What has changed in Microsoft’s Solitaire?
This year marked the 25th anniversary of Solitaire card game that is included in Windows. Microsoft has promoted this milestone.
Solitaire was originally put in the original Windows as an easy and enjoyable way to learn to use the mouse, which back then was an entirely new concept.
It was free.
With the 25th edition and being in Windows 10, Microsoft would now rather that you pay to play.
Where it was free previously it now gives you a choice to pay or you can play a free ad-supported version. Ads did not appear previously.
The ads for most of this year have either been for some basic games of Microsoft or several car ads and I think I remember a Coca-cola ad.
All of the sudden in the last few weeks a different ad has begun appearing for a game called Scatterslots. It advertises as an adult lust game and has very suggestive pictures in the ads.
The ads appear after you play a random number of hands of Solitaire and appear to average about every six hands.
They have also added several variations of Solitaire you can play, and if you sign in an account, it will remember machine to machine your results.
The addition of ads to a simple game, originally there to learn, I thought was unusual after 25 years.
The ads that you now see if you do not pay were a surprise.
Prior to now I would have suggested the game to anyone, kids to 90s.
Now I have to think, are they old enough for those ads? Or will they be offended by the ads?
It is my belief that Microsoft has taken a product they gave away thru a bought product and now are going for every dime they think they can get.
Send me your questions about computers to me at the paper or to my email dwight@ dwightwatt.com and tell me you read this in this paper. I will pick a question to answer each week.
Dwight Watt does computer work for businesses, individuals and organizations and teaches about computers at a college in NW Georgia. His webpage is www.dwightwatt.com His email address is dwight@dwightwatt.com.