Windows 11 Start menu ads are now rolling out to everyone

Submitted ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨ForgottenFlux@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.world⁩

https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/24/24138949/microsoft-windows-11-start-menu-ads-recommendations-setting-disable

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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GuStJaR@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ 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.

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- db2@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I have the same policy for pop up ads.
  
  Joker “you get what you deserve” scene image
  
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- Rexios@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ 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.
  
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  - RmDebArc_5@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    They also may be included if you pay for your app to be on the homepage of the Microsoft store
    
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  - kautau@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Yeah if your app has in app purchases or requires payment it probably can show up here. Probably in the contract you sign to put your app in the Microsoft store
    
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- BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Don’t disagree with the sentiment but I didn’t think companies had this much leeway in how their ads were displayed.
  
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- heavy@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  No candy crush for this guy!
  
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  - DrWeevilJammer@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Or 1Password, apparently
    
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- palordrolap@kbin.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  The only place this will be active is on the computers of home users who don't know how or don't care to deactivate it. The computers of the common clay of IT usage. You know. Morons.
  
  And to tie that meme in with an older one: A fool and his money are soon parted.
  
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  - GuStJaR@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I appreciate the Blazing Saddles reference 👌
    
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- CaptKoala@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Meirl
  
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Sanctus@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ 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.

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- aniki@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  You shouldn’t. I haven’t. Microsoft is a plague and a choice.
  
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  - grue@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ 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.
    
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  - BestBouclettes@jlai.lu ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    The choice is hard to make when Microsoft’s garbage has been shoved down your throat for decades, it’s the default pretty much everywhere and the only viable alternative, for 99% of the population, is Apple.
    
    Governments have been way too lenient and passive on that aspect for far too long
    
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  - tabular@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ 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.
    
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- sudo42@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ 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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- kevincox@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Pretty simple. Stock go brrrr.
  
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- chiliedogg@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Fewer people are buying PCs now that Smartphones have replaced the need to have one for most uses, but Microsoft still has to make more money every quarter than the quarter before because the stock market doesn’t value stable profits.
  
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- gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ 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.
  
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- tabular@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Having control over other people’s computing gives you power over them: you can gain from their detriment. It’s not like everyone is uncaring or greedy but even people with good intentions do not have infinite willpower to resist temptation. When the user doesn’t like a change from an update their choice is usually to put up with it because that’s easier than stop using the it. It easier to defend ads in a menu or opt-outs in hidden menus because that’s easier than;
  
  learning what an operating system is and that you can use a different one
  
  how to install and use a new OS
  
  By sharing the source code instead you give up that power - if you fail to be good to the users then other devs can work on it without you.
  
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  - Sanctus@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    You don’t give up anything by sharing source code. If anything, you share your power with the world. All other perceived outcomes are attributes of capitalism baked into your thought pattern.
    
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- kalpol@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  MS doesn’t care about the desktop operating system except how can they control it like Apple and iphones. All the money is in O365 and Azure these days.
  
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NarrativeBear@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Didn’t I pay for the OS?

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- filcuk@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  You pay for the privilege of getting ads beamed directly to your desktop
  
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- Assman@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Sure, we’ve had first payment…
  
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  - ArtVandelay@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    “We’ve had one payment, yes. What about second payment?”
    
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- Kolanaki@yiffit.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I paid for 10.
  
  Which is why I never enabled TPM on my motherboard. I didn’t pay for 11. I do not want 11.
  
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  - VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ 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.
    
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- A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Did anyone pay for 11?
  
  Microsoft has been giving it free left and right.
  
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  - archomrade@midwest.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Everyone paid for a windows os, but they’ve been forcing upgrades for what I assume are completely unrelated reasons
    
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  - captainlezbian@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I did. I was naive and had just built a gaming pc. 10 was no longer for sale
    
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- praise_idleness@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I think it’s safe to say that over 99% of custom built pc doesn’t run on proper windows license
  
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  - GladiusB@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ 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.
    
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  - femboy_bird@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ 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
    
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- Linkerbaan@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I didn’t pay for the OS.
  
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Nougat@fedia.io ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ 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.

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- Dagamant@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Money
  
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  - Nougat@fedia.io ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Seems short sighted to annoy the people who pay you the most money already.
    
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- tourist@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  how soon do you think ms gets hit with a lawsuit because a malicious ad infected BlackRock or Deloitte or some shit
  
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  - russjr08@bitforged.space ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    If there’s anything that I’ve learned, it’s that lawsuits are more often than not, just a joke to the large companies.
    
    Hell it’s often easier for them to just classify whatever fine they get slapped on the wrist with as a business expense, than to do the right thing, it seems.
    
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AbsurdityAccelerator@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I installed Linux Mint a few days ago. It’s been great so far.

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- TwilightVulpine@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Windows 11 made my girlfriend’s laptop so slow, even she asked me to install Linux, and she is not even a techy type.
  
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  - bitwolf@lemmy.one ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Nature is healing!
    
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  - EngineerGaming@feddit.nl ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I installed Mint for my elderly mom a couple years ago, because Windows 7 was EOL and even 10 would’ve been too slow (had ab experience with an involuntary upgrade on our family laptop years earlier).
    
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  - ArtVandelay@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I installed pop os and libre office on my wife’s laptop not long after Pop was released, and by now I don’t think she would know what to do on Windows or Mac. So proud of her.
    
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- UsernameIsTooLon@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I wanna like Linux but I play too many games with anti-cheats that just don’t work on Linux yet :(
  
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  - PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I mean, you’re not wrong. Anticheat is pretty much the one thing that Linux doesn’t play nicely with. Given, it’s largely on the game producers to fix, not on the OS. But it’s still a valid complaint from an end user perspective.
    
    If Linux fans truly want to encourage migration, stifling valid complaints isn’t the way to do it. The issue with everyone going “oh it’s so easy, it’s so much better, you won’t regret it at all” is that as soon as a user encounters a hangup they’ll be more inclined to just abandon it altogether. Because if everyone is going “oh it’s so easy” but you’re not having an easy time with it, then you’ll quickly conclude that maybe it’s just not the right fit for you. And the people going “lul just don’t play those games then dummy” need to get some friends. Because when all of those friends are playing the shiny new game but they’re locked out of it due to their choice of OS, they may consider dual-booting Windows just to be able to keep up with their friends.
    
    But this is Lemmy and the Linux fanboys can’t tolerate a single toe out of line. So I guess it makes sense why you got downvoted.
    
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  - ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Honestly the best solution is to find alternatives
    
    If the audience stays on Windows then there is no incentive to support Linux
    
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  - xthexder@l.sw0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    As far as I know, pretty much the only anti-cheat that doesn’t work on linux is the kernel-level malware kind. I personally avoid those games at all costs regardless. That’s easy for me to say though, since I barely play any competitive games…
    
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  - secret300@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Easy solution, stop playing those game /s
    
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  - bitwolf@lemmy.one ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Technically they do work, but the publisher is blocking Linux.
    
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  - Blisterexe@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    check areweanticheatyet.com to see if they work, they might
    
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  - AbsurdityAccelerator@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Demand better from the devs. And seeks out games that work on linux. There are plenty of them.
    
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  - httperror418@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Hopefully those games go to steam deck as that seems like a way to have a market share they might then cater for (I can’t play BF on Linux due to the antichear requirements)
    
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  - EngineerGaming@feddit.nl ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Another option is playing not on your hardware entirely - at least where I live, there are computer clubs where you can use high-end gaming computers for a small per-hour fee.
    
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- return2ozma@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  What do you like and don’t like about it so far? What system did you install it on?
  
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  - AbsurdityAccelerator@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    For now it just works. I have no complaints. I ran into just a few tiny snags and was able to resolve everything with a google search. It’s installed on my 10 year old desktop.
    
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- CaptKoala@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Welcome to the good life, with the exception of VR and (rootkit) anticheat for multiplayer, it’s all smiles over here.
  
  Hope Mint treats you as well as it’s treated me! (Even though most of my tinkering breaks stuff, reinstall incoming I suspect)
  
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  - AbsurdityAccelerator@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I don’t play anything multi-player so it’s not an issue. And I have to little time to play single player games I can simply ignore stuff that’s not compatible.
    
    As far as VR, I am holding out hope that valve will make a Quest like VR headset.
    
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merdaverse@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ 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.

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- Silentiea@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Are they sponsored? I was under the impression they were usually just Microsoft advertising their own shitty stuff? Ads, sure. But for it to be sponsored, someone else has to pay for them
  
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  - merdaverse@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    The screenshot shows 1password, which to my knowledge is not affiliated to Microsoft, so I think yes, they are sponsored
    
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- Sylvartas@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ 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
  
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NOT_RICK@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
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.

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- Temperche@feddit.de ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  PopOS handles nvidia drivers perfectly.
  
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- owenfromcanada@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  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.
  
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- Kbobabob@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I made it through two whole top level comments before getting to a switch to Linux comment.
  
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casmael@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
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

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Matriks404@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
How hard is it to make a decent OS Microsoft? Haven’t you got enough our money already?

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pro_grammer@programming.dev ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Thank god I use linux

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Gigan@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Windows sucks. I wish I could put Linux on my work computer.

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CaptKoala@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Yet another bullet dodged since my move to Linux, thank fuck. Fuck you cunts at Micro$hit.

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Sabata11792@kbin.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
How long until Mom gets malware from them?

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ikidd@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
"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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themeatbridge@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
And the wind screams Linux

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lemmytellyousomething@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Everyone? This shit will be on my work computer???

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Sniatch@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Think I will try Linux for real now

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slaacaa@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Fucking unhinged idiocracy. Capitalism is the cancer of humanity

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praise_idleness@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
That’s disgusting.

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Zacryon@lemmy.wtf ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
“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.

The 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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MonkderDritte@feddit.de ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Why does the OS have to recommend you apps?

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kautau@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
For those who want to stay on windows and avoid this trash:

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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Harbinger01173430@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Me, on my Ubuntu machine: 🧐🤔😂😂😂😂😂😂

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TimeSquirrel@kbin.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I'm just here waiting for my wife to finally snap and ask about getting Linux on her gaming PC. I've been using it for 20 years now.

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FrozenHandle@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Good thing I switched to Linux 10 years ago. No regrets.

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nytrixus@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I’m not even on Windows 11, lol. Dodging so many bullets from that shithole OS.

The only things preventing me from going full on Linux is driver support/compatibility, full gaming (we’re talking, things from GOG more than Steam) and using the same utilities that run better on Windows.

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Adulated_Aspersion@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I’m calling it now.

Windows 11 will be the new Windows 8. Or NT. Or millennium.

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HootinNHollerin@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
The shit must flow

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dan1101@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
They can at least be disabled but it’s always something with MS these days.

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purplemonkeymad@programming.dev ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

turn off the toggle for “Show recommendations for tips, app promotions, and more.”

I turn this off anyway, as in Windows 10 it always kept pushing 3rd party apps. Is this ad any different to the Windows 10 “Suggested App” that was in the start menu for it?

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