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] 260 points 6 months ago (9 children)

If I see your company or app advertised on windows 11, you can be sure I will be actively avoiding said company/ App. Even if I need the services advertised, I will be looking for an alternative just because.

[–] [email protected] 77 points 6 months ago

I have the same policy for pop up ads.

Joker "you get what you deserve" scene image

[–] [email protected] 23 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I’m not sure these ads are even paid for by the developers of the apps that show up. It looks like this is an ad for the Microsoft Store in general, as Microsoft gets a percentage of any sales.

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[–] [email protected] 206 points 6 months ago (8 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 (7 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 60 points 6 months ago (1 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 (6 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.

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 6 months ago

This is a direct result of our Wall Street economy. Wall Street demands that each corporation's stock price shall increase every quarter. No matter what. If that means the customer is unhappy or that a corporation must consume itself from within. Doesn't matter.

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[–] [email protected] 87 points 6 months ago (23 children)
[–] [email protected] 44 points 6 months ago

You pay for the privilege of getting ads beamed directly to your desktop

[–] [email protected] 30 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Sure, we've had first payment..

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[–] [email protected] 84 points 6 months ago (3 children)

You know, I get if they want to do this to Home editions, but why in the world would they do this to all editions? At the very least, this should never apply to domain-joined computers.

[–] [email protected] 64 points 6 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 38 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Seems short sighted to annoy the people who pay you the most money already.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 6 months ago (3 children)

What are they going to switch to?

Most orgs will just put up with it because of inertia: existing software that has to work, employee's having to learn new skills, "sysadmins" who only know Microsoft, etc.

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[–] [email protected] 66 points 6 months ago (39 children)

I installed Linux Mint a few days ago. It's been great so far.

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[–] [email protected] 62 points 6 months ago (21 children)

I’m getting extremely close to making a tiny partition for windows (so I can play gamepass) and then using a Linux distro for my day to day. Are there still issues with Nvidia drivers on Linux? Its been a long time since I’ve run Linux.

[–] [email protected] 57 points 6 months ago (5 children)

PopOS handles nvidia drivers perfectly.

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[–] [email protected] 35 points 6 months ago (3 children)

I've used both Linux Mint and Manjaro, and my Nvidia card has done fine in both. I switched to Mint from Windows because it was easier and faster to set up under Mint (Windows was missing a bunch of drivers and the OEM's site didn't have updated ones). The only configuration I had to do was select the proprietary driver (and Mint has a nice little GUI for that). If you're on the fence, I highly recommend trying Mint.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Seconded. Mint is the best distro for anyone who wants to get started with Linux with the least amount of hassle. Installation is a breeze and it just works.

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[–] [email protected] 59 points 6 months ago (8 children)

Win11: less functionality, more ads

And what's with the weasel words like "recommended"? Just call them "sponsored" or "ads", like they really are.

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[–] [email protected] 49 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (5 children)

How hard is it to make a decent OS Microsoft? Haven't you got enough of our money already?

[–] [email protected] 22 points 6 months ago (10 children)

Honestly they peaked at windows XP.

I haven't needed a upgrade and every time for the past 15 years, it's been forced on me.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 6 months ago (8 children)

XP was great, but Windows 7 was the peak.

its been all down hill from 7.

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[–] [email protected] 46 points 6 months ago (22 children)

Oh look another reason why I’ll be switching to Linux next time I have to upgrade my pc. Fml I’m going to have to learn what a package manager is ew

[–] [email protected] 42 points 6 months ago

Fml I’m going to have to learn what a package manager is ew

Two minutes later

"Wait, you mean I get fast, convenient package delivery without being advertised to?"

[–] [email protected] 40 points 6 months ago (6 children)

The package manager was actually one of the simpler things about switching to Linux in my experience

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 6 months ago

Out of all of things in Linux a package manager most of the time is there to save your sanity.

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[–] [email protected] 39 points 6 months ago (10 children)
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[–] [email protected] 38 points 6 months ago (6 children)

Windows sucks. I wish I could put Linux on my work computer.

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 6 months ago (4 children)

How long until Mom gets malware from them?

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

"All you have to do is set some flags in GPO policy editor and relogin the first time and every time there's an update. Easy"

  • some Windows fanboi probably
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[–] [email protected] 30 points 6 months ago (20 children)
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[–] [email protected] 29 points 6 months ago (6 children)

Everyone? This shit will be on my work computer???????

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Yet another bullet dodged since my move to Linux, thank fuck. Fuck you cunts at Micro$hit.

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 6 months ago (14 children)

Think I will try Linux for real now

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 6 months ago

That's disgusting.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 6 months ago

Fucking unhinged idiocracy. Capitalism is the cancer of humanity

[–] [email protected] 23 points 6 months ago (4 children)

Why does the OS have to recommend you apps?

[–] [email protected] 22 points 6 months ago (2 children)

In case you accidentally misplaced your brain in the trash, for example.

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 6 months ago (2 children)

For those who want to stay on windows and avoid this trash:

https://github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu

An open source start menu replacement. Been using it for 6 months seamlessly and it’s great

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

"Tips and recommendations".

For years I had that turned on in Windoof 10 as it sounded like: "we see you're regularly doing X or having problem Y. Here is a way how to make X simpler and a solution for Y."

Instead it was nothing like that. It was literally nothing at all. Probably they just tried to shove some ads down my throat, which I luckily didn't see.

But it has become clear enough: it's not about helping users with useful tips and recommendations. It's about luring them into buying some stuff.

They can find new clever euphemisms, like EA did with their "surprise mechanics". But it is what it is: ads, digital noise, a waste of resources and probably one of the last incentives I needed to fully switch to a good Linux distro.

I used Windoof just for gaming anyway. And as I'm already working professionally with Linux, it will hardly be a miss.

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