Apple Applies for Ad-Supported OS Patent Apple Future Mac OS Available for Free; Advertisements to Run in the Background?

If you were to choose between paying for a computer operating system and
getting it for free on condition that you have to sit through various
advertisements all day long, what would you get? Apple seems to be
interested in developing such an OS as the Cupertino-based company has
filed for a free ad-supported OS patent.

This is certainly not the first time we ve seen this concept but it s
only Apple that filed for the patent. Just a few weeks ago we were
talking about Microsoft Office Starter 2010 and Microsoft s intention of
offering some sort of ad-supported Office version which would have a
browser-like interface. Did Microsoft inspire Apple or is it the other
way around?

But would you really want to have audible and visual ads disturb you
while you re working, watching a movie or playing games? Because that s
exactly what s supposed to happen once you choose an ad-supported OS!
The abstract of the patent briefly explains all this:
Among other disclosures, an operating system presents one or more
advertisements to a user and disables one or more functions while the
advertisement is being presented. At the end of the advertisement, the
operating system again enables the function(s). The advertisement can be
visual or audible. The presentation of the advertisement(s) can be made
as part of an approach where the user obtains a good or service, such as
the operating system, for free or at reduced cost.
Say for example that you re playing World of Warcraft with your friends
and the OS stops the game in order for you to watch a 30-second video
that talks about car insurance. I bet you wouldn t want any of that
would you? We re speculating at this point since we haven t gone though
all the paperwork available nor have we been able to test such an OS yet.

Would ad-supported OS prevent hacked OS distribution? If hackers are
available to offer illegal OS right now, who s to say that they won t be
able to block all the ads in ad-supported operating systems? We will
have to wait to see how this one goes folks! After all we ve seen plenty
of cool Apple patents that never materialized in any of the current
products available today!