I'm curious why my experience with Windows 11 is so different from what I regularly read. It was some years ago now, so I don't remember exactly what configuration steps I went through, but presumably I turned off ads when I first installed. And so, I don't get ads. I don't recall ever seeing an ad embedded in Windows. Are people talking about Edge (which I don't use) or inside the Microsoft Store (which I very rarely use, but I presume does have sponsored apps or whatever)? Or is this mostly people who don't use Windows, repeating what others have said? Or are these ads targeted at users who aren't me?

Your Windows 11 experience strongly, strongly depends on where you are. Are you inside the EU? 90% of the crap people complain about is simply illegal and you don't see any of it.

There is a setting that turns off many of the notifications that irritate people.

Settings -> System -> Notifications. Scroll to the bottom, expand Additional settings. Uncheck "Suggest ways to get the most out of Windows and finish setting up this device" and "Get tips and suggestions when using Windows".

I get more prompts from macOS about Apple products than I get from Windows about Microsoft products after unchecking those two settings.

I've also never seen an ad in windows 11.

I did uninstall all of the weird apps like "News" "Weather" etc.