New
#1
Thanks for the info
Think I will put up with the ads
SourceMicrosoft is once again bundling Solitaire with Windows, but if you want an ad-free experience then that's going to cost you.
The app in question is the Microsoft Solitaire app, and as first reported by PC World, the app prompts users to "upgrade" to the premium version for $1.49 a month (or $9.99 a year) to remove the ads and get some "coins" and "power boosts."
A similar system existed in Windows 8/8.1, but the game wasn't bundled with the operating system and was a separate download.
With Windows 10 being offered to so many people as a freebie, it's natural that Microsoft will want to explore other revenue streams. Ads, and paying for their removal, is an obvious revenue stream, but from what I can tell this ad-ladened bundle will also ship with OEM and paid-for copies of Windows 10. So not only do you get to experience the joy of paying for the operating system, you also get the adware version of Solitaire.
The other advantage for Microsoft is that the more people it can get signed up to the app store with a payment method, the more likely they are to spend.
You wanted Windows as a service. Well now you are going to either put up with adverts or cough up $$$$. Won't be long before we get a METRO AD BLOCKER Program.
Not just $1.49 -- it's that much every single month.
To me, that's just garbage. Somehow, Microsoft managed to include Solitaire with previous versions of Windows, free of any annoying ads or any other "cloud connections."
In my opinion, anything included with the system -- Weather, Solitaire, News, Sports, etc. -- should not have ads or anything of the like.
Brave new world out there now. The old ways of making money, ads in newspapers, catalogs mailed to you, magazines subscriptions, all are changing. Don't expect the first free OS from MS not to come with a large number of changes.
What happened to Microsoft supposedly having a stance against ads? I understand ads in the web, but please not in my apps.
I wish they would go the route of basic free apps, and offer an upgrade users can purchase to gain access to their more feature rich versions.(like they are doing with the new office apps).
I am in the minority on this issue but if I install apps on my phone and see ads they get removed asap.(The app has to be amazing to stay) It's not like there are no alternatives to solitaire, or other apps Microsoft might want to add ads to.
I don't get ads in any of the stock google apps on my android phone(obviously except YouTube and Google Chrome) and Google is the king of ad revenue.
I was under the impression free windows 10 was a move to get people interested in their phone business, services like Cortana, and to move as many people to the current generation of their Os as possible, not to inundate us with ads. Ok so a couple of apps with ads doesn't equate to us being flooded with ads, but it could be the start of a very good Gordon Kelly fear mongering article.
I will still upgrade to windows 10, but I hope this isn't the start of a trend where a few years from now ads in desktop apps are considered normal and acceptable.
It's only $10 a year c'mon guys. The ads are not a biggie either. I don't understand we got a $150 OS for free but complaining about $10