Geez, Microsoft, way to act like idiots.

Yesterday, word began to spread that Microsoft was offering free copies of some of its most expensive software, including Windows Vista Ultimate, to PC users willing to let the company install scanning software on their machines to track their computer usage habits.

Well, apparently Microsoft has now pulled the free software offer, but still wants you to offer up your PC for study.

One person who e-mailed Microsoft to ask where the free software offer went got the following response:

Due to high volume, we have reached our ‘while supplies last’ limit and have closed our free product incentive on 12/11/2007 at 2 p.m.

What a crock. It’s software. Supplies are essentially infinite, and there’s no logistical reason why Microsoft could not keep offering the programs.

What I’m guessing actually happened is that Microsoft realized that most people signing up for the program were downloading the surveillance software to ancient, barely usable machines just to get the free goodies. Since that data is of no use to Microsoft, they pulled the plug.

But leave it to Microsoft to handle the entire episode in such a clumsy, tone-deaf manner.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 12th, 2007 at 9:52 pm and is filed under General News.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.