On-Prem

Personal Tech

Microsoft mulls cheap PCs supported by ads, subs

Want a low-cost machine? Agree to be bombarded and the Windows giant could have a solution for you


In a world where global sales of PCs are declining and more work is shifting to the cloud, what can the maker of the world's ubiquitous operating system do to keep money coming in?

For Microsoft, part of the answer might lie in low-cost, cloud-connected systems paid for through subscriptions and ads.

We know, we know. A lot of Reg readers must be very excited and want to be the first to grab a cheap Windows machine that is ad-supported. You'll have to calm down. They're just at least thinking about it at this stage.

A number of job postings – including this now-closed ad from late September for a principal software engineering manager – are looking for engineers and others to become part of the "newly formed Windows Incubation team" whose mission is to "build a new direction for Windows in a cloud first world."

The lofty goal is to "move Windows to a place that combines the benefits of the cloud and Microsoft 365 to offer more compute resources on demand and creates a hybrid app model that spans from on-premises to the cloud." According to the ad, it also includes "building a Web-based shell with direct integration with Windows 365."

Included in the possible models are low-cost PCs available via subscriptions, with advertising helping to offset some of the costs. (Also mentioned in the job are direct-to-cloud devices.)

This is something that CEO Satya Nadella alluded to during comments to financial analysts following Microsoft's October 25 release of its Q1 FY23 numbers.

Answering a question about Microsoft's three to five-year plan for advertising – Microsoft in July said its technology will power Netflix's first ad-based subscription model – Nadella said the goals include focusing on moving ads through its own offerings.

We're reminded that Windows 11 already has promoted apps and other marketing sprinkled in the Start menu and other places. And in March, ads in File Explorer showed up briefly as an "experiment."

Nadella pointed to the 20 percent growth of active Windows devices during the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that "one of the big opportunities it opens up is for us to take our own owned-and-operated inventory, right, whether it is Bing and Search, whether it's the feed... We are share takers in the browser. We are share takers in terms of the engagement of the feed."

Putting ads in front of Windows business users and consumers may be part of that engagement.

For Microsoft, there was a 15 percent year-over-year decline in Windows OEM revenue for the quarter. However, revenue for Windows commercial products and cloud services jumped 8 percent, helped by demand for Microsoft 365 E5 suite of cloud-based apps.

Eyeing more of a cloud-based future for Windows might makes sense to accountants in Redmond, enabling Microsoft to rely less on expensive PCs to sell the operating system and appealing to investors by adding another option in the cloud with Microsoft 365.

Windows 365 launched a year ago and is available to professionals and business users. It could be extended to consumers, who may then access the cloud applications through an internet connection and experience the pleasure of accompanying ads. Don't all rush. ®

Send us news
86 Comments

How a single buck bought bragging rights in the battle to port Windows 95 to NT

It reached the desktop and then ...

Intel chases smaller code shops with expanded AI PC dev program, NUC kit

Chipzilla wants more apps coded for NPUs, not Nvidia

Chrome for Windows-Arm laptops officially lands in time for Snapdragon X Elite kit

At last, no more crappy emulation or experimental builds

Microsoft gets new Windows boss as Start Menu man Parakhin 'to explore new roles'

More MS moves just a week after new AI unit and other changes announced

Windows Format dialog waited decades for UI revamp that never came

'Temporary' isn't always

Microsoft defends barging in on Chrome with pop-up ads pushing Bing, GPT-4

We thought you people wanted choice, IT colossus sniffs

How to run an LLM on your PC, not in the cloud, in less than 10 minutes

Cut through the hype, keep your data private, find out what all the fuss is about

Vigorous US lobbying reportedly reversed India PC import license scheme

Washington was most displeased and New Delhi knew it made a mistake

It's 2024 and North Korea's Kimsuky gang is exploiting Windows Help files

New infostealer may indicate a shift in tactics – and maybe targets too, beyond Asia

Meta accused of snarfing people's Snapchat data via traffic decryption

I ain't afraid of no ghosts, but in this case...

Nvidia software exec Kari Briski on NIM, CUDA, and dogfooding AI

A RAGs to riches story

Scaleway shows off its new RISC-V devices at Kubecon

Looking for feedback before pressing the production button