Earn rewards from Microsoft by using Bing Bar which in turn means that you use Internet Explorer with Silverlight.  And don’t forget that you have to be logged with your Windows Live or Hotmail ID and use Bing as your homepage.

In turn, you get 250 credits right away from Microsoft and then you keep earning more credits by continuously using all the things I mentioned above.  These credits can be used to earn rewards.

Sign up - Bing Rewards Preview

Now, lets look at the deal real quick…then we decide if it is a DEAL or NO DEAL.

DNDMicrosoft is luring us to use their products by giving us 250 credits just for signing up.  At first it may seem like a real deal because you get something.  Right!

But when you look at the fine prints, it turns out that Microsoft is actually the beneficiary of this deal.  How…???  To start with, you need to:

  1. install Bing Bar.  – a Microsoft Product.
  2. be using Internet Explorer because Bing bar can’t be installed on Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome or other browsers.  That means use of Internet Explorer increases and hence its popularity. – Another Microsoft Product.
  3. be logged in using a Windows Live ID.  That means you have to actually start using Hotmail once again instead of Gmail or Yahoo etc. – Another Microsoft Product.
  4. set Bing as your home page. – Another Microsoft Product.
  5. do searches and shopping etc. using Bing to earn more credits.  That means you don’t use Google search and hence increase search share for Bing.

Hence,

by giving 250 credits to install Bing Bar, Microsoft is making sure you are using all Microsoft products.

For people, who have no preference about their browser, search engine or email program, it might be a good deal.  Because nothing changes for them.

But for people like me, it’s like a whole new world.  Because, I stopped using :

  • Internet Explorer way back when it was still IE6.  Instead I am a big fan of Mozilla Firefox who happens to use Google Chrome for the last couple of months just to try it out.
  • Windows Live or Hotmail when Microsoft deleted my important email just because I couldn’t login to Hotmail for more than 90 days.  Gmail never deleted anything since 2005 in my account no matter how long ago I logged in last. dond2
  • Home pages because as soon as I open my browser it actually brings back my tabs I opened last time.  So I don’t even know if I have a Home page in my browser.  I prefer it that way.
  • standalone searches because I just search by typing in my browser address bar.  I feel really comfortable using Google.  But I must say, Bing is also not bad.  I may actually use it for my searches.

So for me, it is a NO DEAL.  What do you guys think?  Is it really worth to switch to all Microsoft products to earn 250 credits free from Microsoft?  Let’s hear what you think about it.

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