this post was submitted on 24 Apr 2024
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Microsoft is starting to enable ads inside the Start menu on Windows 11 for all users. After testing these briefly with Windows Insiders earlier this month, Microsoft has started to distribute update KB5036980 to Windows 11 users this week, which includes “recommendations” for apps from the Microsoft Store in the Start menu.

Luckily you can disable these ads, or “recommendations” as Microsoft calls them. If you’ve installed the latest KB5036980 update then head into Settings > Personalization > Start and turn off the toggle for “Show recommendations for tips, app promotions, and more.” While KB5036980 is optional right now, Microsoft will push this to all Windows 11 machines in the coming weeks.

Microsoft’s move to enable ads in the Windows 11 Start menu follows similar promotional spots in the Windows 10 lock screen and Start menu. Microsoft also started testing ads inside the File Explorer of Windows 11 last year before disabling the experiment and saying the test was “not intended to be published externally.” Hopefully that experiment remains very much an experiment.

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[–] [email protected] 206 points 6 months ago (22 children)

How did the default attitude toward the user get so hostile? The amount of toggles you need to set just to have a smooth experience with minimal tracking is insane. The people in here defending it by the fact it can be disabled are missing the point: we shouldn't have to deal with it in the first place.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 6 months ago (14 children)

You shouldn't. I haven't. Microsoft is a plague and a choice.

[–] [email protected] 60 points 6 months ago (7 children)

You're not wrong, but there's a larger issue here: the fact that there's an alternative does not make what Microsoft is doing okay. This shit ought to be prohibited by consumer protection law.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Yeah it’s not just Microsoft. Fucking ads in my doorbell app, Google TV, etc.

Putting ads in a product you paid for should be illegal.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

TBH I am fully expecting a world where, in the next 10-15 years, some company will make a car that plays unskippable audio ads every X number of miles/km which can be disabled for $9.99/month.

Your company can't afford the ad-free version of Zoom, so this meeting is sponsored by Papa Johns®. Try the new Cheesy Papadia virtual background.

Before you can place this emergency call, here's a word from our sponsors at Nord VPN.

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