OpenOffice.org Ninja published an interesting article about adverts appearing in Microsoft Office’s help, and about collecting technical information gathered as part of the product support services provided to the user. A conclusion? Microsoft Office suite could be adware, and – what is definitely worse – a spyware.
In conclusion, Office 2003 does display ads, and certain parts require cookies. While these are a normal and healthy part of the web, it is, at least, unusual for a commercial desktop application.