nixCraft 🐧
Microsoft says it’s starting to test ads inside the Start menu on Windows 11. The software maker will use the Recommended section of the Start menu, which usually shows file recommendations, to suggest apps from the Microsoft Store. Trillion dollar corporation is so poor. They need more money by selling your data to the highest bidder. wtf? #privacy #security https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/12/24128640/microsoft-windows-11-start-menu-ads-app-recommendations
Microsoft starts testing ads in the Windows 11 Start menu

The first ads in the Windows 11 Start menu will be very similar to the app recommendations Microsoft used in Windows 10.

The Verge
Apr 13, 2024 at 9:30amWeb
Show threadSei ALApr 13, 2024
@nixCraft I call it greed...
Show threaddomdelApr 13, 2024
@6al @nixCraft agreed
Show threadAlexApr 13, 2024
@nixCraft I swear, Windows is part of a study by sociology professors in California, who specialize in pain and slow-cooking lobotomized frogs.
Show threadSuraj RaoApr 13, 2024
@nixCraft ublock origin for desktop?
Show threadFreevoltApr 13, 2024
@nixCraft Average users would be so surprised how other OSes can do the great majority of tasks that they might think they could only do on Windows without even a learning barrier.
Show thread🇵🇸 Álvaro GonzálezApr 13, 2024
@nixCraft Remember: Windows is paid software, and not super cheap; I paid 100€ for my Windows 10 licence. The only thing that really sticks me to this OS is gaming, and Steam is being rather successful at fixing that. I'm not renewing my PC any time soon. When I do, I'll have to seriously consider what my money pays for.
Show threadMelroy van den BergApr 13, 2024
@kAlvaro @nixCraft luckily I'm gaming under Linux now. Either via Steam Proton or manually setting up Wine bottles using WineGUI
Show threadlp0 on fire Apr 13, 2024
Actually your data – or access to a keyword/demographic-matching type of service which merely uses your data?
Show threadLance, Enjoying Copious PollenApr 13, 2024

@nixCraft Fortunately, there are free and easy fixes for this sort of nonsense. There's no reason we have to accept intrusive ads as normal.

I use ShutUp10 and Open-Shell menu. I'm sure other similar tools exist. Pi-Hole and uBlock Origin have me pretty well-covered on the browser end of things.

Show threadCassandrichApr 13, 2024
@nixCraft Any preemptive recipes for removing the Recommended section?
Show threadMegatronicThronBanksApr 13, 2024
@nixCraft So we'll fix that.
Show threadbazkie don't live here no moreApr 13, 2024
@nixCraft Get the hell away from Windows, people! Linux is a great alternative. Give it a try. Most games are compatible using proton these days :)
Show threadMelroy van den BergApr 13, 2024
@bazkie @nixCraft I moved to Linux 10 years ago. I'm happy I did. It only became better thanks to steam.
Show threadJocelynAyodeleApr 13, 2024
@bazkie @nixCraft lots of older stuff is hit and miss tho.
The games I play are such cases
Show threadAlexeyApr 13, 2024
@nixCraft They need more money to pay for all the electricity their LLM consumes for spreadsheet summaries.
Show threadStratagemApr 13, 2024
@nixCraft
Microsoft is copying both Apple and Google; but only the bad parts, so they're expensive and proprietary like apple yet sell all your data for ads like google...
Show threadPictoPulse356Apr 13, 2024
@nixCraft Always can earn one more dollar
Show threadAngua Apr 13, 2024
@nixCraft

As long as the fecking things stay there. I always ignore that panel.
At least commercial email has got me used to looking before I click.

Now where are those help guides to installing Linux & getting all the drivers.
Show threadEgeeApr 13, 2024

@nixCraft Honestly if I was a big shareholder, I'd be PISSED about this.

If it was really this easy all along, there's been money just sitting on the table and nobody thought to reach into it until now.

I'm unsurprised by this development but serious about the shareholder thing. Like why did they wait until now to put adds in the start menu?

Show threadCarlos SolísApr 13, 2024
@nixCraft The only thing keeping my Windows partition alive is multiplayer games that demand kernel-level anti-cheat. Otherwise I'd nuke it in a jiffy
Show threadLiquidCrystalDudeApr 13, 2024
@nixCraft
microsoft is trying so hard to make people hate them 🔥
Show threaddodothedev🦤💻Apr 13, 2024
@nixCraft
And that's why I prefer Linux!
Show threadKC8SBVApr 13, 2024
@nixCraft Dang this sucks!! I love Linux, but feel genuinely sorry for these people who hardly know what a terminal emulator is. They are stuck with this crap!!
Show threaddomdelApr 13, 2024
@nixCraft thats just disgusting. people pay 140 bucks for this?
Show threadAcvaristul LenesApr 14, 2024
@nixCraft lucky me for not giving up completely on Debian.
As soon as I upgrade my PC and adds start flowing on Windows, I edit grub's default back to Linux.
Ironically, it was an opensource project (Flightgear) that pushed me to use Windows again. And it's gonna be Microsft that'll push me back into Tux's realm.
Show threadhrudyApr 14, 2024
@nixCraft yet another self-referencing acronym
Show threadCerebralHawksApr 14, 2024

@nixCraft Went all in with Mac last year, first with my laptop, then my gaming PC died, so I got a Mac mini. Been pretty happy ever since.

It's not a complete solution to that issue, since the Mac App Store is full of paid/subscription crap, but it does come with its own Office suite (though I'm still using Microsoft 365, because Word/Excel/Publisher are so good). And it's based on UNIX.

Gaming? I have an Xbox Series X, and I use GeForce NOW on the Mac. There are other options, too.

Show threadTomApr 15, 2024
@nixCraft Windows shopping.