10 ms·

Microsoft doesn't have eyeballs like Google and Facebook do. Even if they have the data, they aren't a central point of the internet (search) or the prevailing

Microsoft doesn't have eyeballs like Google and Facebook do. Even if they have the data, they aren't a central point of the internet (search) or the prevailing social network (Facebook). The monetization to serve ads isn't there.

bad_user 7y ago
Microsoft operates Bing and Bing Ads. Nowadays they are also serving ads in Windows 10 itself. Market share is irrelevant, the incentive is there.
- JamesBarney 7y ago
  I haven't seen any ads in Windows 10. Is that a special version?
  - als0 7y ago
    They exist in the free version of Windows 10 (without a serial key). They're embedded in all sorts of places, including Solitaire.
    - bad_user 7y ago
      Not only in the free version. I have a licensed Windows 10 at home installed from scratch, ISO downloaded from Microsoft. Before configuring it, yes, it had ads in it.
  - kemotep 7y ago
    You have never seen the messages on the lockscreen or the preinstalled windows store apps in the start menu?
    - dhimes 7y ago
      I've never seen ads on the lockscreen- and pre-installed crapware has been with us forever. I'm on home edition- it came with the laptop (toshiba satellite, for completeness)
      - kemotep 7y ago
        To be clear if your lockscreen is the changing pictures there are messages on those that are "ads" in the sense that they can take you to promoted sites. Same with the built in Windows search. If web search is not disabled anything not found on your computer launches a bing search which like google search as results as ads.
        JamesBarney 7y ago
        Oh the text that when I click it searches for something like "grand teton national park wyoming". I guess that's technically an ad, but my goodness it that the least intrusive ad I've ever seen. Wish all ads were like that.
        kemotep 7y ago
        It is nothing like the pop ups and pop unders of yore but still, you pay a license to use the operating system. There should be zero ads.
        dhimes 7y ago
        Agreed. I guess I just never clicked anything so didn't notice.
      - Dylan16807 7y ago
        The crapware installation was never built into the OS before. That makes a difference.
gherkinnn 7y ago
MS does run at the heart of most businesses though. No ads, but potential for other sources.
est31 7y ago
It's very likely that they sell that data to the US intelligence community. One good example is Skype which they bought two years after rumors surfaced [1] that the NSA offered billions for solutions that can wiretap Skype calls. After they've bought it, they removed end to end encryption as well as the peer to peer system, sending all content over Microsoft servers. It's a bit better if it's "only" shared with the US intelligence community instead of anyone who names a price for it, but obviously still not really good for privacy. [1]: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/12/nsa_offers_billions_for_skype_pwnage/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/12/nsa_offers_billions...
- tinus_hn 7y ago
  No major video conferencing setup has peer to peer video because that is an ‘innovation’ patented by VirnetX.
  - edoceo 7y ago
    What? So my self-hosted P2P WebRTC is in violation of a patent? And the companies I set these services up for too? Are all the others (zoom, go-to, uberconf, jitsi, etc) just not doing P2P?
    - paulryanrogers 7y ago
      IIRC P2P doesn't scale beyond a few participants because all the streams are going to all participants. Centralized can reduce bandwidth and number of data exchanges
      - Roboprog 7y ago
        Centralize on the peer who hosted/called the meeting?
        paulryanrogers 7y ago
        I think Skype P2P relied on super nodes which had the best bandwidth and processing
dilippkumar 7y ago
> Microsoft doesn't have eyeballs like Google and Facebook do [Citation needed]

bad_user 7y ago

Microsoft operates Bing and Bing Ads. Nowadays they are also serving ads in Windows 10 itself. Market share is irrelevant, the incentive is there.

JamesBarney 7y ago
I haven't seen any ads in Windows 10. Is that a special version?
- als0 7y ago
  They exist in the free version of Windows 10 (without a serial key). They're embedded in all sorts of places, including Solitaire.
  - bad_user 7y ago
    Not only in the free version. I have a licensed Windows 10 at home installed from scratch, ISO downloaded from Microsoft. Before configuring it, yes, it had ads in it.
- kemotep 7y ago
  You have never seen the messages on the lockscreen or the preinstalled windows store apps in the start menu?
  - dhimes 7y ago
    I've never seen ads on the lockscreen- and pre-installed crapware has been with us forever. I'm on home edition- it came with the laptop (toshiba satellite, for completeness)
    - kemotep 7y ago
      To be clear if your lockscreen is the changing pictures there are messages on those that are "ads" in the sense that they can take you to promoted sites. Same with the built in Windows search. If web search is not disabled anything not found on your computer launches a bing search which like google search as results as ads.
      - JamesBarney 7y ago
        Oh the text that when I click it searches for something like "grand teton national park wyoming". I guess that's technically an ad, but my goodness it that the least intrusive ad I've ever seen. Wish all ads were like that.
        kemotep 7y ago
        It is nothing like the pop ups and pop unders of yore but still, you pay a license to use the operating system. There should be zero ads.
        dhimes 7y ago
        Agreed. I guess I just never clicked anything so didn't notice.
    - Dylan16807 7y ago
      The crapware installation was never built into the OS before. That makes a difference.

gherkinnn 7y ago

MS does run at the heart of most businesses though. No ads, but potential for other sources.

est31 7y ago

It's very likely that they sell that data to the US intelligence community. One good example is Skype which they bought two years after rumors surfaced [1] that the NSA offered billions for solutions that can wiretap Skype calls. After they've bought it, they removed end to end encryption as well as the peer to peer system, sending all content over Microsoft servers. It's a bit better if it's "only" shared with the US intelligence community instead of anyone who names a price for it, but obviously still not really good for privacy. [1]: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/12/nsa_offers_billions_for_skype_pwnage/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/12/nsa_offers_billions...

tinus_hn 7y ago
No major video conferencing setup has peer to peer video because that is an ‘innovation’ patented by VirnetX.
- edoceo 7y ago
  What? So my self-hosted P2P WebRTC is in violation of a patent? And the companies I set these services up for too? Are all the others (zoom, go-to, uberconf, jitsi, etc) just not doing P2P?
  - paulryanrogers 7y ago
    IIRC P2P doesn't scale beyond a few participants because all the streams are going to all participants. Centralized can reduce bandwidth and number of data exchanges
    - Roboprog 7y ago
      Centralize on the peer who hosted/called the meeting?
      - paulryanrogers 7y ago
        I think Skype P2P relied on super nodes which had the best bandwidth and processing

dilippkumar 7y ago

> Microsoft doesn't have eyeballs like Google and Facebook do [Citation needed]