8 ms·

I've installed Win10 on dozens of machines and I've never seen ads on the lock screen, in the taskbar, and in notifications like the article talks about. Maybe

I've installed Win10 on dozens of machines and I've never seen ads on the lock screen, in the taskbar, and in notifications like the article talks about. Maybe because I always say "no" to all those creepy tracking/advertising ID type options on the initial config screen and I always say no to Cortana at the same time. What I heard (and it seems reasonable) is that MS included games like Solitaire and Minesweeper in 3.1 as a soft way of training the enormous user base who were using PCs for the first time in mouse functions like click, drag, right click and click precision. I guess now that everybody knows that , MS sees no practical reason to keep those games free.

cVwEq 7y ago
Same here, but maybe the difference is that we install Windows 10 Pro whereas the author is a Windows 10 Home user? The article doesn't seem to state the version they are using. Most annoying is that there are a large number of little bits of functionality that phone home or send information out into the ether: Windows Defender and its submitting of samples, searching via the Windows button, Task Scheduled telemetry items, a plethora of Control Panel privacy settings, etc. etc. etc. Also annoying on Windows 10 Pro is that the same windows builds have slightly different functionality --- even if the machines have the exact same hardware. For example, the Search History and Permissions is sometimes named Change the permissions and history of search, even for the same Windows 10 build. It's bizarre. Also, don't get me started on the intellisense typing when the windows menu is open. (Really Windows, when I press the Start button and then type in Update, you search the web and show me Wikipedia information? And it takes like 5 seconds?) Don't forget the lame This PC icon... Sorry, this turned into a cathartic listing of Win 10 grievances. :)
- sofaofthedamned 7y ago
  Wikipedia in this situation always uses Edge as the browser. I wonder if this helps inflate their user stats?
  - iggldiggl 7y ago
    Try EdgeDeflector (https://github.com/da2x/EdgeDeflector https://github.com/da2x/EdgeDeflector).
- zokier 7y ago
  Another major difference probably is people who log in to Microsoft account vs local account. I don't remember seeing web results in my start menu, is that a Cortana thing? I suspect that there are also regional differences, more crap being pushed to US consumers
  - AstralStorm 7y ago
    Web results are still toggled, if you do not agree to Microsoft's data processing during installation you won't get that "feature". That said, search is downgraded from 7s. For instance, it doesn't look at start menu folder names nor executable name anymore...
    - cm2187 7y ago
      Control panel items not showing in the start menu results anymore when you search is also in Win10 and it drives me crazy. It literally looks like the guys designing windows must be using a Mac themselves, or just aren’t computer guys. I just don’t get how things like than wouldn’t annoy them too. My guess is that decision making in large companies is so slow, so bureaucratic, that everyone has given up on shipping anything else than a mediocre product, even if people individually would design it very differently if they could.
      - input_sh 7y ago
        > It literally looks like the guys designing windows must be using a Mac themselves, or just aren’t computer guys. Or maybe they're trying to kill the Control Panel all together and switch everyone to the new Settings app, but are aware that doing so immediately would lead to a lot of complaints? So they have both, while slowly nudging you towards using the Settings app so you wouldn't be too angry when you wake up one day in the future and find the Control Panel completely gone.
        cm2187 7y ago
        Except that until the functionalities of the control panel have been replicated in the new settings, we still need a way to access the control panel. Hiding those functionalities from search in between just doesn't make sense at all.
- gurkendoktor 7y ago
  > maybe the difference is that we install Windows 10 Pro whereas the author is a Windows 10 Home user No, every installation of Windows 10 Pro I've seen had a start menu that was mostly ads (links to Candy Crush, Spotify, Office etc.) - I've also had the OS nag me about giving Edge a second chance. This is in Germany, in case the region matters, and I always deny all spyware as far as possible using the GUI.
  - throwaway8941 7y ago
    Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage This is the first thing I run on any Windows box I am forced to interact with. Removes all the junk in the Start menu in one command.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
    - derekbaker783 7y ago
      Doesn't that also remove Calculator?
      - r1ch 7y ago
        Yeah don't do this - I did this once and I ended up having to reinstall since it broke enough stuff that the control panel wouldn't even work afterwards.
        gerdesj 7y ago
        I've just done it to a VM and Control Panel is still there. I suggest you run: get-appxpackage -allusers | fl name and curate the list first and pipe that through remove-appxpackage. Quite a few appx thingies refused to uninstall due to being important! On the other hand so far this VM is working fine and by following a few of the other suggestions from howtogeek eg remove Bing from your start menu, it seems almost usable.
    - aphextim 7y ago
- fuzzy2 7y ago
  Windows 10 Pro has everything this article mentions. Maybe Microsoft doesn’t enable all of the nags depending on where you’re living.
dagaci 7y ago
I've tended to always chose the defaults and Yes to everything :) and have never seen any kind of Ads either. I don't have the people tab either! (although it appears like something i would have instantly flicked off without thinking) I wonder if Microsoft engages in some kind of personification of OS settings...
- lozenge 7y ago
  I suspect most of the advertisers are going for big markets, if you live in a small non English speaking country then they might not have signed any advertisers on.
  - cookie_monsta 7y ago
    Does Australia qualify as a small non English speaking country? Because that's where I am
    - degski 7y ago
      Well, mate, you speak Australian ;-).
da_chicken 7y ago
I'm reasonably sure Cortana is what displays the ads on the task bar. I've only seen them on others' home systems. I've absolutely seen ads on my start menu for Candy Crush and other MS Store games, but I shut them down with registry tweaks and the like.. > MS sees no practical reason to keep those games free. It's a removed feature that essentially all users expect to be present. Charging for something like that is a good way to make unhappy customers.
- viraptor 7y ago
  Exactly. It's similar to providing trivial things at work. Don't offer free coffee - meh. Offer free coffee - that's cool. Take away free coffee - the world's ending, are people going to be fired soon? I doubt they'll get more from the game sales than they lost in bad PR. But maybe I'm wrong, I don't do marketing.
- cookie_monsta 7y ago
  > Charging for something like that is a good way to make unhappy customers. I don't mean to sound snobby but I have the feeling that people who are emotionally invested in playing solitaire on a PC are the ones who are least likely to uninstall windows on favour of Linux or equivalent
  - Nextgrid 7y ago
    They may very well buy a Mac as their next computer.
    - cookie_monsta 7y ago
      Sorry - I should have been more general in my snobbery. I think that hardcore solitaire players are unlikely to want to learn an entirely new OS regardless of who made it
cm2187 7y ago
In fact Windows trained me to always click No when it asks for permission for anything.
IshKebab 7y ago
I suspect it is regional. Are you in America?
- cookie_monsta 7y ago
  Australia. Which you think would be a big enough market to make toggling a setting worthwhile
Xelbair 7y ago
Me too, i never ever seen any ad on win10 - both home and pro versions(on a side note - home version is nigh unusable when it starts it's anti-malware scan - even on fresh install)) I do always turn off every possible telemetry setting. I've never ever seen them at my work too - we use pro version of windows10 for most PCs.
AnonymousPlanet 7y ago
I turn Cortana off as much as I can as well, and still nearly every single Windows 10 Pro install so far, be it on hardware or in a VM, has gotten ads on the lock screen and in the Start Menu at some point. The only installs that were not affected are not allowed to speak to the internet directly. I don't use Windows as my daily driver, neither at work nor at home. But every time I start up one of the Windows 10s with their creepy features, I'm glad I don't have to put up with this all day. Maybe it works for other people to continually futz around with the registry, changing values they don't really know what they are good for. But I don't want to feel like I have to fight the OS every time, just to do they same things I get hassle free from other OSes.
Wehrdo 7y ago
The article mentions this, but ads on the lock screen are tied to enabling the auto-changing lock screen image.
Wowfunhappy 7y ago
> What I heard (and it seems reasonable) is that MS included games like Solitaire and Minesweeper in 3.1 as a soft way of training the enormous user base who were using PCs for the first time in mouse functions like click, drag, right click and click precision. I guess now that everybody knows that , MS sees no practical reason to keep those games free. That's fine, take them out of the OS. I'm not sure an OS should come preinstalled with games anyway. But don't remove the games and then show me ads for them.

cVwEq 7y ago

Same here, but maybe the difference is that we install Windows 10 Pro whereas the author is a Windows 10 Home user? The article doesn't seem to state the version they are using. Most annoying is that there are a large number of little bits of functionality that phone home or send information out into the ether: Windows Defender and its submitting of samples, searching via the Windows button, Task Scheduled telemetry items, a plethora of Control Panel privacy settings, etc. etc. etc. Also annoying on Windows 10 Pro is that the same windows builds have slightly different functionality --- even if the machines have the exact same hardware. For example, the Search History and Permissions is sometimes named Change the permissions and history of search, even for the same Windows 10 build. It's bizarre. Also, don't get me started on the intellisense typing when the windows menu is open. (Really Windows, when I press the Start button and then type in Update, you search the web and show me Wikipedia information? And it takes like 5 seconds?) Don't forget the lame This PC icon... Sorry, this turned into a cathartic listing of Win 10 grievances. :)

sofaofthedamned 7y ago
Wikipedia in this situation always uses Edge as the browser. I wonder if this helps inflate their user stats?
- iggldiggl 7y ago
  Try EdgeDeflector (https://github.com/da2x/EdgeDeflector https://github.com/da2x/EdgeDeflector).
zokier 7y ago
Another major difference probably is people who log in to Microsoft account vs local account. I don't remember seeing web results in my start menu, is that a Cortana thing? I suspect that there are also regional differences, more crap being pushed to US consumers
- AstralStorm 7y ago
  Web results are still toggled, if you do not agree to Microsoft's data processing during installation you won't get that "feature". That said, search is downgraded from 7s. For instance, it doesn't look at start menu folder names nor executable name anymore...
  - cm2187 7y ago
    Control panel items not showing in the start menu results anymore when you search is also in Win10 and it drives me crazy. It literally looks like the guys designing windows must be using a Mac themselves, or just aren’t computer guys. I just don’t get how things like than wouldn’t annoy them too. My guess is that decision making in large companies is so slow, so bureaucratic, that everyone has given up on shipping anything else than a mediocre product, even if people individually would design it very differently if they could.
    - input_sh 7y ago
      > It literally looks like the guys designing windows must be using a Mac themselves, or just aren’t computer guys. Or maybe they're trying to kill the Control Panel all together and switch everyone to the new Settings app, but are aware that doing so immediately would lead to a lot of complaints? So they have both, while slowly nudging you towards using the Settings app so you wouldn't be too angry when you wake up one day in the future and find the Control Panel completely gone.
      - cm2187 7y ago
        Except that until the functionalities of the control panel have been replicated in the new settings, we still need a way to access the control panel. Hiding those functionalities from search in between just doesn't make sense at all.
gurkendoktor 7y ago
> maybe the difference is that we install Windows 10 Pro whereas the author is a Windows 10 Home user No, every installation of Windows 10 Pro I've seen had a start menu that was mostly ads (links to Candy Crush, Spotify, Office etc.) - I've also had the OS nag me about giving Edge a second chance. This is in Germany, in case the region matters, and I always deny all spyware as far as possible using the GUI.
- throwaway8941 7y ago
  Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage This is the first thing I run on any Windows box I am forced to interact with. Removes all the junk in the Start menu in one command.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - derekbaker783 7y ago
    Doesn't that also remove Calculator?
    - r1ch 7y ago
      Yeah don't do this - I did this once and I ended up having to reinstall since it broke enough stuff that the control panel wouldn't even work afterwards.
      - gerdesj 7y ago
        I've just done it to a VM and Control Panel is still there. I suggest you run: get-appxpackage -allusers | fl name and curate the list first and pipe that through remove-appxpackage. Quite a few appx thingies refused to uninstall due to being important! On the other hand so far this VM is working fine and by following a few of the other suggestions from howtogeek eg remove Bing from your start menu, it seems almost usable.
  - aphextim 7y ago
fuzzy2 7y ago
Windows 10 Pro has everything this article mentions. Maybe Microsoft doesn’t enable all of the nags depending on where you’re living.

dagaci 7y ago

I've tended to always chose the defaults and Yes to everything :) and have never seen any kind of Ads either. I don't have the people tab either! (although it appears like something i would have instantly flicked off without thinking) I wonder if Microsoft engages in some kind of personification of OS settings...

lozenge 7y ago
I suspect most of the advertisers are going for big markets, if you live in a small non English speaking country then they might not have signed any advertisers on.
- cookie_monsta 7y ago
  Does Australia qualify as a small non English speaking country? Because that's where I am
  - degski 7y ago
    Well, mate, you speak Australian ;-).

da_chicken 7y ago

I'm reasonably sure Cortana is what displays the ads on the task bar. I've only seen them on others' home systems. I've absolutely seen ads on my start menu for Candy Crush and other MS Store games, but I shut them down with registry tweaks and the like.. > MS sees no practical reason to keep those games free. It's a removed feature that essentially all users expect to be present. Charging for something like that is a good way to make unhappy customers.

viraptor 7y ago
Exactly. It's similar to providing trivial things at work. Don't offer free coffee - meh. Offer free coffee - that's cool. Take away free coffee - the world's ending, are people going to be fired soon? I doubt they'll get more from the game sales than they lost in bad PR. But maybe I'm wrong, I don't do marketing.
cookie_monsta 7y ago
> Charging for something like that is a good way to make unhappy customers. I don't mean to sound snobby but I have the feeling that people who are emotionally invested in playing solitaire on a PC are the ones who are least likely to uninstall windows on favour of Linux or equivalent
- Nextgrid 7y ago
  They may very well buy a Mac as their next computer.
  - cookie_monsta 7y ago
    Sorry - I should have been more general in my snobbery. I think that hardcore solitaire players are unlikely to want to learn an entirely new OS regardless of who made it

cm2187 7y ago

In fact Windows trained me to always click No when it asks for permission for anything.

IshKebab 7y ago

I suspect it is regional. Are you in America?

cookie_monsta 7y ago
Australia. Which you think would be a big enough market to make toggling a setting worthwhile

Xelbair 7y ago

Me too, i never ever seen any ad on win10 - both home and pro versions(on a side note - home version is nigh unusable when it starts it's anti-malware scan - even on fresh install)) I do always turn off every possible telemetry setting. I've never ever seen them at my work too - we use pro version of windows10 for most PCs.

AnonymousPlanet 7y ago

I turn Cortana off as much as I can as well, and still nearly every single Windows 10 Pro install so far, be it on hardware or in a VM, has gotten ads on the lock screen and in the Start Menu at some point. The only installs that were not affected are not allowed to speak to the internet directly. I don't use Windows as my daily driver, neither at work nor at home. But every time I start up one of the Windows 10s with their creepy features, I'm glad I don't have to put up with this all day. Maybe it works for other people to continually futz around with the registry, changing values they don't really know what they are good for. But I don't want to feel like I have to fight the OS every time, just to do they same things I get hassle free from other OSes.

Wehrdo 7y ago

The article mentions this, but ads on the lock screen are tied to enabling the auto-changing lock screen image.

Wowfunhappy 7y ago

> What I heard (and it seems reasonable) is that MS included games like Solitaire and Minesweeper in 3.1 as a soft way of training the enormous user base who were using PCs for the first time in mouse functions like click, drag, right click and click precision. I guess now that everybody knows that , MS sees no practical reason to keep those games free. That's fine, take them out of the OS. I'm not sure an OS should come preinstalled with games anyway. But don't remove the games and then show me ads for them.