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Comment by j_baker | Hacker News Reader

I'm calling FUD. The service the article is talking about is Windows Ads in Apps: http://advertising.microsoft.com/ads-in-apps

It certainly is a way for Microsoft to make more advertising revenue in the same way that iAds does the same for Apple, AdMob does for Android, and AdSense does for Google Search. The only novel thing I see here is that the ads are for desktop apps.

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No, this isn't talking about a service. It's talking about apps that come with the system, that can't be removed, that have advertising in them.

None of the apps that come with iOS use iAds. Same with Android.

Which Windows 8 built-in apps have ads?

News, weather, sports, and stocks are the ones I've noticed.

They do come with the system, but you can uninstall them.

> It's talking about apps that come with the system, that can't be removed

They can be removed and it's up to the OEM whether they come with the system. I don't recall if a clean install gives you the option to opt out of these apps or not, though.

I uninstalled a bunch of them when I did a fresh install of Windows 8, so you can uninstall them from a clean install.

For sure you can uninstall them if you choose. I meant that I don't recall if you can opt out of them entirely during a clean install, as in they never get installed at all. A "no apps" Windows install.

You'll probably be downvoted for that comment. I reached the same conclusion, but for whatever reason, this will be different for X reason. Something along the lines of "but we don't pay for iOS". Which is a great argument if you don't care about user experience. It's shameful all around, really.

Actually as an app developer I see this as a huge monetization opportunity to me. With a huge installed base of Windows, if I get my app running on some those with the ads powering my app? It's a mouth watering proposition.

Here is the x reason, in case you're in curious:

Name the Apple-developed app, bundled with iOS or Mac OS X that also uses iAds.

Exactly.

Indeed. I don't like desktop apps containing ads, but this is exactly what was predicted to happen with the shift to Metro. Metro, just like iOS and Android, needed a universal way to have ads in apps. This means that Metro apps running on the desktop can contain adds.

It's the existing mobile sphere coming together with the desktop world, and is just a side effect of the introduction of Metro.

I am getting tired of the extremely slanted coverage of Windows 8 on HN. The stories about them selling four million upgrades in 4 days[1] or the web traffic from Windows 8 machines surpassing all of Android in 10 days in the so called post-PC world [2] don't make it to the front page(and will get flagged if they do), but such manufactured outrage or the doom and gloom about how it will fail has no such problem.

Wake me up when they actually use users' personal data like Ubuntu is doing or if the ads are part of the OS like in Explorer, not the silly News app.

[1] http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3576512/windows-8-upgrade...

[2] http://www.techspot.com/news/50745-statcounter-data-says-win...

> use users' personal data like Ubuntu is doing

Please don't spread lies.

Your local file search keywords are not your personal data?

Oh look, it's recoiledsnake and cooldeal...

I don't mean to be rude, but you all show up in any thread related to Microsoft defending anything and everything they do. It gets old, and while I can understand it seems HN is against MSFT, there is no conspiracy.

My current industry is obsessed with .Net, I use a dumb phone still, and I don't have any horse in the race specifically, but I truly feel these discussions get turned into gadget blog-like flamewars by the likes of you.

I simply don't understand why 'you' seem to care about this topic so much. Personally, I'm contemplating my first 'smartphone' and I would like to understand the trade-offs( it looks like custom Android ROM at the moment), but reading obviously biased comments from either side just makes me sad.

Edit: I don't think any of these $100B industries needs help defending themselves, and if anyone discussing the topic is compensated for their contribution it would be nice to have some disclosure.

Interesting that no one ever calls out the Apple shareholders and Google employees who might be having a part in flagging down stories critical of Google or Apple, Paul Thurrott's http://winsupersite.com is autokilled on HN due to excessive flagging for the crime of being a Microsoft watcher sie, but heaven forbid a couple of commenters don't hate MS and you feel the need to call them paid shills and blame the flamewars on them?! Lets drive out the last few posters who don't conform to the groupthink.

How about addressing whether local file search keywords are users' personal info or not instead of pulling an ad hominem?

You're the one who took a condesending tone, and gives the impression that you don't even want to hear both sides of the story....

You're the only person on this whole page who looks like they're trying to start a flamewar. recoiledsnake and cooldeal are just presenting an unpopular perspective, which is always welcome. I for one dont understand all the microsoft hate here either. Its like everyone still harbors resentment for microsoft from the late 90's, and wont even give them a chance anymore.

I love the open source movement as much as the next guy, but Microsoft is still relevant and good, despite everyones affection for Apple and Google here.

Who cares? Their points are valid. HN does seem, at times, ridiculously anti-Microsoft and Windows 8. As an informed user of Apple, Google (well, HTC) and Microsoft products I find myself disagreeing with the prevailing attitude much of the time, and I'm pleased to see a few people that don't immediately fall into the groupthink black hole.

Even if they are corporate shills, which I doubt, they'd probably be no more biased than many others on the site already.

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