I do not have ads in my start menu, and no, I didn't "debloat" my PC. This is a base install where I flipped a couple of settings in the start menu options.

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tracker1 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

It was a test they ran on Insiders channel to see how people reacted to them. It never mated it into GA, or for that matter the entire insiders channels... They'll feature gate things to some insiders users and A/B test them to see how the user response looks. There was a bit of an uproar at the time for those that saw them, including myself... I ditched windows altogether (except my assigned work laptop).

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thunfischtoast 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

How generous of them to allow their paying user to disable the ads. It's only a matter of time until this either becomes some sort of premium feature.

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dijit 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

You're missing the point entirely.

The problem isn't that ads can be disabled. The problem is that a paid operating system ships with ads in the first place. Full stop. There's no universe where that's acceptable product design, and the fact that you can disable them (for now, at least) doesn't make it less offensive.

I don't understand why you're going to bat for a trillion-dollar corporation here. Your settings work now. Great. They won't after the next feature update, this is a well-documented pattern. Windows updates routinely re-enable telemetry, Bing integration, and promotional content that users explicitly disabled. You're not configuring your OS, you're fighting it.

The TPM2 requirement is pure planned obsolescence. Millions of perfectly good machines binned because Microsoft decided hardware from 2016 is suddenly "insecure"... whilst the actual benefit is DRM enforcement and remote attestation.

It's a corporate compliance tool, not a security feature.

The Insiders build being referenced had actual web advertisements in search results. That's where this is headed. If you're comfortable defending that trajectory, carry on flipping those settings.

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3form 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

>whilst the actual benefit is DRM enforcement and remote attestation.

This is not highlighted nearly enough. It's very bad.

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jayd16 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

You paid for windows 11? They basically give it away to end users.

	▲	dijit 5 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Yes, I paid for Windows 11. It came bundled with the £1,900 laptop I bought. The fact that the licence cost is hidden in the hardware price doesn't make it free. And even if it were free, which it isn't, that still wouldn't justify ads. Android is free. Linux is free. Neither ships with gambling app promotions in the system UI. Microsoft made $20 billion in Windows revenue last year. They're not a scrappy startup looking for alternative monetisation. The ads exist because they can get away with it, not because they need to.
	▲	somerandomqaguy an hour ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		OEM volume pricing is $20 USD or so for system builders like Dell, HP, etc last time I saw it, but that was a long time ago. So technically yes it was purchased if you bought a system, it was just built into the price.
	▲	layer8 4 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Not really. Only upgrading an existing Windows 10 installation is free.

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benjiro 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> The problem is that a paid operating system ships with ads in the first place.

You never buy a laptop or pre-build? They are often full of ads that are not Microsoft Windows build in but add-on by the OEM.

Now i agree that Ads in your OS that you paid for, is a big nono. I never understood why Microsoft threats Home and Pro as almost the exact same. Sell Home for cheaper and with Ads, but keep the more expensive Pro clean. Microsoft can do that easily because Windows Server is just that ...

But on the Linux front, i have never been happy with the desktop experience. Often a lot of small details are missing, if the DE itself not outright crashes (KDE, master in Plasma/Widget crashes!). And so many other desktop feel like they have been made in the 90s (probably are) and never gotten updated.

And i do not run W11, still on old and very stable W10. There is no reason to upgrade that i see. Did the same with W7, for years after support ended (and by that time W10 was well polished and less buggy).

The problem is, what does Linux Desktop offer me more, then a few annoyances that i can remove after a fresh install? Often a lot more trouble with the need to use the terminal for things, that are ancient in Windows. That is the problem ... With Apple, you can get insane good M-CPU hardware (yes, mem/storage is insane), for the os/desktop switch.

I noticed that often the people who switch to Linux, are more likely to send more time into finetuning their OS, tinkering around, etc... aka people with more time on their hands. But when you get a bit older, you simply want something that works and gives you no trouble. I can literally upgrade my PC here from a NVidia to AMD or visa versa, and it will simply work with the correct full performance drivers. Its that convenience that is the draw to keep using (even ifs a older) Windows.

For now 25 years every few years, i look at upgrading to Linux permanently, install a few distro's and go back. Linus Desktop does not feel like you gain a massive benefit, if that makes sense? Especially not if your like me, who simply rides out Microsoft their bad OS releases. What is the killer features that you say, hey, Linux Desktop is insane good, it has X, Y, Z that Microsoft does not have, its ... That is the issue in my book. Yes, it has no adds but that is like 5 min work on a fresh install, a 2 min job of copy/past a cleanup script to remove the spyware and other crap and your good for year. So again, killer features?

Often a lot of programs that are less developed or stripped down compared to Windows, let alone way too often 90 style feels programs. You can tell its made by developers often, with no GUI / Graphical developers involved lol

I said it a 1000 times but Linux Desktop suffers from a lot of distro redoing the same time over and over again. Resulting in this lag ...

That is my yearly Linux rant hahaha. And yes, i know, W11 is a disaster but i simply wait it out on W10, and see what the future brings when the whole AI hype dies down and Microsoft loses too much customers. I am betting that somebody is going to get scared at MS and we then get a better W12 again.

	▲	tracker1 3 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I've been pretty happy with Pop in general, I did upgrade to COSMIC pre-release about 6 months ago, and although there have been rough edges, less than some of my Win11 experiences. I don't really fiddle that much in practice, I did spend a year with Budgie, but only the first week fiddling. Pop's out of the box is about 90% of what I want, which is better than most. I do use a Macbook M1 Air for my personal laptop and have used them for work off and on over the years... I'm currently using a very locked down windows laptop assigned from work. Not having WSL and Docker have held me back a lot though. In the end, I do most of my work in Linux anyway... it's where what I work on tends to get deployed and I don't really do much that doesn't work on Linux without issue at this point. Windows, specifically since Win11 has continued to piss me off and I jumped when I saw something that was just too much for me to consider dealing with. I ran insiders for years to get the latest WSL integrations and features. This bit me a few times, but was largely worth it, until it wasn't anymore. C# work is paying the bills... would I rather work on Rust or TS, sure... but I am where I am. I'm similar to you in that I looked at Linux every few years, kicked the tires, ran it for a month or a couple weeks and always went back. This time a couple years ago... it stuck. Ironically, my grandmother used Linux much longer than I ever did on her computer that I maintained for her. For her, it just worked, and she didn't need much beyond the browser.
	▲	dijit 5 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		> You never buy a laptop or pre-build? They are often full of ads that are not Microsoft Windows build in but add-on by the OEM. This was never acceptable, but we tolerated it because it subsidised the cost of the laptop, OEMs decided the trade-off and you could vote with your wallet for cleaner experiences (often with the same manufacturer). Show me the ThinkPad T or X series (or EliteBook, or Precision/Latitude) that shipped with ads and I'll take it as a valid point. Otherwise, it's not valid.
	▲	anon291 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		> if the DE itself not outright crashes (KDE, master in Plasma/Widget crashes!). And so many other desktop feel like they have been made in the 90s (probably are) and never gotten updated. All modern Linux desktops feel more advanced than the corresponding windows version, IMO. I just installed standard Raspbian on a bunch of Raspi5s, and it feels snappier and more advanced than Windows already.

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blackcatsec 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

For those that want to remove items, You can quickly disable these options by going into Settings > Personalization > Start and turn off "Show recommendations for tips, shortcuts, new apps, and more".

It's like a 10 second fix and basically everything is gone.

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tracker1 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

That's not what I'm referring to... it was a beta test that included actual internet ads in the start menu search results... It was literally a product I was looking at on the previous day.

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blackcatsec 5 hours ago | parent [-]

Again, let's clarify here.

Microsoft implemented, in its Beta Windows Insider Channel in 2024, ads in the "Recommended" section of the Start Menu. The very section I just described pretty plainly how to turn off.

I mean I don't understand why everyone is so puffed up about this. You read some internet headline and start screeching about it on social media as if it doesn't take 2 seconds to literally turn off.

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tracker1 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

AGAIN this is NOT what I was referring to... I'm referring to when you start typing in the name of a program you have installed, and you get a short list of matches, with maybe additional results... not a PRODUCT ADVERTISEMENT (not software) from the internet at the top, which is what I got.

It's not a feature that should EVER exist at an OS level... I didn't even mind the adjacent product ads or the Recommended section you mention that much... but it's emphatically not what I'm fucking talking about.

The fact that this was even something that was implemented and tested means that I'm not someone who will buy or choose Microsoft Windows at all from here forward. I have over 3 decades of development experience on/for/with software that runs on Windows.

An even then... It doesn't matter if I can shut it off, it shouldn't have existed in the first place.

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jayd16 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It might be different if they didn't push updates every other month that changed settings like default browser back to their products.

You're right that there are simple fixes but the point is that Microsoft is no longer on your side. You're now stuck defensivly scrambling for value in a product where you are no longer the customer.

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dijit 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

The Ass-Fucker 3000 fucks you in the arse when you use your car ignition.

But don't get bent out of shape - you can disable it in settings. Takes 10 seconds. Assuming you know it exists and the option doesn't disappear in a future update.

And if it re-enables itself after the next patch? Well, at least the option to disable it still exists! Probably.

Why would you buy a different car? It's so easy to turn off. What, you want to use a BMW? Be a BMW-user? A sheep? All your tools already integrate with our car anyway. There's no real choice, is there - unless you want to be a try-hard. And maybe it doesn't even work properly. You don't want that hassle, do you? Just accept the Ass-Fucker 3000. Next week they'll add the Wife-Beater 2000, but don't worry -that'll have a toggle too.

Cope harder. I wish I had apologists like you for my software.

	▲	selimthegrim 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		This sounds like Boeing MCAS cant.

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anon291 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I mean you can also copy my dotfiles onto your linux machine and have a more advanced system than anything windows would provide, and it'll take less than ten seconds, but this is 'fiddling' or somethin.