Advertizing on the startup screeen? Huh?

x509

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A few days ago, i started to see ads for some software relating to a hobby interest on the first screen you see when you start up your system. Is this yet another way for M$ to "monetize" us?

The ad was clearly microtargeted to me.

Anyone else seeing this?
 
A few days ago, i started to see ads for some software relating to a hobby interest on the first screen you see when you start up your system. Is this yet another way for M$ to "monetize" us?
The ad was clearly microtargeted to me.
Anyone else seeing this?

You either tolerate them, or you lock your system down and disable that cr@p. I have zero tolerance for any of the information gathering, live updates, auto updated features, native apps and half the other bloatware in Win 10. Other than that though - it's a great OS, but does take a little effort to tweak it properly when you start out.

Basic info on disabling that cr@p here:
http://www.thewindowsclub.com/disable-tips-lock-screen-windows-10
 
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There are like 2 or 3 toggle switches in settings to disable every bit of advertising in the OS. Literally like 15 seconds of work. The OS was free.
 
There are like 2 or 3 toggle switches in settings to disable every bit of advertising in the OS. Literally like 15 seconds of work. The OS was free.

It wasn't free for everyone, you could still buy it via retail channels and on release it wasn't cheap at ~$220.00 AU (now about $150.00). I bought it and believe that targeted advertising has no place in a desktop OS - At all. Don't give a crap if you can dig through toggles to turn it off.
 
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It wasn't free for everyone, you could still buy it via retail channels and on release it wasn't cheap at ~$220.00 AU (now about $150.00). I bought it and believe that targeted advertising has no place in a desktop OS - At all. Don't give a crap if you can dig through toggles to turn it off.
The argument that ads should not be in an OS you buy, I think has weight. For the free version though, I don't think we can complain. Unfortunately there is no difference for 10.
 
The argument that ads should not be in an OS you buy, I think has weight. For the free version though, I don't think we can complain. Unfortunately there is no difference for 10.

It did cost most users their Windows 7 licence, it's not like you get to keep both. :)
 
The argument that ads should not be in an OS you buy, I think has weight. For the free version though, I don't think we can complain. Unfortunately there is no difference for 10.

...complaining doesn't achieve anything, but the nuisance features within Win 10 are very easy to control - so I think you've got a fair comment and there's no real grounds for complaint when the features can be removed, disabled or locked down with a little effort.
I suggest going through the system's local group policy settings one of the better places to start.
 
...complaining doesn't achieve anything, but the nuisance features within Win 10 are very easy to control - so I think you've got a fair comment and there's no real grounds for complaint when the features can be removed, disabled or locked down with a little effort.
I suggest going through the system's local group policy settings one of the better places to start.
I do. All the ads are off as well as annoying driver updates, Cortana, etc.
 
...complaining doesn't achieve anything, but the nuisance features within Win 10 are very easy to control - so I think you've got a fair comment and there's no real grounds for complaint when the features can be removed, disabled or locked down with a little effort.
I suggest going through the system's local group policy settings one of the better places to start.

I believe there's very valid grounds to complain, loudly.

It's an OS, it should run silently in the background allowing the user to interface with the machine and that is literally all it should do.

How does the saying go? Children should be seen but not heard? Well this is my PC, that makes me the adult and makes Microsoft the child.
 
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I mentioned in another thread that Windows keeps going further away from what I want from an OS while Linux keeps coming closer. This is a perfect example of what I mean. Crap like this just pushes me further away from using Windows.
 
There are like 2 or 3 toggle switches in settings to disable every bit of advertising in the OS. Literally like 15 seconds of work. The OS was free.

That's needlessly snarky and just turns people off to 10 even more.

It's only "15 seconds of work" if a user A) knows those toggles even exist as a setting somewhere and B) knows where to actually find them. Defaults matter. And this should be strictly opt-in.

And then even if you do turn them off, voila, Microsoft has turned the ads back on after an upgrade. That's what happened the last several major updates.

That people actually defend this bullshit is baffling.
 
...complaining doesn't achieve anything, but the nuisance features within Win 10 are very easy to control - so I think you've got a fair comment and there's no real grounds for complaint when the features can be removed, disabled or locked down with a little effort.
I suggest going through the system's local group policy settings one of the better places to start.

"Group policy setting." Sure. Until Microsoft silently removes the group policy that let you disable the thing you didn't want. Or in the case of those that can't afford an expensive Enterprise SKU, locks you out of GPedits altogether. God help Home users. http://winaero.com/blog/microsoft-l...se-editions-in-windows-10-anniversary-update/

Too many people disabling the shitty windows store? Microsoft disabled the ability to disable it.

Too many people disabling the crappy phone games from automatically downloading and installing, like Candy Crush Soda Saga, Flipper, Twitter, Pandora, MSN News, etc? Too bad, policy deleted in Home and Pro. Now you can't prevent these apps from being automatically downloaded, installed - and continually sucking bandwidth whenever they needlessly update.

A slow, creeping erosion of features and control over one's own PC is what Windows 10 is. Enjoy.
 
"Group policy setting." Sure. Until Microsoft silently removes the group policy that let you disable the thing you didn't want. Or in the case of those that can't afford an expensive Enterprise SKU, locks you out of GPedits altogether. God help Home users. http://winaero.com/blog/microsoft-l...se-editions-in-windows-10-anniversary-update/

Too many people disabling the shitty windows store? Microsoft disabled the ability to disable it.

Too many people disabling the crappy phone games from automatically downloading and installing, like Candy Crush Soda Saga, Flipper, Twitter, Pandora, MSN News, etc? Too bad, policy deleted in Home and Pro. Now you can't prevent these apps from being automatically downloaded, installed - and continually sucking bandwidth whenever they needlessly update.

A slow, creeping erosion of features and control over one's own PC is what Windows 10 is. Enjoy.
Considering the size of these game apps, storage isn't the issue. The real issue is, "Do I own my f---ing machine, or not?@!" And if I don't own it, exactly who does? Microsoft, the NSA or the Russians?
 
Well as long as people keep bending over and taking it the situation's only going to get worse and you can't run Windows 7 for ever.
 
change the lock screen from the default "Windows spotlight" and you won't have those ads
 
You either tolerate them, or you lock your system down and disable that cr@p. I have zero tolerance for any of the information gathering, live updates, auto updated features, native apps and half the other bloatware in Win 10. Other than that though - it's a great OS, but does take a little effort to tweak it properly when you start.

This isnt really a viable long term solution. Major patches for 10 now reinstall the OS in place. You have to reset your privacy settings and update/redo your tweaks every time. What is 10 doing for you that's worth all this hassle?

Windows 10 is a disaster and nobody should be putting up with it. Microsoft just started teasing Metro 2.0, they're killing off the traditional desktop UI in pieces for more phablet crap. It's time to abandon ship.
 
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People need to take a step back and think what tasks they absolutely need and act accordingly.

The most current Windows edition may no longer be the one size fits all OS.

That said, I think I'll be trying out Haiku next. It's a "form" of BeOS. The large selling point here is a very fluent OS. I've seen a presentation where a user was playing several video clips at once on some weak machine and there was absolutely zero chopping, he could move one of the clips around the screen and all the other clips continued to play smoothly.

The sad part is when you absolutely need a piece of hardware, like VR, a professional soundcard, frame grabber, MFP, and the only supported platform is Windows. Even worse - a particular version of Windows - see Ryzen. This is a dealbreaker. I don't expect OS developers to fill in the gaps here because it's often illegal to reverse engineer a driver and attempt to hack a device to work with another system.

But for the casual user - we will eventually see more interest in alternatives once certain practises finally backfire and open people's eyes. All it takes is one catastrophic push update, and that is inevitable.
 
no control panel??

wow. that's awesome.

i can't wait for 2020 so i can have little to no control over my pc. no, wait... linux.
 
control panel is still present on my insider preview 15031. there is no icon on the start menu anymore but you can still open it via Cortana or run. it looks like everything is still there.
 
control panel is still present on my insider preview 15031. there is no icon on the start menu anymore but you can still open it via Cortana or run. it looks like everything is still there.

When you say there's no icon in the start bar anymore do you mean there's no option if you right click for Control Panel? or do you mean left clicking using the conventional Windows Start Menu?

Gawd I'm glad Windows isn't my primary OS anymore, this just keeps getting worse!
 
control panel is still present on my insider preview 15031. there is no icon on the start menu anymore but you can still open it via Cortana or run. it looks like everything is still there.
Whats the command for run?

I have that twat Cortana disabled and intend on keeping it that way.
 
Whats the command for run?

I have that twat Cortana disabled and intend on keeping it that way.

Well you used to be able to right click the Start button and select Run from the menu? Or have they gimped that as well?
 
I wonder what will happen to all the settings in the control panel?

Who knows, this company has completely lost it's mind. Knowing Microsoft they'll re-release it as a $10 DLC requiring Windows 10 Pro and still completely kill it off in a year or two. That's what they did with Windows Media Center.
 
Who knows, this company has completely lost it's mind. Knowing Microsoft they'll re-release it as a $10 DLC requiring Windows 10 Pro and still completely kill it off in a year or two. That's what they did with Windows Media Center.

It's obvious they're deliberately dumbing their OS down, it's almost like they want to create another ChromeOS?
 
Whats the command for run?

I have that twat Cortana disabled and intend on keeping it that way.

Well you used to be able to right click the Start button and select Run from the menu? Or have they gimped that as well?
yeah you just right click the start menu, select run and type control panel. that's it. well hit enter too of course! :)
 
When you say there's no icon in the start bar anymore do you mean there's no option if you right click for Control Panel? or do you mean left clicking using the conventional Windows Start Menu?

Gawd I'm glad Windows isn't my primary OS anymore, this just keeps getting worse!
missed this in my last post. I meant when you right click the start menu it used to have control panel. now its gone, has been for a few ip versions.
 
There are like 2 or 3 toggle switches in settings to disable every bit of advertising in the OS. Literally like 15 seconds of work. The OS was free.
The OS wasnt free when you had to give away your Windows 7...

You can get this for free just give me your car and house...
 
Well you used to be able to right click the Start button and select Run from the menu? Or have they gimped that as well?
My bad, I meant the command you type in run to get to the control panel.
 
no control panel??

wow. that's awesome.

i can't wait for 2020 so i can have little to no control over my pc. no, wait... linux.
People complained because Windows 10 effectively has TWO control panels. Now they are trying to get one of them out, and people are *still* mad.

I don't doubt they will have stuff moved into the Settings panel or otherwise accessible. I don't think they will wholesale remove an entire panel of options.
 
People complained because Windows 10 effectively has TWO control panels. Now they are trying to get one of them out, and people are *still* mad.

I don't doubt they will have stuff moved into the Settings panel or otherwise accessible. I don't think they will wholesale remove an entire panel of options.

Come on! You know damn well that the issue here is that they're limiting easy access to the 'actual' control panel, effectively dumbing down the whole OS!

Don't make up excuses, get pissed off, really pissed off before they remove it all together.
 
People complained because Windows 10 effectively has TWO control panels. Now they are trying to get one of them out, and people are *still* mad.

Because they're trying to get rid of the WRONG one - the one that actually works. And they're trying to replace it with half baked metro garbage that they've had 6 years to get right and still aren't any closer.
 
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