional years of security updates to the OS. Where's the problem?
Similar with free beer. You need to do _something_ to get the free beer. It will probably cost less than the airline ticket, but it will still cost.
I think this is an advertisement, but it’s for a service people might actually want, that doesn’t necessarily cost money, and only asks for money when needed for functionality. It’s also a first-party ad.
copium
I don't think that's what makes Apple's in-OS ads acceptable. Whether somebody "actually wants" iCould or whatever, is dependent on that person. What makes Apple's in-OS ads acceptable are that they are for Apple services that are totally in-context to where you are in the OS: an "ad" for iCloud appears in the Settings dialog hierarchy where iCloud settings would normally be. Also, they are really subtle and hard to notice, tastefully integrated with the OS/color scheme.
Unlike Microsoft's ham-fisted ads that are in your face, thrown into the Start menu without any context, for services that have nothing to do with what you're doing, and design-wise garish and tacky: I'm in the middle of launching a text editor, and Microsoft shouts "BUY CANDY CRUSH LOLOLOLOL" with a blinding ad.
Big difference.
Okay. But can they be permanently disabled?
Windows' OneDrive ads can be disabled, FWIW. There's a switch for almost everything in Windows (which doesn't excuse the shitty defaults, but still).
If that was true I could download a macOS version to run in my VM. Rather macOS is unavailable, the only way to get a valid license is to buy a machine running MacOS. Which isn't that different from buying a Windows PC.
The only reason no money changes hands from OEM to Apple is that Apple makes both the OS and the hardware, and they don't have a reason to pay money to themselves.
Windows upgrades used to be a big thing, but have been effectively free for the last 8 years.
Which a) you probably don't need and b) actually has better options to get rid of ads etc.
The retail price here for Windows 10/11 Home is around $110.
Mac OS X Tiger for example was also around $129 (but yes, this was a long time ago). Then ago, you obviously already pay premium for the Apple hardware. And maybe also sign up for their services.
Despite what many will say, it's completely legal, EU highest court ruled that companies can't forbid the transfer/re-sale of legitimately owned software licenses.
Really? I’ve seen OEM Windows licenses for about €15 on a German website (IIRC the practice of selling them was specifically declared legal in Germany), but Office went for €50 there.
All the legitimate ones guarantee that the license will work and they will replace it for free if you have any problems with it.
There are big online computer shops which also resell licenses. They have names, addresses, thousands of customers. If you have a problem with a second-hand license bought there you can make a consumer complaint to the authorities.