Austin Lane

As many of you know, Microsoft is very active in software patents and their accumulation. This only makes since because they are constantly striving to improve their products and wish to force others to pay to use their new and exciting technologies. In a recent turn of events,  one of Microsoft’s patent applications describes software that would, to you and me, look and act like adware and spyware.

Before you start lecturing me on Windows Genuine Advantage, WGA, or any of Microsoft’s other forays into “ensuring your software is Genuine” those programs pale in comparison to what Microsoft wants to patent. This adware system that Microsoft wishes to patent is all too invasive. It would search your entire computer, think Windows Desktop Search, and display targeted ads to the user in applications such as Microsoft Office Word and Microsoft Office Excel, just to name a few.

To read more about this, please visit Ars Technica.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 19th, 2007 at 3:10 pm and is filed under Browsers, Email, Internet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.