Is Microsoft Office Adware?

An anonymous reader writes "Office may fall under Microsoft's own definition of adware. It links to third-party commercial add-ons, includes up-selling promos, requires cookies for certain functions, and collects technical information. While this is like a normal day on the web, should the commercial office suite be held to a different standard and possibly be considered adware? The article also notes that clicking advertising links in Office will bring up Internet Explorer, regardless of whether or not it is the default browser. We discussed Microsoft's decision to turn Works into adware a few months ago.

No but this post is

SMOKE MARLBORO!!!

OOo

I think I've realized something about Microsoft: They really want us to NOT want to use Microsoft products. I finally get it -- It's not sufficient for them to own the market; in order to feel fully dominant, they must own it against our will. It's as though they think that if we wanted to use their products because they were good for us and worked in our best interest, it would not be true show of their power, for we'd be rational in wanting such products. Only if they can force their software down our throats whether we want it or not, do they have full assurance that their power is real.

Re: What MS wants to own

I finally get it -- It's not sufficient for them to own the market; in order to feel fully dominant, they must own it against our will.

They want ~your will~ itself. Microsoft wants to own the user. Every time the user starts a Redmond application, the application is Microsoft territory just like an embassy.

And you had better have a passport, because on entrance you and your computer become subjects of El Presidente Señor Lanzero de Sillónes Ballmero.

Re: What MS wants to own

Almost everything Microsoft does makes a whole lot of more sense if you look at it from the standpoint that they hate their customers, but still want their money. I have never worked with products that exude more of a sense of contempt than those from Microsoft, and Vista is possibly the best example.

Re: What MS wants to own

they hate their customers

they hate their licensees

There, fixed it for ya. The term "customer" leaves me with the impression that you've actually bought something and you can do want you want with it. I don't think this is how M$ sees it. Bill lets you use his s/w for a while if you behave and follow the rules.

Re:OOo

well, the problem is about how you define who MS's client base is... it certainly is not the consumers who end up buying their machines - those are just annoyances that they must deal with. Their clientbase is system builders and more recently content developers. They will cater to those making the content that moves the boxes. They are essentially no different than ASUS or any other component provider (except for their monopoly and willingness to abuse it). These companies do things according to what there clients (the computer builders) want so long as it fits there goals. The fact that these eventually move on is not there problems. if people want MS to lose there monopoly, pressure needs to be put on companies like Dell and HP to push pressure upstream for better hardware support in alternative operating systems. Right now, the lockin ability that MS provides these people is important (i.e. Dell software that ships with there systems isn't so portable thanks to measures taken by MS). This is also why they can push adware on one hand while simultaneously sell software that takes other peoples adware off your system.

Re:OOo

A classic example of this was when IE used to redo the favourites in the 'Media' bookmark and add in those entries for companies who paid an advertising fee. Very annoying, I remember rather than continually having to delete those entries I did not want, I created a Multimedia heading and simply deleted the Media heading at every new upgrade, well, at least up until replacement with firefox.

Then their were the wizards to facilitate your Internet connection that would only work with ISP who had paid an advertising fee to M$.

So really it is nothing new, same old M$ just screwing over the customer at every opportunity ;).

Don't think so

I got a free copy of Office 2007 Pro from the "Power Together" Vista + Office giveaway. Haven't noticed any ads anywhere, it sure doesn't meet my definition of ad ware.

Re:Don't think so

Try typing a math equation with Equation Editor (which in itself is a decently capable equation editor, if not a bit unwieldy). As soon as you close your equation, it will pop up an advertisement for MathWorks or some other bullshit "upgraded" equation editor. Seriously MS, if I thought a feature was lacking I'd seek 3rd-party plugins myself, you don't need to pimp this to me.

Re:Don't think so

OK, I just tried it. I didn't get an ad or a suggestion that I try some other product. I was using Office 2007 Pro Plus and inserted the equation in Word. Maybe I have to have the "internet services" turned on? I'm sure you've seen it - I am not contradicting you there - I just am not seeing it on my copy and I would actually LIKE to see it as I am in desktop design (3rd level design with a small amount of support) and anything my customers may see, I would like to know about first. Any idea how to reproduce this?

Re:Don't think so

I totally agree. Been running Office 2007 for a year and a half - I was a beta tester, like thousands of others. I was one of the first to install it after it came out, because I needed to evaluate it. We are now preparing to role it out to our users. I do not use Excel myself, but have heard some rave reviews from co-workers who like some of the new features. I use Outlook 2007, Word 2007 and Powerpoint 2007 quite often (Word and Outlook on a daily basis). NEVER had an issue. Even in Powerpoint, when I turn on the option to pull clipart off of Microsoft's website, never had a problem. Insert a video file into a Powerpoint presentation? No problem. Convert a bulleted list into Smart Art? No problem. Insert tables and formulas into Word? Setup Rss Feeds in Outlook? Etc, Etc, etc. I consider myself a Power User of Word, Outlook and Powerpoint, and have NEVER had an issue with Office 2003, 2004 for the mac, 2007, or 2008 doing anything that you mentioned. I would suggest running Spybot or AdAware and stop blaming MS for your bad surfing habits and inability to remove spyware and adware on your own system.

Of *course* not!

Is Microsoft Office Adware?

Of course not - If so, Windows Defender would block it. Which it doesn't. So no problem, right?

Sounds OK to me

This is the low-end PC market. Knocking $40 off the manufacturer's build costs is probably major for them in this market. I know, Open Office, etc, but Works 7 (the last one I've seen) is actually pretty decent for what most people use, and the naive user who's buying these PCs just knows "Microsoft" for "Officey" stuff.

I would have been glad to get a free shrink wrap Works a few years ago. My mom was sending me documents in Works Word Processor format and I had to go buy Works to read them. Trust me, teaching "Save As . . . scroll down to Word... " wasn't practical with her at the time. It was a lot less painful to just go buy Works.

Finally, I hate to tell you, but the Works 7 Word Processor isn't actually that bad. It looks exactly like Word did a few years ago, and has all the features most people use.

Re:Sounds OK to me

It looks exactly like Word did a few years ago, and has all the features most people use.

Yes, and there are a lot of people that wish Word still looked like it did a few years ago.

Windows?

Wouldn't Windows fall under adware? Looking at the checklist it seems like they all apply... Especially Vista.

On a side note, when I click on an email address in my Windows Mail, it opens Office Outlook. No, it is not set as my default mailer :(

I read it as...

I read it as "Badware". My ad.

I guess we need to consider...

...Leopard to be adware as well. My copy came with links to iDisk/.mac and trial versions of iWorks with a few files that default to opening in Pages to get you hooked. While I can get rid of iWeb and iWorks, I cannot get rid of the iDisk link in the connect to menu item. Now that I think of it, iTunes is part of this whole adware strategy as well. Then there's Quicktime. Don't have the Pro version? Apple is going to tell you what you're missing in the menus by ghosting list items and putting a "Pro" tag next to everything. Personally I find this far more deplorable then a few links in what amounts to nothing more than an interactive/context sensitive help "palette". While many rabid anti-MS geeks on Slashdot might not find these links very helpful, some typical office workers will (and I'm sure Microsoft has the user studies to back this position up, unlike the typical Slashbot that has only anecdotal evidence they like to compare to actual data).

Re:I guess we need to consider...

So any software which contains links to its creator's webpage (or its own, if one has been created) is adware?

You're right: based on the summary and Microsoft's description Leopard and office would fall under the category, but then again, so would nearly every piece of software I use to some degree. Who voted for this article to be featured, anyway? Just another excuse for pointless debate...

Give me a break.

An OpenOffice advocacy site talking shit about Microsoft Office? Didn't see that one coming. But I guess Slashdot just has to get their Two Minutes Hate from somewhere...

Of course if this were a Microsoft Office advocacy site talking shit about OpenOffice we would have the FUD-Nazis screaming at the top of their lungs.

But honestly, I can't make myself care about the hypocrisy anymore; I am tired and bored of it even more than I am tired and bored of the whole Roger Clemens thing.

Back on-topic for a second, "adware" is not really a useful term as it encompasses a number of different things, some of which are not malicious and others which are. As long as Microsoft discloses what the software is doing then there really isn't any malicious intent.

trolls gone wild

this is possibly the most incendiary, blatant attempt at microsoft-bashing that ive seen on slashdot. i mean... come on...

It's been a trend for years. Worse then even MS..

..is Intuit. Each year if you upgrade your Quickbooks, Intuit spends more effect and intrusiveness trying to up sell you on features and services related to their software. It has become so infuriating that I refuse to upgrade until I have no choice at all, in hopes someone will come up with something better that is functional enough to make me happy.

A bit biased, perhaps?

They're looking at Office 2003, when the latest version of Office is 2007. In 2007, Firefox loaded every time I went to a link, whether in Office, via an Office dialog, or through Office help.

The article states, "it is unusual to require cookies or to use them in a desktop application", yet Office Online is the only part of Office that requires cookies. This doesn't seem that strange to me: no local features require them.

I wasn't able to find any ads in Office 2007, but because I'm running the latest version, none will probably show up until the next version of Office is released. Showing a couple of ad links at the bottom of the help text, and only after the user goes into help, stretches the definition of Adware a bit.

Re:I am shocked and apalled!

I'm still wondering how many years this stupid tagging beta thing will be left running until the Powers That Be realize it's only another vehicle to make stupid (and occasionally clever) commentary, and is never actually used for "tagging".

Re:Use Open Office

REAL men use butterflies!

The Year of Office 2007

MS sees the handwriting on the wall.
Desperation is driving MS to use everything they can to continue the profit line
I have this gut feel that says MS is going to have a REAL HARD time expanding its yearly sales and profits.

67 cents of every new retail dollar spent on PC software goes to MS Office.

Through end of November, U.S. retail PC software sales are up 10.3 percent year over year as measured in dollar volume, according to NPD. By comparison, Office sales are up 50.7 percent, by the same measure and in the same time frame. Office sales are so big, they make calculating broader PC software retail sales difficult. The "magnitude of Office sales relative to the rest of the PC software market is phenomenal. It's the massively huge tail wagging the dog." Retail Black Friday sales of Mac Office were up 215.8 percent year over year. While Mac Office generated blowout sales on Black Friday, Office 2007 sales growth was exceptionally good, too. Year-over-year U.S. retail Black Friday sales of Office were up 65.8 percent, as measured in dollars. The Year of Office 2007 [microsoft-watch.com]

Microsoft's profits are up 79%:

For the quarter that ended Dec. 31, profit rose to $4.71 billion, or 50 cents per share, from $2.63 billion, or 26 cents per share the previous year. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had forecast a profit of 46 cents per share. Revenue rose 31 percent to $16.37 billion from $12.5 billion in the year-ago quarter, ahead of the analysts' prediction of $15.95 billion in sales.

{and, in what must be the understatement of the year]

"It looks like a very nice report," said Sarah Friar, an analyst for Goldman Sachs. Microsoft Corp. earnings leap 79 percent [statesman.com]

I was sorely tempted to give my response a flamebait title like "The Geek Turns Delusional."

I won't disguise my opinion here that the Geek's increasingly frantic retreat from reality has been the Slashdot story since the posting of Microsoft's second quarter results.

The CDW poll points to a softening of enterprise IT negative attitudes toward Vista. Familiarity, it seems, has bred content: IT departments are happier with Vista's features, particularly in the area of security, and less concerned about the hardware costs of Vista than they were a year ago. Another year will bring further declines in the relative cost of PC hardware -- and make a lot of corporate desktop hardware look even more antique. Only a major economic downturn would be likely to derail current estimates of another strong year for PC sales, so even if Vista remains tied to hardware sales it would do well, and corporate upgrades could finally kick in as old hardware is upgraded. This has been a year when Vista has had its rough edges knocked off, and the marketplace has adjusted its expectations. By Vista's next birthday it should be more differentiated and acceptable for both its consumer and business marketplaces. Assessing Windows Vista On Its First Anniversary [informationweek.com]