A new Windows 11 update is rolling out this week.

Microsoft is starting to enable ads inside the Start menu on Windows 11 for all users. After testing these briefly with Windows Insiders earlier this month, Microsoft has started to distribute update KB5036980 to Windows 11 users this week, which includes “recommendations” for apps from the Microsoft Store in the Start menu.

Luckily you can disable these ads, or “recommendations” as Microsoft calls them. If you’ve installed the latest KB5036980 update then head into Settings > Personalization > Start and turn off the toggle for “Show recommendations for tips, app promotions, and more.” While KB5036980 is optional right now, Microsoft will push this to all Windows 11 machines in the coming weeks.

Microsoft’s move to enable ads in the Windows 11 Start menu follows similar promotional spots in the Windows 10 lock screen and Start menu. Microsoft also started testing ads inside the File Explorer of Windows 11 last year before disabling the experiment and saying the test was “not intended to be published externally.” Hopefully that experiment remains very much an experiment.

  • @[email protected]English
    16•7 months ago

    Honestly the best solution is to find alternatives

    If the audience stays on Windows then there is no incentive to support Linux

    • @[email protected]English
      5•7 months ago

      Its not that easy. There is no alternative for some of the big games. I play genshin impact and honkai star rail and these games do not run on linux.

      I use linux but keep windows dual booted purely for these games.

      Asking people to give up their hobby is not a solution.

      • @[email protected]English
        2•7 months ago

        Asking people to give up their hobby is not a solution.

        A solution doesn’t mean everyone will use it

        Even if no one uses it that is still what has to happen for devs to target Linux instead of Windows

        Imagine every Genshin player moved to Linux. Would the game move to Linux or just die?

      • @[email protected]English
        2•7 months ago

        I hear you, it sucks sometimes, especially with Asian-made games/software which LOVE locking themselves to one OS or platform literally for completely random, arbitrary reasons. You can still play them on mobile though. Especially given that you don’t quite want to install a Linux OS on your phone yet (I mean traditional Linux, not Android or a de-Googled Android offshoot) since that’s still largely a work in progress and not ready for primetime yet.

      • KillingTimeItselfEnglish
        0•7 months ago

        genshin impact and honkai star rail

        aren’t these both like pay 2 win, or at least free to play? Isn’t the whole genre of these games to make money off of it’s players?

        Sounds like a really healthy hobby.

        • @[email protected]English
          1•7 months ago

          If you want the characters, yeah. I have been playing since it came out and never paid a cent.

          While playing you get a ton of the gems you need to get characters. I play for the story and the world and music etc. If i get a character, that’s great. If i don’t, i don’t.

          The whole game and story and world is free. Only the characters cost gems.

          The only part to me that is pay to win is the abyss, but even that i got through with my free characters.

          Also, it’s not nice to tell me my hobby isn’t healthy when you don’t know me or how i play.

          • KillingTimeItselfEnglish
            1•7 months ago

            Also, it’s not nice to tell me my hobby isn’t healthy when you don’t know me or how i play.

            i mean, i just said it sounds like it. Doesn’t even mean im right or wrong. We all have really unhealthy habits, and hobbies tend to accentuate them as well.