I want to get rid of those ads.

[sld72382]

Backstory: On all new PCs, instead of including the junk known as Works or a 60 day trial of Office, Microsoft now includes what is know as a "starter" version of Office. It only gives you Word and Excel, but for many people this would be enough. So how does MS make it free? Some features are stripped away from the full versions of Word and Excel and there is an area on the right side where Microsoft displays banner ads from it's partners. But hey, at least it's free, right?

Well, some people are just never happy. Like this lady.

SC: A previous tech helped me install Office Starter edition and there are advertizements on the right side. I want those ads gone.

Me: Unfortunately, in the starter edition of Office those ads are permanent. The only way to get rid of them is to buy the full version of Office.

SC: That's not an acceptable answer. I want to get rid of those ads.

Me: Ma'am, that's how they make the software free. Otherwise, if there was no ads Microsoft would have to force PC vendors to raise the prices of the computers to cover the cost of the software.

SC: Can't I just turn them off?

Me: Unfortunately, no. Like I said before, the only way to get rid of them is to buy the full version of Office.

SC: I shouldn't have to do that! This is not very fair to me as a consumer! Microsoft is worth billions can't they just give the software away and not bother people like me with unwanted crap like this?!

Me: Ma'am, Microsoft is giving you software which would probably cost around $75-$100 retail for free. They have to recoup the costs somewhere, and putting non-malicious ads on the screen was what they chose to do.

SC: It's clear you don't want to help me to my satisfaction. You just want to be a kool-aid drinker and spout off some talking point script.

Me: I did give you the answer, as before, the only way to get rid of the ads is to....

SC: (Cuts me off) Yeah shell out more money! If that is what you call helping me, I want to lodge a complaint!

Me: Ma'am, me and the company I work for really have no control of the business decisions at Microsoft. If you want to complain about them putting ads in software, it's best to take it up with them.

SC: Fine I may just do that. Thanks, bye.

*Click.*

Yeah lady, call Microsoft and complain about ads which are not harmful and making your software free (last I heard, only Gold Certified Partners are allowed to buy ad space in Office Starter). Oh, and SC: Billion dollar companies don't stay billion dollar companies by "just giving software away."

[Hawaiian Eskimo]

And I though ad-supported Office would drive away the "why doesn't my Word work anymore" people.

Guess it just creates a new kind of idiot.

[Ironclad Alibi]

Most likely all she has to do to get rid of ads is disconnect from the Internet. No Internet connection, no ads. At least it works that way with my Droid phone.

[It's me]

Most likely all she has to do to get rid of ads is disconnect from the Internet. No Internet connection, no ads. At least it works that way with my Droid phone.

Probably can be dealt with by a few entries into the HOSTS file.... worked for Communicator....

[Kogarashi]

Do we really want to advocate teaching the SC how to hack her copy of the program?



I mean, she'd probably break something and then still be calling SLD to complain.

[sld72382]

Do we really want to advocate teaching the SC how to hack her copy of the program?

I'm sure there is a way to hack Office Starter to work without the ads, but I'm not sure Microsoft would like us telling people that.

On a similar note, a customer called in because she wanted to make her Yahoo email account work in Outlook without having to pay for Yahoo Plus. I told her "even if there was a way, I don't think Yahoo would like hearing that we circumvented something you need to pay for." She called me and my company of being in cahoots with Yahoo and hung up.

[It's me]

Do we really want to advocate teaching the SC how to hack her copy of the program?

I mean, she'd probably break something and then still be calling SLD to complain.

You're probably right. Even though what we've suggested is closer to using a video recorder to skip commercials, as the software is not altered in any way.... it'd be like teaching them extreme couponing... you just know they'll find a way to use what they've learned to make your life miserable.

[mattm04]

How dare she be expected to pay $120-140 to use a product like office. If you have to use it enough to be bothered by the ads, it is probable best to just buy it outright.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

Heh. Nevermind there's at least three absolutely free and legal 'clones' of these programs available online. I have one, Open Office. Hell, I can convert the damn documents with this stuff, which is useful as hell, considering I work with macs, windows, and god only knows what... XD

[sld72382]

Heh. Nevermind there's at least three absolutely free and legal 'clones' of these programs available online. I have one, Open Office. Hell, I can convert the damn documents with this stuff, which is useful as hell, considering I work with macs, windows, and god only knows what... XD

A long time ago when customers had their MS Office trials expire on them locking them out of their files, I asked a sup if I could recommend Open Office to customers. He said no, saying the official stance on it is that "it might cause the store to lose a potential sale of Office." He told me to "just play dumb and tell customers there's no other way other than buying MS Office."

[lordlundar]

Most likely all she has to do to get rid of ads is disconnect from the Internet. No Internet connection, no ads. At least it works that way with my Droid phone.

Not so simple. Microsoft Office since the 2007 version requires online confirmation which it checks periodically. If it can't verify, then it shuts down. And I'm pretty sure the Starter Edition will require constant internet connection to even run.

[Kogarashi]

Heh. Nevermind there's at least three absolutely free and legal 'clones' of these programs available online. I have one, Open Office.

My biggest gripe with OpenOffice is that there are some things I tend to use that are very much non-intuitive in OpenOffice that were easy to figure out in Word, and the help menu is not-so-helpful in figuring them out. One of these years, I'll actually shell out for MS Office so I can get Word back, and until then, I suffer through the free alternative.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

Yeah, it really all depends on what you use, how you use it, and why. I just use it for bog-standard typing, and if I want to know something, Google it, the help feature's a bit stale. I don't even use the ppt, exc, or other functions/programs... I do enjoy being able to convert, however... the computer labs around campus use everything from 2003 macs to Linuxboxen (engineering ) to several versions of windows. Emailing to people is also easy, and adding fonts I could never quite figure out in the most recent version... eh. Probably not trying hard enough.
EDIT: Starter Office doesn't require constant internet connection... on my lil' netbook, it's slow as hell though, like everything else. Still has ads. :\ Don't particularly care usually. I need OO on it. Three or four different formats bother me for my docs.

[Blade_Raver]

If they don't want to buy a full copy of Office, tell them to buy Microsoft Works.
Similar functionality (although not as robust) but cheaper.

[Chromatix]

Or, even better, LibreOffice. Doesn't cost anything.