M$ is bringing ads to W10. With W11 barely scraping 30% of PC users, the reason they're doing this is all too clear: More fish in the W10 pond, and 0Patch will extend W10 another five years at least, maybe more.

phantomofearth spotted this first and posted on X:

"The Start menu account manager from recent Windows 11 updates is being backported to Windows 10. (present in Beta/RP build 19045.4842, disabled by default.) pic.twitter.com/34Ub68flCt"

— phantomofearth 🌳 (@phantomofearth) August 23, 2024

and Neowin reported on it fully here:

"Earlier this year, Microsoft introduced a so-called "Account Manager" for Windows 11 that appears on the screen when you click your profile picture on the Start menu. Instead of just showing you buttons for logging out, locking your device or switching profiles, it displays Microsoft 365 ads. All the actually useful buttons are now hidden behind a three-dot submenu (apparently, my 43-inch display does not have enough space to accommodate them). Now, the "Account Manager" is coming to Windows 10 users."- Neowin

I'm sick of this M$ nonsense. My/our hope is that Start11/Start10 will neutralize this obnoxious degradation of the W10 Start Menu as it did for W11. Get busy, devs!

 

56,279 views 9 replies
Reply #1 Top

Could not agree more! I very rarely use this shortcut, but it is annoying that Microsoft has stooped so low. However, Windows is still mostly a free operating system, and a lot of other free apps utilize advertising to monetize their apps.

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Reply #2 Top

There should not be any ads in something a person pays for! NONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :(  

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Reply #3 Top

Quoting LightStar, reply 2

There should not be any ads in something a person pays for! NONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :(  

I'm not saying I like it, and if you paid for Windows, you should not be subjected to advertising.

I personally haven't paid for a version of Windows since Windows 8 more than 12 years ago.  Most of the "Ads" in Windows are self promotion which is typical of most for profit companies. I don't believe a person can disparage MS for promoting their products if you received Windows for free. ...just sayin'

That being said, Stardock users who own Start11 don't have to worry about this new attempt as self promotion. I wouldn't even have known about it if I hadn't read about it on Tech News websites.

Reply #4 Top

I'd rather pay a few hundred for a support extension on windows 10 than to get ads. Ads will lead to tracking your activities to better target ads. This will lead to selling your data for more cash. And so on. In the end, big creepy companies, scam artists, and big government will know a lot about you. Quite frankly, what you do is none of their business.

Reply #5 Top

Also glad my Win 11 Enterprise doesn't stuff me with Ads. Never use that shortcut, plus i have way too many Mods making my OS perfect for me and not MS.

Reply #6 Top

I never see this, but then, I have no user icon/profile picture on my Start11 start menu.

Reply #7 Top

Quoting RedneckDude, reply 6

I never see this, but then, I have no user icon/profile picture on my Start11 start menu.

Which menu are you using, and is your OS W10 or W11?

Reply #8 Top

Good news is this will not impact Start11 at all.

Reply #9 Top

Quoting Neil, reply 8

Good news is this will not impact Start11 at all.

:thumbsup: