Brace yourselves: Microsoft wants to put ads in Windows 11's Start menu

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Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting.

revealed that the beta channel of Windows 11 will soon feature opt-out"recommended apps" from the Microsoft store in the Start menu, effectively introducing advertisements to a new, previously unsullied area of the OS. Sorry, did I say good news?

Leaving aside the framing of this as some kind of great new feature for my benefit, my first thought was,"Wait, I thought the Start menu already crammed ads down my gullet?" Well, dear reader, I was actually thinking of the Search bar next to Windows 11's Start menu⁠—you know, the one where if you don't type the exact right file name you're looking for you get a bunch of Bing results that open into Edge instead of stuff on your computer? Yes, the sanctity of the Search...

You'll similarly be able to opt out of the new Recommended apps from the store, but is it too much to ask to not have an OS I paid for keep shoving this crap in front of my face? It's chintzy and obnoxious, an extension of this feeling of Windows constantly foisting changes on users that nobody ever asked for, all while basic stuff likeThings are already going great elsewhere in Windows. I should probably just pin the Snipping Tool to my taskbar, huh.

Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch.

 

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