Sometimes there is an ad that attracts my attention for all the right reasons: It’s relevant, interesting, humorous, potentially lucrative etc etc.

But there is one set of on-line adverts I find increasingly compelling and that’s those I come across by Microsoft. You know, when you are reading a piece about Linux or some Open Source news article, there are always Microsoft ads nearby that claim to show me how their stuff is better, faster, more secure or reliable.

Well, being an OSS advocate I find their claims quite hard to believe, so I ALWAYS click on them – just to make sure I am not missing out on something important. I haven’t found anything yet, but I guess if we all try we might find it

I wonder how much their click-through rates are?

“Video games are a huge market with a focused “captive” audience. Bringing advertising into the game experience in a natural way, in the background, with product placement, integrated with the characters, will greatly improve the experience.”

I’m really sorry Don, but how on earth is ANY advertising going to “greatly improve the experience”? Maybe in the USA you consider advertising as some sort of public service, but here in the Europe we have a different opinion of it. And improving the experience couldn’t be further from the truth…

As I have said before, if you really understand what they are about, please don’t buy any more Microsoft products, don’t even steal them (and think you are winning). Backup your data, wipe your hard disk of that infectious disease called Windows and just go and get an Open Source alternative – free from advertising, usage restrictions, litigation threats, upgrade fees, vendor lock-ins and eternal damnation (O.K. I made the last one up!)

I cleared my computer of the M$ infection only recently and have had an extremely pleasant experience ever since: No BSOD (Blue Screens Of Death), no strange days when my printer disappeared from the network, no warnings about viruses, threats, scams or malware which needed me to buy MORE software, no crashes, no downtime, no file corruption, no annoying pop-ups telling me I don’t know how to use my application properly or that my license will expire unless I do something; that usually involves money.

Anyone think of any more crap that comes with their stuff? I’m starting to forget now