Wednesday, April 24th 2024

Windows 11 Now Officially Adware as Microsoft Embeds Ads in the Start Menu

Apr 24th, 2024 05:38 Discuss (173 Comments)

Microsoft over late-Tuesday started distributing the KB5036980 optional update to Windows 11 users, which effectively makes the operating system adware (software that displays ads to support its author). The update gets the Windows 11 Start Menu to display ads in the "Recommended" section that suggests apps and games for you to download from the Microsoft Store, subscribe to Copilot Pro, etc. While the update is currently optional, the changes contained in it will be made part of next month's "Patch Tuesday" update.

This wouldn't be the first time Microsoft is advertising software, the OEM versions of Windows 11 can be customized by PC manufacturers to pre-install bloatware, or suggest apps or services for users to buy within the Start or Apps menus. You usually uninstall the pre-installed bloatware, and dismiss recommendations. Today's update is different, in that even the Retail versions of Windows (without the bloatware) start receiving ads. Luckily, these ads are not inescapable, you can disable them. Head over to Settings > Personalization > Start, and uncheck the toggle that reads "Show recommendations for tips, app promotions, and more."

Source: The Verge

Add your own comment

173 Comments on Windows 11 Now Officially Adware as Microsoft Embeds Ads in the Start Menu

#101

gurusmi

TomorrowI have been using Win11 nearly a year, and not once have i felt like something has been moved (added/removed) so drastically that i felt things were "out of place".

Try to place the taskbar at the upper border of the screen.
- Win 10: No problem
- Win 11: not possible

TomorrowActually Edge is in startup by default and run on first boot. It cannot be closed trough GUI and must be killed trough task manager instead. Then manually removed from startup and then 3rd party script to uninstall it because MS wont let you uninstall it trough GUI.

Even after all that Edge Update remnant remains in the list of installed programs and cannot be removed. I swear they have made me hate edge like a piece of malware despite the fact that i dont even use it.
I would be indifferent to it, if it simply existed as preinstalled program that could be removed and did not run at startup by default.

That is also not that correct. I'm living within the EU and I deinstalled edge.

#102

Dr. Dro

OnasiI am getting a sense of deja vu from all the previous times Linux had a “best chance” to supplant Windows.
I am willing to bet significant sums of money that this time will go exactly like all those previous ones.

The naked truth no computer nerds wants to admit is that Linux is just about worthless for the largest majority of people. Normal people (who aren't tech savvy nor retain a great interest in computers) are simply not willing to learn how to use it unless it's something that's been dumbed down to the extreme (eg. SteamOS, which borders on being a single-purpose system) and requires as little maintenance as possible, not to mention most would move to the Mac before they bother with the freetards and their ideological nonsense permeating every aspect of the experience. They'd sooner go on tirades about how systemd is philosophically evil than get together and agree on distro-agnostic open standards that every flavor of Linux follows... or even go as far as correcting my post here since I am talking about the "GNU/Linux kernel" and that distributions are technically operating systems of their own, "deal with it"... yeah i'll deal with your dependency hells and endless terminal use by using Windows or buying a Mac.

#103

CrAsHnBuRnXp

gurusmideinstalled

Uninstalled*

#104

AusWolf

Dr. DroThe naked truth no computer nerds wants to admit is that Linux is just about worthless for the largest majority of people. Normal people (who aren't tech savvy nor retain a great interest in computers) are simply not willing to learn how to use it unless it's something that's been dumbed down to the extreme (eg. SteamOS, which borders on being a single-purpose system) and requires as little maintenance as possible, not to mention most would move to the Mac before they bother with the freetards and their ideological nonsense permeating every aspect of the experience. They'd sooner go on tirades about how systemd is philosophically evil than get together and agree on distro-agnostic open standards that every flavor of Linux follows... or even go as far as correcting my post here since I am talking about the "GNU/Linux kernel" and that distributions are technically operating systems of their own, "deal with it"... yeah i'll deal with your dependency hells and endless terminal use by using Windows or buying a Mac.

Modern Linux has a "start menu", same as Windows, a built-in video player, web browser, and office suite. It couldn't be any simpler. I actually tested it with my dad a couple of years ago (because he corrupted all his Windows installations within a couple of months before that). While he never really liked the UI, he actually learned to use it, except for organising his downloads folder, which is also an issue on Windows, so it doesn't count. Now, he's back on Windows 10 because he somehow managed to corrupt his Linux installation as well.

#105

JohH

EijiNot seen any ads in Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2024 yet.

Runs as smooth as Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021 did on my PC except HDR runs better and I can now use RTX HDR too which requires WDDM 3.1.

Where do I, as an individual, buy a single license of Windows 11 Enterprise LTSC 2024? Is it a monthly subscription product? I paid $200 for Windows 11 Pro but it still has ads. I'm open to anything to get rid of this adware but I can't find how to buy this version anywhere. Microsoft says to contact sales and they haven't responded to me.

#106

AGlezB

AusWolfModern Linux has a "start menu", same as Windows, a built-in video player, web browser, and office suite. It couldn't be any simpler. I actually tested it with my dad a couple of years ago (because he corrupted all his Windows installations within a couple of months before that). While he never really liked the UI, he actually learned to use it, except for organising his downloads folder, which is also an issue on Windows, so it doesn't count. Now, he's back on Windows 10 because he somehow managed to corrupt his Linux installation as well.

Your dad sounds like my mother. She doesn't read the text on message boxes and just clicks whatever button. Give her nuke and a message box saying "Do you want to destroy the world? [Yes or No]" and there is a 50% chance she'll nuke someone like she nuked quite a lot of my data. :roll:

EDIT: She is 75 now and retired after many years as an engineer. Never had an issue with computers when se was active. Her mind is still sharp but at some point her brain just decided "Message boxes are not worth reading" and that was that. Fortunately having backups is very easy now and I don't have to burn DVDs anymore to keep my data safe and as long as she doesn't get control of a popup-happy nuclear arsenal I have nothing to complain about. :laugh:

#107

Dr. Dro

JohHWhere do I, as an individual, buy a single license of Windows 11 Enterprise LTSC 2024? Is it a monthly subscription product? I paid $200 for Windows 11 Pro but it still has ads. I'm open to anything to get rid of this adware but I can't find how to buy this version anywhere. Microsoft says to contact sales and they haven't responded to me.

Because this edition is not intended to be licensed to or used by end users. It is not feature complete and it follows a different maintenance schedule.

Pretty much everyone using Windows for IoT is using grey market keys or pirated their OS.

#108

Macro Device

CrAsHnBuRnXpEdit a HOSTS file, use a different start menu alternative, make some regedit changes, etc. You wont see the "ads" again.

You miss the point. The point is not how to work it around. The point is we need this workaround. Vastly unfortunately so.

#109

tommo1982

Beginner Macro DeviceMore bloating, disabled alt-codes (not all of them but WHO CARES AT THIS POINT), ridiculously stupid context menu with 99.9% probability of needing to click "advanced options," gaming instability, et cetera et cetera, it's not fine, it's awful. W11 is worse than W10 in almost any way. And W10 is barely acceptable to begin with.

M$ already were on my "you must yohoho their software" list. Don't see a way they will leave it. Eh, only if gaming on Linux wasn't a complete joke.

You know, when the choice of OS is solely based on playing games there should be a red light blinking.
Linux distro, like Ubuntu, even Debian has been fine for regular users for years. Heck, it's easier to use if you explain some things. I have both Win10 and Mint installed and I've been playing games using Proton. I'm not sure why I stick to Win10 at this point, but this 'experience' you speak of... it's a reaction of an addict.

#110

Macro Device

tommo1982You know, when the choice of OS is solely based on playing games there should be a red light blinking.

If whatever OS does all the rest of my wants equally great then why bother? Gaming is the only variable here, and Windows wins by a great margin. Red light should only be blinking if you for some reason hate video games and disapprove of them being a valid activity. Or overdo on games, which is also not a great idea.

tommo1982but this 'experience' you speak of... it's a reaction of an addict.

Not sure if I understand you here. If you mean I'm only negative because Linux doesn't let me play games as easily as Windows does, you're wrong. I want competition: I want whatever non-NVIDIA GPU vendor to be a threat to NVIDIA; I want whatever non-Windows OS to make folks question Windows as a go-to gaming option; I want monopoly to begone.

M$ feel like they can't be punished. This is what makes me hate the situation. Linux being unable to run games smoothly without additional software (Wine, Proton, you name it) is one of the reasons why a major chunk of PCs is still Windows-based.

#111

AleXXX666

EijiNot seen any ads in Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2024 yet.

Runs as smooth as Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021 did on my PC except HDR runs better and I can now use RTX HDR too which requires WDDM 3.1.

uhm, do you use insider build? It's not about ads will be in RTM but there is no LTSC 11 final yet, or am I missed smth? :D

TomorrowI want a screw driver, not a swiss army knife with million functions i never use and convoluted UI. Tabbed explorer is enough for me. The only feature im missing is the option to pin tabs and for windows to respect single window policy where new links are opened as new tabs in existing window, not new explorer windows.

2004-2006: XP. Hated it. Hated the kids toy look and colors.
2006-2009: Vista. I had a very powerful system at the time so i had no problem running it and i quite liked it.
2009-2019: 7. By far the best one. I skipped 8 entirely and 10 by four years.
2019-2023: 10. It was ok but like XP i never really liked it. I only moved to it due to hardware requirements.
2023-????: 11. Ok so far after nearly a year of use. I get some of the criticism and have some of my own but overall i like it far better than Win10.

LMFAO you are like me with this!!!:eek: love Vista 4ever, as I had maxed out my Vista laptop lmfao...

As about tabs, I mean - it's more comfortable (for me) to drag between two windows or two panels, do you only copy-paste files between 2 folders in tabbed view? :)

#112

Eiji

AleXXX666uhm, do you use insider build? It's not about ads will be in RTM but there is no LTSC 11 final yet, or am I missed smth? :D

I'm using LTSC 2024 build 26100. It's not an Insider build but it's highly likely this is the release (RTM candidate / base build) that will be installed on OEM systems and will be patched with further CU's in the coming months before general release of 24H2 later in the year.

#113

AVATARAT

TomorrowActually Edge is in startup by default and run on first boot. It cannot be closed trough GUI and must be killed trough task manager instead. Then manually removed from startup and then 3rd party script to uninstall it because MS wont let you uninstall it trough GUI.

Even after all that Edge Update remnant remains in the list of installed programs and cannot be removed. I swear they have made me hate edge like a piece of malware despite the fact that i dont even use it.
I would be indifferent to it, if it simply existed as preinstalled program that could be removed and did not run at startup by default.

There are enough rules with which you can turn off many things in Windows, if you don't know about them your rage is understanding :)

#114

AusWolf

AVATARAT
There are enough rules with which you can turn off many things in Windows, if you don't know about them your rage is understanding :)

To me, the only advantage of Windows over Linux (besides gaming) is that you don't have to tinker to make it usable. If that's not the case anymore, I'd rather choose Linux.

#115

AVATARAT

AusWolfTo me, the only advantage of Windows over Linux (besides gaming) is that you don't have to tinker to make it usable. If that's not the case anymore, I'd rather choose Linux.

Linux is very cute and nice to moment when you need to go to configure kernel if you want to use something specific :D
In Windows is just next, next...

#116

AusWolf

AVATARATLinux is very cute and nice to moment when you need to go to configure kernel if you want to use something specific :D
In Windows is just next, next...

That's what I mean. If I have to tinker in the registry to make my Windows installation half decent, then I might as well learn to use the Linux terminal instead.

#117

Tomorrow

AVATARAT
There are enough rules with which you can turn off many things in Windows, if you don't know about them your rage is understanding :)

Yes i do know about and use Group Policy. Unfortunately Windows does not always respect GP. For example it completely ignores my Defender specific custom settings.

#118

DaemonForce

Most of what we're concerned about here is making Windows usable after install, so in that regard Windows is a bit worse than linux even if you have no concept of files and ACLs. The entire issue is default bloat resource hog behavior and continued memory leaks and other issues AFTER the debloat. In other words it's a valiant uphill battle just to make the computer usable. This might have been an issue on earlier transitions like XP->Vista or 7->8.1 but nothing has been as egregious as everything thrown at us between 10->11. It sucks.

AusWolfThat's what I mean. If I have to tinker in the registry to make my Windows installation half decent, then I might as well learn to use the Linux terminal instead.

It's either that or grab one of these:

#119

AVATARAT

TomorrowYes i do know about and use Group Policy. Unfortunately Windows does not always respect GP. For example it completely ignores my Defender specific custom settings.

Some antivirus programs will turn off Defender, or you can do it manually, the default version is week in most situations, but yes is better than nothing.
If you had a way to use it somehow - ok.

#120

AusWolf

DaemonForceIt's either that or grab one of these:

No, thank you. The day I must rely on this is the day I'll make the swap for Linux.

Edit: Not because I'd never have to use the terminal, but if I have to, I'd much rather do it in an OS that comes free and is ad-free by default.

#121

pavle

What's not to like? It's so M$-like, just switch to a serious OS like Linux and climb out of M$ cesspit.

#122

AVATARAT

pavleWhat's not to like? It's so M$-like, just switch to a serious OS like Linux and climb out of M$ cesspit.

Isn't BSD more serious OS? :eek:

#123

Tomorrow

AVATARATSome antivirus programs will turn off Defender, or you can do it manually, the default version is week in most situations, but yes is better than nothing.
If you had a way to use it somehow - ok.

Unless im missing something it's not that easy. Oh and disabling the highlighted service breaks MS Store.

#124

TheinsanegamerN

Dr. DroThe naked truth no computer nerds wants to admit is that Linux is just about worthless for the largest majority of people. Normal people (who aren't tech savvy nor retain a great interest in computers) are simply not willing to learn how to use it unless it's something that's been dumbed down to the extreme (eg. SteamOS, which borders on being a single-purpose system) and requires as little maintenance as possible, not to mention most would move to the Mac before they bother with the freetards and their ideological nonsense permeating every aspect of the experience. They'd sooner go on tirades about how systemd is philosophically evil than get together and agree on distro-agnostic open standards that every flavor of Linux follows... or even go as far as correcting my post here since I am talking about the "GNU/Linux kernel" and that distributions are technically operating systems of their own, "deal with it"...

It sounds like you're bitter. I've had no issue moving my family to Linux. They use their computers to do taxes, browse the internet, watch videos, and do their budgets. None of this needs windows. I've moved multiple older clients to linux for their home systems, again no issues. In a world where most things are web based, the client OS doesnt matter as much anymore.

I myself have used linux as my main gaming system for a year now. It's pretty great. Some multiplayer game shave issues and window stays around for the blue moon my friends play.

Dr. Droyeah i'll deal with your dependency hells and endless terminal use by using Windows or buying a Mac.

You are over a decade out of date on how linux works today my friend : ) maybe it's time you took a refresher on using Linux?

AusWolfTo me, the only advantage of Windows over Linux (besides gaming) is that you don't have to tinker to make it usable. If that's not the case anymore, I'd rather choose Linux.

My solution to this is to use Manjaro for a gaming system. Then you dont have to tinker, you've got the lastest MESA and drivers and yadda yadda.

For non gaming? Mint. works every time. Even with those garbage Realtek wifi cards.

#125

AVATARAT

Tomorrow

Unless im missing something it's not that easy. Oh and disabling the highlighted service breaks MS Store.

I have no problem with that. Maybe you need to log in at least once?

Add your own comment

Windows 11 Now Officially Adware as Microsoft Embeds Ads in the Start Menu

173 Comments on Windows 11 Now Officially Adware as Microsoft Embeds Ads in the Start Menu

Latest GPU Drivers

New Forum Posts

Popular Reviews

Controversial News Posts

Windows 11 Now Officially Adware as Microsoft Embeds Ads in the Start Menu

Related News

173 Comments on Windows 11 Now Officially Adware as Microsoft Embeds Ads in the Start Menu

Latest GPU Drivers

New Forum Posts

Popular Reviews

Controversial News Posts