Usually, when I start writing something to show on these pages, I generally have a conclusion in mind. That’s the way you’re supposed to keep yourself from becoming an unreadable, rambly mess. But I couldn’t on this one, I honestly can’t quite fathom what Microsoft wants for the future of Windows.
It all started earlier this week when Microsoft MVP Florian Beaubois got an ad…on windows explorer. Needless to say, I met that particular report with a mix of disbelief and utter disgust. Ads on the explorer were the purview of particularly depraved spyware, the kind where your mother downloads it because she wants to save money on the phone by trying to order that exercise machine off of the internet.
Presented with this and the prospect of getting called twice a week every time they see a new and interesting ad (or suddenly having to help them deal with the enormous monthly payment to Satya), computer savvy sons may actually be inclined to relent and spend the week it would take for them to introduce their parents to Mac or, if they enjoy solving some problems, making a flavor of Linux that looks close enough to Windows for them to be comfortable with.
“Well,” I said to myself in this argument, “It’s okay if Microsoft decides to completely dump on normal users. Since Windows as SaaS didn’t work, they are probably pivoting to being business first.” It was annoying how sound that horrendous logic seemed. Fortunately, I had a counter to that. Windows 11 Pro will soon demand a Microsoft account to set up future versions of windows. Which will be fine, if a lot more annoying for the people managing a business already fully immersed in the Microsoft hegemony, but quite annoying for everyone else. Crucially, people who already have an account and use some of their SAAS products also get ads, such as the first reply to the tweet that spurred this article.
“Aha, gaming and server space. Who needs windows?” Well, Microsoft is not just going to deliberately sabotage windows just because they want to be a gaming conglomerate and bring Azure to the ends of the earth.
And after trying to lock into what exactly is spurring their new moves, the only reasonable conclusion that I could think of is that Microsoft hasn’t actually had a change of strategy at all, all they are just following their existing direction stupidly.
There’s nothing wrong with monetizing your product if you so desire. However, people can take umbrage on how you monetize it. I was perfectly fine with Microsoft putting nice random images on my lock screen until the day they decided to also dump an ad or two in there. I was going to keep using edge for anything that I don’t want to open on Firefox until Microsoft decided that it wasn’t actually done asking me to be my browser of choice and making it a pain in the neck to remove it as default. And that’s where they are right now, pestering you and whomever looks at a screen in windows about this great opportunity that you can invest in, just give them a little more money.
What are you going to do, go somewhere else?
