Microsoft 'improves' Windows 11 by bringing ads to the Start menu in the US

By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson for BetaNews, 13 April 2024
Link, Archive

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In a move which is likely to be greeted with a hostile reception, Microsoft is continuing its obsession with injecting advertising into Windows. The company is using Windows Insiders signed up for Beta Channel to test the controversial addition of ads in the Windows 11 Start menu.

For now, this is a trial which is limited to beta testers in the US, but even if the most negative feedback is forthcoming, it is hard to imagine that Microsoft will back down and not roll out Start menu ads to all Windows 11 users.

It is difficult to see the addition of advertising in the Start menu in anything other than a negative light, but if we are to draw a modicum of positivity from it, it at least shows that Microsoft is not only obsessed with pumping AI-powered components into Windows 11.

The company, predictably enough, does not refer to advertisements for apps being added to the Start menu as advertising. Rather, it prefers to refer to this "improvement" as a way of bringing app " recommendations" to users. But be under no illusion: this is advertising.

Microsoft writes about the arrival of Start menu ads in the release notes for Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.3495

Building on top of recent improvements like grouping recently installed apps and showing your frequently used apps, we are now trying out recommendations to help you discover great apps from the Microsoft Store under Recommended on the Start menu. This will appear only for Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel in the U.S. and will not apply to commercial devices (devices managed by organizations). This can be turned off by going to Settings > Personalization > Start and turning off the toggle for "Show recommendations for tips, app promotions, and more". As a reminder, we regularly try out new experiences and concepts that may never get released with Windows Insiders to get feedback. Should you see this experience on the Start menu, let us know what you think. We are beginning to roll this out to a small set of Insiders in the Beta Channel at first.

The move should not come as a complete surprise as Microsoft has history here, having done very much the same in Windows 10.

While it is possible to disable the display of app recommendations (by, as Microsoft points out in the release notes which are not read by many people, visiting Settings > Personalization > Start > Show recommendations for tips, app promotions, and more) this doesn't feel like something users should have to do.

 

[Faceless Whore]

Just install Ubuntu at this point.

This gave me a laugh because Ubuntu also once put unwanted advertisements in its search menu.

 

[Sugriva]

Really? Cause I've been having a blast on Helldivers 2 and can still play plenty of good games that are still fairly modern. An online storefront is not a valid reason to sink money into a PC where using steam requires using shitty windows OS software, nor does the ability to mod shitty textures. Free online play is the only real advantage I see but even that's silly to complain about for anyone who has a decent job.

What about the freedom to do whatever the hell you want with your own system? Install whatever OS you want, use whichever controller you want. It's nice. I would also like to reiterate the point about piracy.

Also, steam does not require windows.

 

[NaggotFigger]

100% authentic experience for every1 sarr

 

[rаpе]

 

[LeChampion1992]

I don't care what Windows says I'm not upgrading to Windows 11 I'm upset I had to get rid of windows 7. That was an amazing OS to be honest.

 

[pikachudidnothingwrong]

What even is the point of having a PC anymore? I do all my gayming from a PS5 and I can play just about any new game worth talking about. I do all my communication from my phone. I have a tablet for browsing. Only thing I'd want a PC for is running AI models but I don't care enough to sink $3k into a machine that some fucking tranny working for Microsoft forces me to watch ads to use.

Censorship for one thing.. But thanks to the retarded PC master race walking right into a gatekept digital store system, that is becoming more questionable. Also mods. Which are also coming under attack to be fair.

 

[Geddy Lee's Fee and See]

I have really been thinking about this latly.

How is playing games on Ubuntu? I'm an old man now so I don't play many. My kids play Rokcet League from time to time, I might fuck around with some Blizzard games every now and then. Any reason not to switch?

Late response, but Proton on Steam makes playing Windows games on Linux truvial. Literally, just click on properties and check using the Proton compatibility layer and you are good to go. That's in addition to a bunch of emulation options and what not.

 

[AnotherPleb]

It's too bad governments are so closely tied with corporations and Big Tech these days. Micro$oft got reamed for way less back in the day for bundling Internet Explorer with Windows.

That antitrust lawsuit was the Fed telling tech industries that they better play ball if they want to keep going.

So.... how long before their ad system ends up advertising porn to elementary school kids on the start menu and getting microsoft into a shitshow over it when the parents find out

The teachers would be promoting the fuck out of junior sized butt plugs.

 

[SirCliveSinclairdabbing]

I don't care what Windows says I'm not upgrading to Windows 11 I'm upset I had to get rid of windows 7. That was an amazing OS to be honest.

Keep using it. Get a cheap Linux box for torrents and streams.

 

[Unexpected Genitals]

I already get Bing AI/Copilot shit pushed onto me in Windows 10, this doesn't surprise me (I also noticed Copilot will straight-up end a conversation and encourage you to start a new one if your tone becomes even remotely hostile or non-positive).

 

[The Ugly One]

OS2/Warp needs to come back.

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

That "ten seconds on Windows" has now bloated out to nearly an hour.

Want to change your date and time? Windows 7 let's you do that by right-clicking the task bar whilst 10 forces you to trudge through 2-3 submenus. The same applies for quite a bit of features that once made linux seem more tedious a decade ago.

It seems like every attempt to make things easier for iPad retards just makes things harder for the people used to using normal computers.

 

[Google.com]

 

[Ukraine is Big Gay]

On the linux note, it took a fat autistic monopolistic PC gamer company like valve to finally try and make that shit appealing and usable to normies with the steamdeck. Linux dweebs have absolutely and utterly failed to "little timmy" proof their OS much less approach the near "Grandma Proofing" like windows which is it's ENTIRE schtick. It's effortless to use if you have a brain and it's still usable if you're completely retarded.

You can only hyper fixate on making your kernals 0.2 percent faster for so long before you need a slightly less greasy ideas guy and borderline joe average to tell you that your shit will never get mass adoption until people can use it and not have to change a single thing in their day to day behavior in terms of compaitability and operation. Which a lot of compaitability layers and background tech is 10 years late to the party FINALLY trying to do.

"No no you just have to-" is the death knell for software adoption after the rapidly evolving era of the primeval home computer days, once 95 was out it was joever.

 

[Elwood P. Dowd]

Sigh.

Have the autistic shut ins behind Linux made the OS stable and simple enough for boomerniggers like me to use? Will (metaphorically) eat whatever excrement microsoft is squirting out if that is the only way to keep three monitors, but I don't have to like it.

 

[Google.com]

Linux dweebs have absolutely and utterly failed to "little timmy" proof their OS much less approach the near "Grandma Proofing" like windows which is it's ENTIRE schtick. It's effortless to use if you have a brain and it's still usable if you're completely retarded.

As a representative of the retard dumb ass community I can say with personal experience that we are not very impressed with the offerings of Linux. I experimented with it once and dual loaded it with windows 10 on my computer when 7 died. I didn't use Ubuntu I don't remember the name of the version I used specifically but I know it was advertised as being alright for new users.

I really struggled with figuring out how to download programs but eventually figured out the basics sort of? Anyways I decided while talking with friends to fuck around with it and opened in the built in word pad to see how much bullshit it would take to crash the program. I kept copy and pasting giant blocks of text and then the OS itself crashed, I tried to reboot and it just doesn't start anymore so I guess I somehow bricked it with blocks of text.

But I'm just retarded so I guess I should probably try Ubuntu or just anything that isn't some weird crappy back ally OS. I do have a steam deck now and was actually pretty impressed with it, seems to prove I could actually use Linux. I think my first mistake with my first Linux experiment was trying to research what would be the best version of Linux for me to use instead of just using Ubuntu. Since the internet is just filled with paragraphs of incoherent ranting from coding obsessed people arguing what the best OS is for people who just want to use their computer and their idea of a beginner being completely delusional.

 

[The Ugly One]

On the linux note, it took a fat autistic monopolistic PC gamer company like valve to finally try and make that shit appealing and usable to normies with the steamdeck.

Google did it first with Android.

No consumer cares what kernel their operating system is running. They see a computer as a box that does something they want. Here's how you make a consumer friendly operating system:

1. Lock that shit down so retards don't accidentally cut themselves on sharp edges.
2. Ensure that the out-of-the-box config works for 99.99% of normies without touching things.
3. Develop a UI with a consistent idiom that makes it easy for people to find their shit, add and remove users, and do basic tasks.
4. Work with hardware & software vendors to ensure automatic installation of their products is easy.

What you hear from the Linux People is autistic screeching about why literally all of those are bad things. Linux has been around for decades, and every single desktop environment is a massive piece of shit in a different way.

 

[xn--mck1c]

At this point words like "improvement" or "recommendation" are the kike's code words for fucking you in the ass.

When going through the setup process on a new device it seems like the default setting for anything seems to be the opposite of a fuss free experience, from random online features to whatever "smart" experience that ends in a few months with a subscription nag.

 

[ChrisIsGay]

Personally I'm looking forward to Windows 12 Vista XP.