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Well, the glory days are over, folks; Microsoft is pushing its ads in the settings menu. In a bold move to push more users toward its services.
Specifically, they’re testing the ads in the “Accounts” section, nudging users to embrace Microsoft accounts.
But don’t panic just yet – these ads are only popping up in early Insider Canary builds, so their rollout to all Windows 11 users isn’t set in stone.
Twitter detective “Albacore” spilled the beans on this development, unearthing interesting tidbits in new Windows builds. Interestingly, these ads seem to target users logged in with local accounts, lurking exclusively in the Settings > Accounts portion of the Windows 11 Settings menu.
While Microsoft still allows local accounts for general purposes, it’s pushing users to sign in more often for features like auto-syncing files and Windows Store access.
Choosing a local account does have its perks, though, like increased privacy and dodging unwanted services like OneDrive.
These Settings menu ads are part of a broader trend of Microsoft weaving ads to any place imaginable, such as the Start menu.
We’ve been dealing with ads in Windows for a while now, and as Windows 10 approaches its twilight years, we can probably expect even more “reminders,” “ads,” and “notifications” to rear their heads.
While some folks argue that Microsoft ads have their merits (spreading the word about new features and options), for those in the know, these ads are just another pesky hurdle to clear before getting on with their day.
Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.
Editors’ Recommendations:
- How to bring back the classic Start Menu to Windows 10
- Microsoft is serving ads in the Windows 11 sign-out menu
- How to stop Windows 11 apps from opening during startup
- How to disable the Windows 11 startup sound
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Dreaper
May 9, 2023 at 4:13 pm
Ah… Now I know why Windows’ market share has dropped so much since December. Because Microsoft is actively pushing people to other platforms. No wonder Chromebook and Mac went up some. But it seems in the past month, India caused a good dent in Windows’ market share. That market share went to “unknown”. So, it must be that India has moved over to their own in house Linux distribution that isn’t recognized as one of the common Linux distros. So, it seems like Microsoft is making Linux seem like better option than actual Linux users now.
And with Valve’s Steam Deck (which also runs Linux) making Windows more irrelevant to PC gaming, I wonder what the future of Windows will be like in the next handful of years with Microsoft degenerating at this rate.
Dreaper
May 9, 2023 at 4:14 pm
If anyone wants to see stats of OS market share on the desktop, just head over to stat counter.