4 ms·

I'm using Win10 for years now and never noticed any ads. I don't think the Android comparison really stands.

oblio 9y ago
I did notice a subtle ad on a coworker's laptop once. I am a bit afraid of what happens if their Windows revenue goes down. Also, they do operate on the other spectrum of this continuum, Windows 10 collects a lot of data, for what I presume is user tracking for ads & co.
barrkel 9y ago
I noticed ads on the lock screen when it was set to Windows Spotlight.
tinus_hn 9y ago
It’s full of ads for Edge, OneDrive, Office and some more of their own services, and then it’s automatically installing and wasting the space you paid for on Candy Crush and other games, even if you tune the Start Menu so you don’t see the tiles. I understand that you don’t see it if you don’t look but you certainly are paying for it.
- sparcpile 9y ago
  For my home PCs, I purchased the MS Action Pack subscription so that I could install Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB and not get ads and Cortana. With it and ClassicShell, it serves me nicely. I prefer my FreeBSD box running Motif as my daily driver though.
  - oblio 9y ago
    Aren't those Windows licenses upgrade only?
    - sparcpile 9y ago
      Yes. It's upgrade licenses only. but as with all MS OS media, they can be installed on blank machines.
      - oblio 9y ago
        Yeah, but don't they get deactivated afterwards?
        orbifold 9y ago
        No they ask you to activate nicely with a grey overlay in the bottom right corner. This can be disabled but is not that annoying in practice.
  - GordonS 9y ago
    The Action Pack pack really is incredible value for what you get. It's also somewhat incredible that so few people seem to know about it.
- jenscow 9y ago
  They're not ads. They're "recommendations".
proactivesvcs 9y ago
I come across various Windows 10 machines and see Candy Crush adverts, Office 365 adverts, OneDrive adverts, Lock Screen adverts. I believe some have even documented adverts showing on File Explorer (!)
- baud147258 9y ago
  I've been using win 10 since the last month of their free offering and I haven't seen a single add. So YMMV.
reitanqild 9y ago
Just as a logged in now it presented links to msn articles on the login page. Yes: it was really nicely and tastefully done but it really worries me. I've also had the login background turn into an ad for a game. That time I and a number of others reported it quite loudly IIRC and since then I can't remember seeing anything like that before today. And yes, ads in the start menu are real as well.
kowdermeister 9y ago
I can't edit anymore. It's probably because I live in Eastern-Europe, they don't target this region. Yet. Yikes :)
- oblio 9y ago
  You can't edit after 2 hours on HN. It's global, I'm also from Eastern Europe, cut it out with the victim complex ;)
  - jenscow 9y ago
    That's funny, because I'm from the West and can edit freely. ;-)

I did notice a subtle ad on a coworker's laptop once. I am a bit afraid of what happens if their Windows revenue goes down. Also, they do operate on the other spectrum of this continuum, Windows 10 collects a lot of data, for what I presume is user tracking for ads & co.

barrkel 9y ago

I noticed ads on the lock screen when it was set to Windows Spotlight.

tinus_hn 9y ago

It’s full of ads for Edge, OneDrive, Office and some more of their own services, and then it’s automatically installing and wasting the space you paid for on Candy Crush and other games, even if you tune the Start Menu so you don’t see the tiles. I understand that you don’t see it if you don’t look but you certainly are paying for it.

sparcpile 9y ago
For my home PCs, I purchased the MS Action Pack subscription so that I could install Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB and not get ads and Cortana. With it and ClassicShell, it serves me nicely. I prefer my FreeBSD box running Motif as my daily driver though.
- oblio 9y ago
  Aren't those Windows licenses upgrade only?
  - sparcpile 9y ago
    Yes. It's upgrade licenses only. but as with all MS OS media, they can be installed on blank machines.
    - oblio 9y ago
      Yeah, but don't they get deactivated afterwards?
      - orbifold 9y ago
        No they ask you to activate nicely with a grey overlay in the bottom right corner. This can be disabled but is not that annoying in practice.
- GordonS 9y ago
  The Action Pack pack really is incredible value for what you get. It's also somewhat incredible that so few people seem to know about it.
jenscow 9y ago
They're not ads. They're "recommendations".

proactivesvcs 9y ago

I come across various Windows 10 machines and see Candy Crush adverts, Office 365 adverts, OneDrive adverts, Lock Screen adverts. I believe some have even documented adverts showing on File Explorer (!)

baud147258 9y ago
I've been using win 10 since the last month of their free offering and I haven't seen a single add. So YMMV.

reitanqild 9y ago

Just as a logged in now it presented links to msn articles on the login page. Yes: it was really nicely and tastefully done but it really worries me. I've also had the login background turn into an ad for a game. That time I and a number of others reported it quite loudly IIRC and since then I can't remember seeing anything like that before today. And yes, ads in the start menu are real as well.

kowdermeister 9y ago

I can't edit anymore. It's probably because I live in Eastern-Europe, they don't target this region. Yet. Yikes :)

oblio 9y ago
You can't edit after 2 hours on HN. It's global, I'm also from Eastern Europe, cut it out with the victim complex ;)
- jenscow 9y ago
  That's funny, because I'm from the West and can edit freely. ;-)