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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.

notanaltaccount ,

If you order the shit soup, don't act surprised if it tastes bad.

These people are CHOOSING to use Windows. They need to just STFU and use Linux or enjoy the shit soup they keep ordering.

neclimdul ,

Should I point out the irony of this complaint being posted on a site with ads every other sentence and doesn't even show what the windows ads looks like?

It's a valid complaint and all I just laughed as I scrolled past all the blank "ad here" blocks to read the article.

umbraroze ,

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.

Lucidlethargy ,
@Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works avatar

I've never actually seen an ad in Windows... Like, literally ever. The worst I've seen is Windows trying to trick me into making edge my default browser.

If I believed all the articles on Lemmy, every part of the OS now has embedded ads, and the OS itself is recording everything I ever do against my will and without my knowledge.

WanderingVentra ,

The second part is probably true, but ya, also don't encounter too many ads except for like some default game programs or something installed with the OS that are easy to remove from the Start menu and then you never see them again.

thequickben ,

I’ve personally seen ads in the start menu. It was my last straw, convincing me to move to Linux full time.

notanaltaccount , (edited )

Windows is selling data from what you do and making money and you just aren't noticing the ads are tailored to you.

It's the type of thing that seems harmless, unless you are a woman searching for an abortion provider and Microsoft sells that, and then an ultra-right wing religious majority comes to power and decides to retroactively put to death all women who have had an abortion and use that data to put you to death.

This surveilance mechanism is mostly harmless... until one day it's not.

glitchdx ,

when was the last time you installed windows? Also, what version? If you've only ever had it set up for you, then you may have only used windows that had already been cleaned of all the bullshit. This includes pc s provided by your work.

For win10, the install iso provided by microsoft puts ads for games in the windows store in the default start menu. I have installed many win10 pc s over the years, and candy crush (among others) is always there.

TurboHarbinger ,

0 ads too, windows 11 last update. Lemmy circlejerk is pretty much this. These threads are either fake news or ragebait, and the comments are just uninformed/untested opinions.

That without saying that win11 ltsc exists now. At least is something to test.

JackbyDev ,

I see ads pretty much everyday in Windows. They're not as attention grabbing as traditional ads and I think this is part of why some people don't see them.

pycorax ,

Yea same here. In all my years using a computer, I've never seen such a thing aside from "preinstalled" apps. Is this a regional thing?

fruitycoder ,

Win 8 was aggregious. 10 is more subtle (little notifications now and then)

Enterprise is better

Muscar ,

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.

sugar_in_your_tea ,

Yeah, the only solution there is to buy better hardware.

Potatos_are_not_friends ,

Lemmy: why aren't people using Linux? It's so easy

Also Lemmy: webp huh?

anon_8675309 ,

What’s webp and why should I care?

ILikeBoobies , (edited )

Google’s image format

It’s smaller than png which a company that shows images really likes because it’s cheaper so to force adoption they convert a bunch of images to .webp on google images

The problem is that 1. It hadn’t been adapted anywhere so people would have to convert it back to png to use 2. It is worse in every aspect to jxl files so Google has had to block the adaptation of jxl on the web as much as they can (jxl retains more quality and is half the size of webp)

Currently only webkit browsers support jxl out of the box. Firefox has had it in their nightly builds for years now but have never moved it into standard

NotAnonymousAtAll , (edited )

If Google wants to push webp because it is smaller than previous formats, and jxl is even smaller than that, why would Google have an interst in blocking jxl?

Not saying Google did not or does not block jxl, just your chain of logic as to why they do that does not make sense to me.

gregoryw3 ,

It doesn’t make sense which is why people believe Google has ulterior motives. I haven’t seen any real reason not to use jxl as the new format; but I also haven’t looked that far into it. ¯\(ツ)/¯

sugar_in_your_tea ,

JXL is new (like 2 years old), webp is older (> 10 years). Adding support for a thing takes time and resources, which is lower priority when there are good-enough formats already supported.

At least that's my perspective as someone who interacts with product owners (i.e. the type of people deciding what features get prioritized).

ILikeBoobies ,

Because it’s not theirs

anon_8675309 ,

Why should I help Google saturate the internet with yet some else they control?

notanaltaccount ,

Foss users should start making jxl only websites just to fuck chrome users and google.

Hackworth ,

WebP is a raster graphics file format developed by Google intended as a replacement for JPEG, PNG, and GIF file formats. It supports both lossy and lossless compression, as well as animation and alpha transparency. Google announced the WebP format in September 2010, and released the first stable version of its supporting library in April 2018.

The format has spotty support across applications and some vulnerabilities were discovered that required patch efforts last year. It's not clear why you should do anything.

anon_8675309 ,

I don’t want to help Google control yet another aspect of the internet.

sugar_in_your_tea ,

What's there to control? It's a completely open format. No royalties, no control, nothing.

CileTheSane ,
@CileTheSane@lemmy.ca avatar

It is bullshit, and people will complain while continuing to use Windows so why should Microsoft care?

Meeper ,

The thing is that they still hold an iron grip on most creative users as all their software doesn't yet work on Linux. So we are left with little to no choice between enduring windows and Linux fanatics screaming "Just find an alternative software and relearn everything you've spent years learning and perfecting in your preferred one"

jfx ,

It used to be somewhat better: Corel Linux and Creative apps existed...

CileTheSane ,
@CileTheSane@lemmy.ca avatar

Do those programs not work on WINE?

Potatos_are_not_friends ,

Lemmy folk forgetting that not every person cares enough to switch OSes.

If you ever work tech support even at a basic level, you'll see. It's not even boomers or genZ. I helped a grown ass human who was my age at 40yo how to install a Firefox extension.

CileTheSane ,
@CileTheSane@lemmy.ca avatar

Lemmy folk forgetting that not every person cares enough to switch OSes.

Right, so if they don't care they're not going to complain very much about it. If they are going to complain what are they going to do about it? If it's "just complain and nothing else" then Microsoft doesn't care.

sugar_in_your_tea ,

So are you volunteering to install Linux on everyone's machines when they get a new computer? And answer their tech support questions when they inevitably need that one program?

CileTheSane ,
@CileTheSane@lemmy.ca avatar

I'm volunteering to install Linux on my machine instead of just bitching about Microsoft while continuing to use Windows.

I don't see how pointing out the reality of "if you're not going to stop using Windows then Microsoft doesn't care what you think" somehow makes me responsible for every computer in the world.

supersquirrel , (edited )

Can y’all IT people please stop with the condescending “you don’t know how stupid people are about computers”, it seems like there is always one of you showing up in a comment thread to tell us that we can’t have the future literally all of us want including you all as well… because WE are too stupid and lazy about computers.

I helped a grown ass human who was my age at 40yo how to install a Firefox extension.

Were you as condescending to them in person as you are being in referencing them right now? Why is not knowing how to install a Firefox extension some indicator of foreclosure on the possibility of that person becoming computer literate along whatever metrics you define? There are plenty of smart people out there who can learn how to use a computer for very complex tasks who have just simply never learned about extensions for Firefox. This is a very feasible and normal reality.

Do you know how to change the oil on your car yourself? Do simple plumbing jobs? Could you run a classroom of middle schoolers and keep them all focused while keeping your eye on the shy sad kid in the back who tends to disappear if you don’t engage them? What about basic healthcare changes or cooking? What about outdoor work or basic small engine maintenance? Do you even know shit about the most basic species of trees in your backyard? Do you know the species of songbirds you often hear outside your window? Do you even pay attention to that? Do you know how to drive a dirt bike extremely fast on a rough dirt road? Do you know how to adjust for the violent explosive power of turbo lag in a car with a turbocharger so that torque oversteer doesn’t launch you off the road? Do you know how to sew and repair basic garments? To weave? Can you even fish? Like could you literally even just catch a fish to save your life right now if I handed you a fishing rod unassembled with no instructions?

My point is, don’t go looking for confirmation of how stupid or lazy people are or how limited their capacity is to evolve and grow by casting the shapes of their ignorance onto the floor and trying to read some magic language from that.

Maybe they don’t know because they are hopelesssly stupid, but maybe not? If they are intelligent and they don’t know computers then those are the perfect people to teach linux. Then it is their first language instead of windows, many linux distro are perfectly fine for this at this point.

See here is the bottom line, legions of IT people show up online always arguing they think they know that the average person is too dumb, lazy and uninterested in computers for Linux adoption to seriously take off in the personal computer market and challenge Microsoft, but y’all don’t know shit about humans. You are experts in computers who think that makes you experts in human potential.

Go take some theater classes (or get an degree in education) and get educated before you start drawing conclusions about people when you really haven’t spent time closely studying how people engage with their potential and what situations facilitate that in basic human interaction and framing of conversations (both literal and abstract).

I’m sorry if I snapped at you but I think it is existentially important to recognize here that we don’t know what people are capable of, you can’t know the essential capacity of people to change, don’t try to predict it. Focus on creating the material opportunity for change and the rest may follow depending on what people desire, no matter to us, we desire to create that positive opportunity for change because it is the right thing to do, not because we like the future growth charts of the things we believe are important and vital.

velxundussa ,

I agree with the sentiment of your post, but I think the examples are a bit too far fetched:

I'd wager most people use a computer/phone on a daily basis, which is why having a basic understanding of it seems like knowledge we should all have.

Inversely, most people don't need even have a turbo in their car and many don't even have a car, so any knowledge relating to that is probably useless for them.

That being said, even if someone is less knowledgeable in a field, respect should always be the baseline, as you illustrate, they're probably skilled in something else!

I'm saying that as an IT person that's aware that I'm making money mostly because people don't bother to learn all this, so in the end I don't mind that much.

Agrivar ,

Awesome post. As a former IT person who has worn many other hats over the years, I couldn't agree with you more.

AlexWIWA ,

Excellent rant, I hate that doomer mindset. Old people used DOS, kids figure out vpns to get on gambling sites. People aren't stupid they just haven't had a reason to learn, or didn't have someone to make them care.

pycorax ,

I think you're missing the point here. It's more that people couldn't even be bothered to search up how to do something (that takes seconds) that they want to do first, and instead just rely on someone they think is an expert without putting in any effort at all.

Your examples don't really make sense either as a lot of these are paid professions for larger tasks that most people simply don't want to do. There's a huge difference in searching online "how to install a Firefox extension" vs "how to do an weave", etc.

End of the day, the average person doesn't care and if they truly did they'd have the initiative to have just researched it and done it on their own.

Bringing it back to the whole thing about Linux, can you imagine how frustrating it would be to have to help debug a user's Linux installation when they already need help with installing a browser add on? I work with tech and Linux on a daily basis and I already find it frustrating doing it for myself (fuck Nvidia drivers). No way am I gonna recommend it to someone else.

sugar_in_your_tea ,

Exactly. Look at Reddit/Lemmy where people ask questions instead of searching, when they could've gotten their answer faster by searching using their question as a query instead of posting it (i.e. LMGTFY). People are lazy in very weird ways, some are happier to call tech support than read an article, even if that call takes more than 2x as long as the search.

supersquirrel ,

Bringing it back to the whole thing about Linux, can you imagine how frustrating it would be to have to help debug a user’s Linux installation when they already need help with installing a browser add on? I work with tech and Linux on a daily basis and I already find it frustrating doing it for myself (fuck Nvidia drivers). No way am I gonna recommend it to someone else.

Are you honestly going to still claim at this late date of 2024 that a decent popular linux distro is actually going to be MORE of a headache than Windows?

....?

Have you tried Windows recently?

pycorax ,

I'm not sure why that is so hard to believe. I use Ubuntu and Windows at work daily and Windows at home. I know the challenges of both and Windows at worst just annoys me with them forcing the new Outlook app on me. Everything else just works. Plays games amazingly, Visual Studio is uncontested, syncs nicely with my Android phone and I have no driver issues whatsoever. Don't have to go diving into the command line to change settings either.

The only time Linux works perfectly for me is on my Steam Deck and that's entirely because Valve has handled all the driver issues for us on that hardware.

supersquirrel , (edited )

Outlook is atrocious what on earth are you talking about? Just trying to use it at work it is so frustrating and the UI is horrendous for everything. Truly even basic things like trying to read when a meeting actually starts just from looking at the calendar is a headache, and because all of this is proprietary unlike with Linux, tough luck, that is how things are and you can’t do shit to change it. Neither can an experienced computer user trying to help you.

I am sorry you really don’t have an accurate handle on the state of things anymore, I think you are stuck in your ways and stressed out by life and you don’t realize that emotion and lack of mental plasticity is leading to you assume everyone else is as stuck in their ways as you (including your future self when you are able to feel less overworked and stressed).

Windows is atrocious at this point, search doesn’t work and purposefully confuses new computer users about where is being searched and what is being searched. Ads pop up everywhere in the UI and will continue to spread like a terminal cancer in the UI.

Search on windows also just sucks and takes ages with the default settings (an inexperienced computer user will be using).

The file manager on windows in most marquee windows programs like word, excel etc.. all open up an entirely different file manager half way through the process of saving a file in perhaps the most insane UI pattern to keep from the mess that was Windows 8 (even though I actually really liked the core idea at first).

Windows is buggy AND windows is constantly playing head games with its user by trying to force them to use the edge browser. It is very very confusing to a new computer user what the hell is even going on.

I mean, Windows illegally changed the entire operating system countless people had without getting consent because it would look good for their numbers.

Seriously you are WAYYY out of your league if you are going to claim a nice Linux distribution on good hardware with good driver support (such as some dells or thinkpads) is categorically wayyy worse than trying to use a windows laptop in 2024….

…please get your head out of the sand :)

I mean do you want to get into the massive security vulnerability at a tactical and strategic level that Microsoft’s co-pilot represents? This is endgame for business security, Windows is in a worse spot than it has been in probably a decade at least and they deserve it. IT people and corporations have to seriously wonder if Windows even cares about following the law, which makes trusting Windows for the software relied upon by their company a complex question indeed…..

It used to be that Linux was better ideologically because it gave you agency over your computer, but now things have gotten so much worse that the reason is practical and no longer ideological.

pycorax ,

I don't think you're talking about the Outlook I am talking about because I'm talking about the Outlook Mail and Calendar apps, not the Office ones. And that's fine and dandy about proprietary software and all but frankly I haven't really seen any non-proprietary mail apps that look aesthetically pleasing. But that's besides the point, it's a matter of personal preference when it comes to visuals after all.

You don't have to come here and assume you know everything about me simply from my choice of OS and invalidating my experiences with personal attacks no less. If your rant here is trying to convince me or anyone else who is reading that we should abandon Windows because of the reasons, you have stated, you are failing terribly I'm afraid. Not everyone has such high standards as you have and it's frankly patronizing for you to think that I or anyone else have not considered these options when it affects our workflow. If anything, people reading this are gonna be dissuaded of Linux because if this is the kind of tone and experience we're going to get when we try to, well, it's a lot less stressful staying away from Linux.

It's somewhat concerning that you have such a strong obsession over the topic that you would go and whether intentionally or unintentionally offend people and I hope that you are a much more pleasant person to converse with outside of this topic or even this site.

I'd also like to add, nowhere did I ever mention using laptops. All my experiences are with desktops that I had a hand in building from scratch. So I'm not sure what you're even getting at with those assumptions.

Have a good day sir.

Eyck_of_denesle ,

If comsic desktop gets a perfect launch, it wouldn't be an over exaggeration to say, some amount of people will switch

anon_8675309 ,

I like pop_os, I run it on my laptop and will definitely be using Cosmic, but I think people are putting too much hope in it.

NotAnonymousAtAll , (edited )

The Next Great Thing(tm) will not make a number of users that is significant to any real world scenario move away from Windows. The only approach that might have a chance to do that is something that looks and feels as close as possible to Windows. Yes even the parts of Windows that are bad. All of it, except the most glaringly obviously horrible stuff (like ads in menus). And that also includes all the programs a significant number of users care about either running there out of the box without having to jump through any hoops or a replacement fulfilling the same "looks, feels and operates almost identical" criteria.

People care about something feeling familiar and not having to relearn stuff a lot more than about shiny new features.

Buddahriffic ,

Considering ms has changed the look and feel of windows itself over the years, sometimes pretty drastically, there's some leeway there.

GreenStar ,

Tbh me switching to Debian (using the KDE desktop experience) is feeling better and better, my PC runs over 3x faster, I have way more control over my own device, and everything works better than ever!

Halosheep ,

I think this community exists only to complain about Microsoft. Not sure I ever see anything else.

dual_sport_dork ,
@dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world avatar

That is patently false.

...Sometimes we also complain about Facebook or Tesla.

Fedizen ,

Wrong, this is the elon musk complaint forum. Always has been

lolcatnip ,

Seems to me it's mostly complaining about Google.

JustARaccoon ,

They do make it very hard to speak about anything else

Halosheep ,

Thing is, most of these complaints are serious non issues.

JustARaccoon ,

You're being slowly boiled alive, frog friend

Abdoanmes ,

I read the title and thought, "Oh is this another ad for Linux?"

spacemanspiffy ,

Yeah but it is mostly warranted.

I wish we Apple-bashed more. Fuck Apple.

v4ld1z ,
@v4ld1z@lemmy.zip avatar

Guys, I'll switch in a heartbeat to a Linux OS if any one you can recommend a stable OS that works on a Surface Go 2. It should support its touchscreen, of course, and a Surface Pen. Plus, a FOSS alternative to Journal would be stellar

towerful ,

A quick Google reveals https://github.com/linux-surface/linux-surface/wiki/Supported-Devices-and-Features#feature-matrix

sugar_in_your_tea ,

Do you really need a custom kernel for the surface devices?

towerful ,

I don't. But the person I replied to said they were having trouble with Linux on a surface.
So, that's a project dedicated to Linux on surfaces. I would presume they had tried the usual distros and found them lacking

Toribor ,
@Toribor@corndog.social avatar

I've been running Bazzite on an old 1st gen Surface Book Pro that I had laying around. Touch screen and all the fancy keyboard stuff works great.

Zwiebel ,

Idk Journal but you can give Xournal a try, it works pretty well and you can arrange all the buttons to your liking

https://xournalpp.github.io/

s_s ,

Your hardware has to have support for Linux, not the other way around.

stan_stanminson ,

Idk man but try OpenSuse, It's pretty cool.
Here is the review that make me install it

maxinstuff ,
@maxinstuff@lemmy.world avatar

I'm running Ubuntu on a Surface Laptop Studio.
I really like it, though I have not yet gotten the touchscreen and pen working.

If I figure it out (and I remember) I'll let you know.

DerisionConsulting ,

Have you looked into Mint?

The linux mint forums make it seem like it works out of the box. I know that it worked out of the box for my Thinkpad x380, even the touchscreen, pen, and screen rotation.

ordellrb ,

Same on my thinkpad y370

0ops ,

Same on my e6520 latitude

madcaesar ,

Mint is the only version you have a chance of liking if you are coming from windows. I know windows sucks and people low to pump Linux but most distros simply aren't user friendly.

v4ld1z ,
@v4ld1z@lemmy.zip avatar

Thanks for the insight. I tried my hands at Kubuntu on an old laptop of mine and didn't mind the few differences too much. From what I've heard on Lemmy, Mint seems to be a good all-around suggestion for new Linux users, though

NutWrench ,
@NutWrench@lemmy.world avatar

I got the "It's time to upgrade to Windows 11" message on my Windows 10 laptop. It's getting aggravating.

ArtVandelay ,
@ArtVandelay@lemmy.world avatar

gotta love the aggressive tone. "Its Time. Switch to Windows 11." Some mafia shit lol

RichieRich ,
@RichieRich@lemmy.world avatar

I hope they don't show an ad on my doctor's operating table computer while he's performing surgery on my heart and watching through a camera image. 😱

LifeOfChance ,

Meanwhile I would pray they would while I am so my family can get that good money lol

psycho_driver ,

You will take it and you will like it.

1984 ,
@1984@lemmy.today avatar

You guys complain but you never actually switch to Linux. :)

If you truly cared about being a technological slave, you would learn Linux tomorrow. But just like someone stuck in a abusive relationship, you hang around despite the horrible treatment because you are afraid to leave what's comfortable.

HKayn ,
@HKayn@dormi.zone avatar

Everyone in this thread is already using Linux and just using this thread to circlejerk about issues the average Windows user won't care about.

1984 ,
@1984@lemmy.today avatar

Maybe it is like that yeah.

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