A new Windows 11 update is rolling out this week.

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.

  • GuStJaR@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    2 months ago

    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.

    • Rexios@lemm.eeEnglish
      1·
      2 months ago

      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.

  • Sanctus@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    2 months ago

    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.

      • grue@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        2 months ago

        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.

      • tabular@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        2 months ago

        You don’t choose your childhood education. Microsoft and Apple offer schools deals to create adults dependent on it - after all they’ll be using it in work too.

    • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      01·
      2 months ago

      It got here because it’s super profitable, and that’s all the C-suite cares about, and they’re the ones calling the shots at the end of the day.

      I also think that engineering ethics has, in general, been strongly de-emphasized, and true holistic ownership of technical products is now usually held by business and finance types instead of engineers, with all the negative consequences that that entails.

      Edit: also, don’t forget the Peter principle

  • Nougat@fedia.io
    0·
    2 months ago

    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.

      • Nougat@fedia.io
        1·
        2 months ago

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

        • Admiral Patrick@dubvee.orgEnglish
          1·
          2 months ago

          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.

  • merdaverse@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    2 months ago

    Win11: less functionality, more ads

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

    • Sylvartas@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      2 months ago

      Windows 11 (and how much I like my experience with the Steam deck, if I’m being honest) has me seriously reconsidering switching to Linux for my gaming desktop

      • merdaverse@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        2 months ago

        I’ve only been playing games on Linux for the past year and it’s been a pretty smooth experience. Go for it!

        • Sylvartas@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          2 months ago

          I’m considering it even more seriously right now. I had my eyes set on Fedora, but apparently I shouldn’t, because they are ditching official support for X11, and I need it because I have an Nvidia GPU ? I was also looking at pop OS, but I also saw people recommending against Ubuntu on Lemmy, I don’t remember why though. Do you have a recommendation ?

      • femboy_bird@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
        1·
        2 months ago

        Even if that’s true, custome pcs are a tiny fraction of client computing, oem desktops and especially laptops completely own client computing, most people only ever get a laptop

      • GladiusB@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        2 months ago

        Where did you come up with that figure? I have two PCs and they have two separate licenses. One is custom built and the other was prebuilt.

      • VindictiveJudge@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        2 months ago

        I paid for 7 and upgraded it to 10. I may go to 12 later on (Windows alternates between solid and awful, so 12 may be fine) but it’s also quite likely I’ll wind up moving to a Linux distro as my primary and keeping Win10 as a fallback. No way in hell am I touching 11.

  • Ben@lemmy.worldEnglish
    01·
    2 months ago

    Fundamental error - as usual with Windows news.

    These ‘Start Menu Ads’ aren’t rolling out to everyone, I have zero ‘Start Menu Ads’. In fact, I have Zero Ads in my operating system.

    Why must Windows news always assume that everyone runs Windows? Isn’t this the main bug with all operating systems?