Microsoft has gone too far: including a Game Pass ad in the Settings app ushers in a whole new age of ridiculous over-advertising

Submitted ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨lemmee_in@lemm.ee⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.world⁩

https://www.techradar.com/computing/windows/microsoft-has-gone-too-far-including-a-game-pass-ad-in-the-settings-app-ushers-in-a-whole-new-age-of-ridiculous-over-advertising

Windows 11 is getting out of hand with its push for advertisments, frankly - remember the recent full-screen pop-up to persuade users to install Edge or other Microsoft services? Then another advertisment was placed in the Start menu, and now Microsoft has finally worn my temper thin - with a new Game Pass ad coming to the Settings app.

This will likely arrive in the July update for Windows 11, or at least it’s almost certain to do so. It was present in the latest preview update Microsoft just released for the OS (and quickly paused due to a bug, but that’s another story). It’s also worth noting that the ad has been present in earlier test versions of Windows 11.

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Comments

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MonkderDritte@feddit.de ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
If windows becomes an advertising platform, isn’t MS forced to open it to competitors lest they are misusing their power?

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1984@lemmy.today ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
You guys complain but you never actually switch to Linux. :)

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- HKayn@dormi.zone ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Everyone in this thread is already using Linux and just using this thread to circlejerk about issues the average Windows user won’t card about.
  
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  - 1984@lemmy.today ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Maybe it is like that yeah.
    
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negiforbid@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I use edge and subscribe to gamepass, so the ads is gone, right?

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Muscar@discuss.online ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I’ve managed to de-google completely and mostly de-microsoft, but I use cloud streaming (shadow) for gaming and anything else that’s more than my shitty laptop can’t handle and there’s no way to use Linux on the cloud part. Only thing I can’t do anything about yet, and doubt that’ll change anytime soon or at all.

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- sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Yeah, the only solution there is to buy better hardware.
  
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NutWrench@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I got the “It’s time to upgrade to Windows 11” message on my Windows 10 laptop. It’s getting aggravating.

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- ArtVandelay@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  gotta love the aggressive tone. “Its Time. Switch to Windows 11.” Some mafia shit lol
  
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psycho_driver@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
You will take it and you will like it.

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dvdnet62@feddit.nl ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I know ExplorePatcher and Startallback can stop ads on Start menu. is there any viable solution for this Settings app ad?

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- brb@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Windows 10 LTSC
  
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umbraroze@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Joke’s on you, Microsoft.

First of all, I already have Game Pass, so you don’t get any new sales.
Second, if I open the settings app in Windows 11, it just straight up crashes. (Can access the other tabs, e.g. through desktop customisation. But if I go to the front page, it crashes.)

It was broken by the update that supposedly added some other ads. But I’ve not seen them! I had to disable the “recommendations” in start menu because it made the start menu not work at all (due to the aforementioned crash, same deal).

This actually really sucks, though. Windows Store apps do not update themselves, Xbox services stopped working (due to being unable to update WS games), and I don’t know if Windows Update works or not. I guess I need to reinstall when I get arsed to.

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Ibuthyr@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I never get any of these things in my install. Is this a home edition thing only maybe? Genuine question, not trying to be a smartass.

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thejml@lemm.ee ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
So, does PiHole work against this threat? I don’t believe I’ve seen an ad on Windows 11 yet on my desktop, but it’s firmly behind a PiHole and never leaves the house (because desktop)… so either I’m lucky, missing something, or it’s working.

I mean, I basically just boot it up to game and backup CDs to FLAC and such, so maybe I’m just missing things.

And Yes, as someone who has used linux since 1995, I know I can probably do those things in Linux at this point, but I couldn’t when I set it up and since it’s working I’ve got other things higher on my list to do.

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- Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  No, Pihole doesn’t help.
  
  I think the reason you say you haven’t seen an ad on Windows is because the ads aren’t the traditional ads like you see on a webpage.
  
  When someone talks about an ad on Windows, they are referring to the Spotify app presinstalled in the Start Menu, the OneDrive prompt for backing up during setup, and the weather bug on the taskbar that brings up news if you click it.
  
  You might think that a weather widget isn’t an ad, but the idea is you click it, see a relevant news article, click the news article and you are taken to a traditional webpage with ads.
  
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cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
this is definitely the worst thing ever /s

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- lvxferre@mander.xyz ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  More like the straw that broke the camel’s back. And a sign that Microsoft’s behaviour is still the same as it was in IE times.
  
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