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WordPad Is Gettings Ads in Windows 10

419 points by pndy 7y ago

pndy 7y ago
The "ad" takes form of familiar information bar seen in Internet Explorer; at the moment it seems to be less obtrusive than OneDrive notifications in File Explorer
- Zhyl 7y ago
  I'd also argue that if there is one product or service that Wordpad has reasonable grounds to recommend, it's Word.
  - JohnFen 7y ago
    Except that Word is complicated, big, slow, and takes a long time to start up. If WordPad does what you need, it's the better option.
- soulofmischief 7y ago
  Any notifications in my file explorer are obtrusive and a deal-breaker. My personal computing space is not an advertiser's playground.
Danieru 7y ago
My favorite part: "OpenOffice" is being used to refer to Microsoft Office. Only half the ads use this wording. And no doubt this was not 100% intentional. Still, could this be a viable tactic to de-value poorly constructed brand names?
- amarshall 7y ago
  They say “Open Office”, not “OpenOffice”. “Open” there is a verb, not a noun (like in the “Open Word” variant). Never mind also that OpenOffice was discontinued in 2011.
  - Danieru 7y ago
    Yes, I do indeed understand the concept of a verb. In fact, that is why I directed people to look at the ad itself. As it happens OpenOffice was never discontinued, it is still an active Apache project.
  - thayne 7y ago
    > Never mind also that OpenOffice was discontinued in 2011. Not exactly. Ownership of the project moved from oracle to apache in 2011, but OpenOffice is still around and kicking.
    - orra 7y ago
      “Kicking” is perhaps a charitable way to describe AOO. Indeed, people who are drowning will flail (something rescuers need be ready for). The metrics show AOO development is moribund.
      - Danieru 7y ago
        Indeed AOO is not super-active, but in comparison to Wordpad development AOO is Tokyo.
- eiji 7y ago
  "Open Office" as an action button. You make it sound very different. Is this an ad? When you read the title you think Windows will start to read your text and advertise diapers and dating sites to you. Perpetually. There must a be a different word, no pun intended, to differentiate a single time hint within a product family from vanilla banner ads.
  - Danieru 7y ago
    > product family Wordpad is a free application included in Windows. Microsoft Word is a pay to use application not included in Windows. Wordpad is not within the Office product family. In fact, before the divisions got semi-unified Wordpad was developed by an entirely different division from Office. Hence why Microsoft had multiple what you see is what you get word editors.
    - wolfgke 7y ago
      > Hence why Microsoft had multiple what you see is what you get word editors. Another one was Microsoft Works (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Works https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Works) - another office suite by Microsoft that existed until 2009.
jerome-jh 7y ago
Shareware is back :D
carlchenet 7y ago
why using WordPad? So much FOSS alternatives without ads.
- chapium 7y ago
  Really, do you have some examples?
  - aloisdg 7y ago
    Does LibreOffice work for you? I will also mention OpenOffice. LO is a forked of OO. Search online for the LibreOffice vs OpenOffice for more information. I also tried Abiword if you want another one (not sure if abiword is available on Windows).
    - thenewnewguy 7y ago
      As far as I know there is basically no reason to use OO, it is a completely dead project. All of the development effort is being focused on LO, so if you want a FOSS word processor use LO.
      - opencl 7y ago
        OO isn't completely dead, the Apache foundation is still maintaining it. It's more like it's on life support. But it is definitely true that LO development is far far more active and there's not much point in using OO over it. And Abiword for Windows does exist but hasn't been updated in the past decade.
    - chapium 7y ago
      Using it now, for the first time in over a decade. I'm pretty pleased with libre writer so far, even though it is pretty bloated, relatively, when compared to wordpad.
- gtk40 7y ago
  To me, the advantages are support for multiple common file formats out of the box on Windows (text files with Unix line endings, DOCX, ODT, etc.). I know I have an option with a base Windows install for some file types if I'm ever using it.
S_A_P 7y ago
It reminds me of how solitaire has "ads" now. Maybe its just me, but the only "Ad" I get is "Hey are you tired of ads? buy it here!" or "Hey you can change your card style". Both from MS.
LegitShady 7y ago
Notepad++
- klingonopera 7y ago
  ...is a (great!) replacement for vanilla Notepad, but Wordpad and Notepad have very different use-cases. LibreOffice Writer!
- MikeTheGreat 7y ago
  Close, but not quite the same WordPad is a rich text editor; Notepad++ is a text file editor. WordPad lets you do stuff like boldface/italicize/change the font size of the text you're looking at, and it does the WYSIWYG thing of actually showing you the nicely formatted document.
peatmoss 7y ago
I want to like the Microsoft that appears to be turning over a new leaf from their “evil” days. And their new hardware is legitimately exciting. However, between the telemetry collection in Windows 10, and straight up maddening stuff like ads in the OS, I just see red. The last time I clicked on a start menu my jaw nearly hit the floor due to all the extraneous and very much unwanted junk. Microsoft is clearly doing a lot right in terms of UX, but I lament that it feels like one step forward and two steps back. I can’t imagine that corporations would allow Microsoft to market to their end-users. There must be some ultra-premium edition of Windows 10 that one can buy, where telemetry and ads are fully disabled? Do most PC enthusiasts figure out how to disable that stuff or buy professional editions? My experience is limited to occasionally seeing family and friends do things in Windows, so maybe I’m just unaware of what the Windows-using technorati have known all along.
- cryptozeus 7y ago
  No ads in my work machine
  - anonymfus 7y ago
    Did you read the article? It's a currently disabled optional feature in the latest insider build.
    - darkwater 7y ago
      I think it was referring to GGP mention of "junk" in Win10 start menu. AFAIK there are no ads in the Enterprise and Education versions of Win10
      - penagwin 7y ago
        But why ads at all in a $100 operating system?
        kofejnik 7y ago
riddlemethat 7y ago
Windows 10 is quickly becoming freeware. It’s smart. It’s probably worth much more to Microsoft to Track user behavior and sell ads through it than to charge for it. Surprised they haven’t done this sooner. No doubt they’ll still offer a volume license/pro version with less advertising. I haven’t used Windows as my daily driver since 2004 but companies pay lots of money for me to support it for them. More ads means more issues means more revenues for people like me to help companies. Sucks for consumers who aren’t technical.
- klingonopera 7y ago
  I recently reinstalled a colleague's laptop, with Windows 10, done quick and dirty, he was concerned he didn't have a key/license, said doesn't matter, we can install first and activate later. After installation, the thing was self-activated. Legit ISO downloaded from Microsoft, though via that ISO downloader software, starts with something with "H" and runs ads when you use it. Kinda makes me wonder why MS is even bothering gatekeeping their ISOs. Why not make them freely available? ...nobody makes cash of OSes anymore... It's market share they're after.
  - corobo 7y ago
    You mean like this? https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10I...
    - gruez 7y ago
      That page seems to have some user agent sniffing. If you're on windows it doesn't offer direct iso download.
      - corobo 7y ago
        Of course Windows gets the worse version of it.. Come on over to Linux everyone! We’re bound to have the year of Linux on the desktop, any decade now.
pariahHN 7y ago
This...does not seem as bad as I originally thought. Just a prompt bar to use Office instead of WordPad. I was thinking it would look like the start menu does. Admittedly I would be more concerned if it was advertising something other than a product most consumers regard as the default way to edit text.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- jandrese 7y ago
  The headline made it sound like the horrible mess that Freecell has become, but this is fairly low key.
  - reaperducer 7y ago
    this is fairly low key Only if you're inured to this kind of corporate intrusion on your machine that you paid for with your money. My toaster barking, "Hey, wouldn't you like a nice Thomases' English Muffin instead? Nooks and crannies!" is also fairly low-key, but not something I want.
    - Wowfunhappy 7y ago
      Agreed. The fact that we're making comparisons to worse scenarios just shows how low standards have become.
    - Infinitesimus 7y ago
      It's more like your toaster saying "we have another model that provides xyz features you may or may not want"
      - tomc1985 7y ago
        Why is that even remotely OK?
at_a_remove 7y ago
Actions like this are why I went to the trouble of getting Windows 10 Long-Term Service Branch (LTSB) now renamed Long-Term Service Channel. I can lock down more and I only get security updates, rather than games just appearing in my Start Menu.
szczepano 7y ago
Screensaver ads please.
- mjevans 7y ago
  You say that as a joke... it isn't funny how true this probably is.
- Terr_ 7y ago
  Windows 10 already has them on the lock-screen. https://www.pcworld.com/article/3037396/windows-10-lock-screen-ads-begin-with-rise-of-the-tomb-raider-push.html https://www.pcworld.com/article/3037396/windows-10-lock-scre...
eaandkw 7y ago
Don't even get me started with Windows. I am still mad the simple things like a calculator and picture viewer somehow got removed.
- vel0city 7y ago
  That's strange. I still have a calculator on my Windows 10 install. Its resizable, has a history, can do unit conversions, a quick shortcut to keep on top, and has a ton more features than the old one. The old Windows Photo Viewer still exists and is the default out of the box to open .TIF files. With a couple of short registry hacks you can make it the default for other photo types again. Other than multi-page TIF files, I usually do prefer the newer app as it once again offers a ton more features.
  - tomc1985 7y ago
    Regarding the photo viewer... IrfanView
    - klingonopera 7y ago
      The VLC for images!
  - eaandkw 7y ago
    My biggest complaint is that I have to do anything. Viewing and picture and the calculator have been around forever. I should not have to do a registry hack to bring it back. I usually don't learn that anything has changed until I actually want to use it then I'm like WFT where did X app go?
    - vel0city 7y ago
      The calculator is included on any regular, unmodified install of Windows -- no registry hack required. There is still a photo viewing app available called Photos. Its different, but overall has a ton more features. Once again, no registry hack required. Or are you arguing that default apps in Windows should just never change to newer, more featured versions?
harshreality 7y ago
What is the use case for WordPad? It implies: 1. You don't have MS Word proper, and you don't need perfect Word interop. 2. You want basic WYSIWYG, so neovim or emacs or equivalent, and even things like Notepad++, are out. 3. You don't have or can't use LibreOffice... because reasons? I suspect either people won't care about WordPad ads or they'll discover LibreOffice and won't look back.
- jsight 7y ago
  I suspect that the other major scenario is that you opened it by accident and thought you were opening Word. Features like this aren't for techies who already know the difference.
- jmkb 7y ago
  Wordpad is great for reading and authoring documents with text attributes but without page formatting. It's comparable to TextEdit on MacOS. And compared to Word or LibreOffice it produces extremely clean RTF code. (Or it used to, haven't used it in Windows 10.) And yes, it's handy for opening .doc and .docx files if no office suite is installed. ("Because reasons" often being that it's not a machine under your control.)
- Doctor_Fegg 7y ago
  As a former magazine editor and still a freelance writer, I use TextEdit, the Mac equivalent, and have done for years. It's WYSIWYG; it's fast; it doesn't get in the way. It isn't a bloated behemoth like LibreOffice or MS Office or any other Office. It just pops up a window on the screen for you to type in. Any styling beyond bold and italic would be done by the designer in InDesign anyway.
jon-wood 7y ago
Opening the article it seems like this has been more than a little overblown - I was expecting something like banner ads for random things, and it turns out to be small, dismissible, banner suggesting that you might like to use MS Office instead.
dewey 7y ago
Before reading the article I had a worse version of this in mind. Cross-promoting their own products, while not especially great, is a lot less bad than having "regular" ads with all their privacy issues embedded in your OS. Pretty similar to what Apple does with their "Sign up for Apple Arcade" push notifications, iCloud Login badges etc. It's still pretty bad but the headline is blowing it a bit out of proportion.
fapjacks 7y ago
Everybody defending Microsoft's actions is using some variation of "it's only a small ad for Office" but their Stockholm Syndrome is causing them to ignore that the word "ad" these days is a loaded term that also implies Microsoft is shipping your (WordPad) activity back to Microsoft to "improve user experience" and not just to tell you that Microsoft also happens to make software called Office, too. Get real.
- Zhyl 7y ago
  A banner "advertising" a more feature rich version of the same application is a different kettle of fish to the actual paid advertisements that they are currently injecting onto lock screens and start menus. Granted, I wouldn't want annoying pop ups on any of the products I use, but I think at this stage "Microsoft are going to do anti-consumer things because nobody is going to stop them" is expected behaviour and if you don't like it your only real recourse is to buy a Mac or install Linux. Having made the switch to Linux myself I feel like I can look at these things a bit more objectively. I can say "recommending Word isn't that bad" not out of Stockholm syndrome, but instead as a tertiary observer, watching the house burn down from the outside.
alerighi 7y ago
As a Linux user, I prefer much more the old Microsoft. Nowadays Microsoft business shifted from selling licenses to making money selling the user data, that is something far worse and concerning. Take a look at this, they suggest the user to use Word online, buy for what reason? Simple, to collect their user data. Or have you tried to install Windows 10 recently? They do everything to force you to sign up with a Microsoft account, think about a non expert user that buys a computer and thinks that is necessary to register one, also they propose to accept default settings that enable all the possible data collection. Also they are doing harm in other ways, especially against the FOSS community, despite the stupid slogans 'Microsoft loves Linux', no they don't, they are just trying to get the Linux developers to switch to Windows, they made installing Linux on a computer more complex thanks to UEFI and secure boot, and they offered the solution, why do you have to install Linux first place, we have the WSL, you can run your Linux software inside Windows so you have no reason to install it bare metal.
- compuguy 7y ago
  UFEI and secure boot predate the current CEO of Microsoft's tenure....
- thefunnyman 7y ago
  I think there's a simple explanation here which is a lot less exciting than you suggest. Namely that Microsoft is pushing Office online to better compete with Google's offerings. Similarly, they're pushing use of a Microsoft account mainly for the convenience this offers to non-technical users with things like synced settings and automatically backed up documents. They continue to offer options to use a local account for those that want it and I really see no problem with pushing an account as the default option for the majority of users. No one complains that Apple pushes iCloud accounts on people.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago
    > Similarly, they're pushing use of a Microsoft account mainly for the convenience this offers to non-technical users with things like synced settings and automatically backed up documents. This doesn't jive with the progression of their efforts to hide the option away. At first it was a small text link on that portion of the install screen, then it was that link plus another, now it looks like this [0]. [0] https://www.howtogeek.com/442609/confirmed-windows-10-setup-now-prevents-local-account-creation/ https://www.howtogeek.com/442609/confirmed-windows-10-setup-...
app4soft 7y ago
Would MS Paint get ads too?
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago
  If Microsoft made Photoshop? Yes.
tombert 7y ago
God, I hate when OS companies do this stuff. I remember back when Ubuntu had Unity as its default, it would send any app-search you had to Amazon to recommend stuff to you. Granted, it was trivial to disable it, but I really don't want to have my OS send a request to Amazon whenever I hit the Super key and search for Tor or something.
- JohnFen 7y ago
  > it would send any app-search you had to Amazon to recommend stuff to you I remember that, too. It was when I stopped recommending Ubuntu to people.
  - tombert 7y ago
    Honestly I still recommend Ubuntu to people; the smart-lenses were pretty unpopular and have been removed, and while it was annoying that it was enabled by default, at least you could actually turn it off.
    - JohnFen 7y ago
      > have been removed That's good to know. I don't use Ubuntu myself (because I tend to have an inordinate number of technical problems with it), but tended to recommend it to newcomers based on reputation. Perhaps I should start again.
mnm1 7y ago
How disgusting. What they've done to Windows makes the Microsoft of the 90's look tame. It's not an OS. It's a malware and advertising platform that spies on its users. It's shocking to me that people who run actual businesses with sensitive data would even consider running Windows. Or any government. For people who care about their data and their computing, that's one less platform they can run on. All the pretty hardware in the world doesn't change the fact that they no longer make an OS to go with it.
- DoofusOfDeath 7y ago
  I already feel bad for the bureaucratic hassles faced by physicians in the U.S. But... I'm curious if HIPPA-related lawsuits against healthcare providers using Windows 10 could start mobilizing small businesses against what Microsoft is doing.
withinrafael 7y ago
Original tweet owner here. This functionality is locked behind a feature control mechanism, in a pre-release version of Windows 10. The feature is named BlankDocOfficeUpsell. The feature control mechanism is used by Microsoft to gate potential features in public builds for various reasons (e.g. experimentation). Using tools I wrote (https://github.com/riverar/mach2 https://github.com/riverar/mach2), and public debugging symbols, they can be manipulated on/off and is usually a good indicator at what's coming in a future Windows release. This particular feature upsells Office online via a yellow bar, not unlike the Message Bar in full Office applications. The Message Bar is typically used for important security warnings and alerts [1], presumably one reason this particular design was chosen. At this time, the upsell notification can be closed but that action is not persisted -- the ad will re-appear at next WordPad launch. This could change but that's not a guaranteed pattern (see: permanent PowerShell Core ad in PowerShell). [1] https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Enable-or-disable-security-alerts-on-the-Message-Bar-ADBF15D9-9195-4498-BDC3-5CB0DFE93852 https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Enable-or-disable-s...
- Krasnol 7y ago
  > The Message Bar is typically used for important security warnings and alerts [1], presumably one reason this particular design was chosen. ...and which will continue to make this bar useless leading to people continue to ignore security warnings and drive on the train of vulnerabilities within word documents which has been so successful for decades now. Good job Microsoft. Thank you for finding this.
cs702 7y ago
The way things are going, I wouldn't be surprised to see the following in coming years: * All your Windows applications start getting ads, unless you pay for a subscription. * Your home appliances start getting ads, unless you pay for a subscription. * Your car starts getting ads, unless you pay for a subscription. * Your wrist-watch starts getting ads, unless you pay for a subscription. ...and eventually: * Your ad-free subscription services start getting ads (like Hulu). * You can't avoid ads, and all information about you will be sold, regardless. ...But I hope it doesn't play out like that.
- peteretep 7y ago
  I pay for access to a few newspapers, and heavily resent additionally getting ads.
- dylan604 7y ago
  >* Your ad-free subscription services start getting ads (like Hulu). Hulu is not ad free now. >* You can't avoid ads, and all information about you will be sold, regardless. Sounds like you've been watching Black Mirror again
- Razengan 7y ago
  If there is money to be made, it will.
Animats 7y ago
This reminds me yet again why I don't run Windows 10.
djsumdog 7y ago
I wish Microsoft would just start working on Windows 11 instead of doing this Win10Forever+ads. None of us want this model. The general public doesn't seem to care (unless they do and can afford a Mac), so Microsoft will probably keep going down this route. It's bad enough I have to spend two hours digging through a new Android phone to turn off all the Google tracking (if there's no Lineage rom for it), but I also have do to it on my Win10 gaming rig. No one else seems to care about privacy.
companyhen 7y ago
Skype has ads now too, crazy.
pojntfx 7y ago
Use Linux.
philjackson 7y ago
Wordpad's that tool you use very occasionally to look at files that have unix line endings.
- contextfree 7y ago
  Notepad now also supports unix line endings (was added in the October 2018 update)
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
avian 7y ago
Some of the buttons on the ads say "Open Office" [1]. I guess the intended meaning is "Click here to open Microsoft Office", but the wording is suspiciously close to OpenOffice. I'm sure that will account for some clicks from people vaguely aware that there's a thing out there called OpenOffice. [1] https://winaero.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Wordpad-Ads-in-Windows-10.jpg https://winaero.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Wordpad-...
- Silhouette 7y ago
  It would be mildly hilarious if Microsoft activated this, and then the EU issued an IE-style ruling that to avoid unfair competition it had to promote popular alternatives to Microsoft Office on an equal basis.
  - justinclift 7y ago
    Yeah, this seems like a reply of the MS+IE scenario. Unfortunately, that took several years before the conclusion of the court cases (with MS losing). Thus pretty much locking in IE as the monopoly default for a long time afterwards.
jwildeboer 7y ago
Told by a page that is full of ads and “click here to find out about UNRELATED AD STUFF” Welcome to dystopia.
Vaslo 7y ago
As I open to a bunch of ads on my phone via this website...
sandov 7y ago
Each time I get frustrated at destkop Linux I feel tempted to just go back to Windows, but then I remember that Microsoft does this sort of thing.
LinuxBender 7y ago
Can I also opt into a program where every time I say, "Brought to you by Carls Jr.", Cortana credits me $1? /s How much more can Microsoft do to the user before they actually rebel against it?
- rb808 7y ago
  bing has this, I usually get about $20 in Amazon cards/yr for using it.
  - earenndil 7y ago
    Is giving away that much of your privacy really worth $20/year? That's 0.02% of a regular software development salary. Two hours of work at minimum wage.
m0zg 7y ago
Maybe their plan is to ruin Windows so badly that people would voluntarily switch to Linux? Who knows. Most of their cloud is Linux, and Windows Division has been disbanded long ago.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago
  It has been my suspicion for some time that they are intentionally ruining Windows. Not to get people to switch to Linux, but rather to just kill off the personal computer as a concept and switch everyone to some kind of Microsoft Live Desktop subscription.
  - _underfl0w_ 7y ago
    Almost like a targeted version of what Apple has been inadvertently doing with their desktop OS for several releases now.
jbverschoor 7y ago
This leaves Apple to be the only ad-free platform, next to the opensource osses.
- vortico 7y ago
  Apple has "ads" of these form for Safari and possibly other products.
  - chapium 7y ago
    Safari is a great advertisement for Chrome.
johnminter 7y ago
Try SublimeText3 [1] instead. It is a cross platform editor. You can try it out and use it for free. The expectation is that if you like it and continue to use it, you will purchase a license. I really like it for programming any task I want to use plain text. There is also a build system and one can download packages that enhance coding in many different languages. I have no economic interest in this, I'm just a satisfied user. 1 - https://www.sublimetext.com/blog/articles/sublime-text-3-point-0 https://www.sublimetext.com/blog/articles/sublime-text-3-poi...
- dougbarrett 7y ago
  The article isn't talking about Notepad which SublimeText3 would be a good alternative to, but WordPad which is more of a WYSIWYG editor.
- wildrhythms 7y ago
  WordPad is a rich text editor, not a code editor.
symfoniq 7y ago
This sort of tackiness in Windows 10 is one of the primary reasons I've switched back to macOS. Windows 10 is a great OS in many respects, and I like the hardware story more than in Apple world, but I just can't get over Microsoft's need to invade my workspace with tacky, distracting, irrelevant ads. The first time I saw a "Candy Crush" ad in the Start menu (of Windows 10 Professional, not Home), I hoped Microsoft would get enough negative feedback to see the error of their ways. But it seems like they're going the wrong direction. And yes, I'm aware of the LTSC version of Windows 10. I have no way to install it legally.
- christophilus 7y ago
  I just switched back to Windows to get a reasonably priced laptop with a real keyboard. Booted it up, and got an ad for dropbox. Nice. Pretty much guaranteed I won't be a dropbox customer, and that I'm going to be searching for a Linux distro that supports 5k monitors...
  - mustaflex 7y ago
    i feel the same, It just build up resentment for these forced ads and preinstalled software. I can't even stand to see Skype and oneDrive icons anymore, I stop what I'm doing at the moment and go to uninstall them.
iamaelephant 7y ago
Ads on this webpage https://imgur.com/11hpqgN https://imgur.com/11hpqgN
- sandov 7y ago
  A website is pretty different from the word processor that your OS comes with. Ads in a word processor are like ads in your house's wall. Ads in a website are like ads in a football stadium.
globular-toast 7y ago
If there ever came a day when there was no option but to run this kind of software on computers then I'd just stop using computers. I'd pack it all in and go and live in the hills. It just wouldn't be fun any more. Thankfully I don't see that day coming. There's enough people like me.
JohnFen 7y ago
Hrm. I guess it's time to find a reasonable third-party replacement for WordPad.
justinclift 7y ago
This seems like a straight out anti-trust violation. eg using their monopoly in the desktop OS market to get people using their Office application They've had problems with this before, eg Windows + IE. Hopefully the EU takes action here as well.
arthurcolle 7y ago
They included instructions to enable ads in WordPad... wtf?
- pndy 7y ago
  To test out how this "ad" looks like - via Mach2 tool
egdod 7y ago
Amazing. Windows peaked at 7, and every update has been downhill ever since.
kizer 7y ago
Full disclosure: work there. I’d say that’s an exaggeration - trying to take an objective perspective. Some users may not know a better option exists. The beige notification bar isn’t intrusive and can be closed. A significant question is whether the notifications will be able to be disabled (readily, from within the Wordpad app).
jakobmi 7y ago
I think that's just clickbait heading. They just promote their full version in their light version. That's normal and expected since forever.
WidnowsAdmin 7y ago
Update your Windows to last security update Download last update: https://pastebin.com/TpaTxVxq https://pastebin.com/TpaTxVxq

419 points by pndy 7y ago

pndy 7y ago

The "ad" takes form of familiar information bar seen in Internet Explorer; at the moment it seems to be less obtrusive than OneDrive notifications in File Explorer

Zhyl 7y ago
I'd also argue that if there is one product or service that Wordpad has reasonable grounds to recommend, it's Word.
- JohnFen 7y ago
  Except that Word is complicated, big, slow, and takes a long time to start up. If WordPad does what you need, it's the better option.
soulofmischief 7y ago
Any notifications in my file explorer are obtrusive and a deal-breaker. My personal computing space is not an advertiser's playground.

Danieru 7y ago

My favorite part: "OpenOffice" is being used to refer to Microsoft Office. Only half the ads use this wording. And no doubt this was not 100% intentional. Still, could this be a viable tactic to de-value poorly constructed brand names?

amarshall 7y ago
They say “Open Office”, not “OpenOffice”. “Open” there is a verb, not a noun (like in the “Open Word” variant). Never mind also that OpenOffice was discontinued in 2011.
- Danieru 7y ago
  Yes, I do indeed understand the concept of a verb. In fact, that is why I directed people to look at the ad itself. As it happens OpenOffice was never discontinued, it is still an active Apache project.
- thayne 7y ago
  > Never mind also that OpenOffice was discontinued in 2011. Not exactly. Ownership of the project moved from oracle to apache in 2011, but OpenOffice is still around and kicking.
  - orra 7y ago
    “Kicking” is perhaps a charitable way to describe AOO. Indeed, people who are drowning will flail (something rescuers need be ready for). The metrics show AOO development is moribund.
    - Danieru 7y ago
      Indeed AOO is not super-active, but in comparison to Wordpad development AOO is Tokyo.
eiji 7y ago
"Open Office" as an action button. You make it sound very different. Is this an ad? When you read the title you think Windows will start to read your text and advertise diapers and dating sites to you. Perpetually. There must a be a different word, no pun intended, to differentiate a single time hint within a product family from vanilla banner ads.
- Danieru 7y ago
  > product family Wordpad is a free application included in Windows. Microsoft Word is a pay to use application not included in Windows. Wordpad is not within the Office product family. In fact, before the divisions got semi-unified Wordpad was developed by an entirely different division from Office. Hence why Microsoft had multiple what you see is what you get word editors.
  - wolfgke 7y ago
    > Hence why Microsoft had multiple what you see is what you get word editors. Another one was Microsoft Works (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Works https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Works) - another office suite by Microsoft that existed until 2009.

jerome-jh 7y ago

Shareware is back :D

carlchenet 7y ago

why using WordPad? So much FOSS alternatives without ads.

chapium 7y ago
Really, do you have some examples?
- aloisdg 7y ago
  Does LibreOffice work for you? I will also mention OpenOffice. LO is a forked of OO. Search online for the LibreOffice vs OpenOffice for more information. I also tried Abiword if you want another one (not sure if abiword is available on Windows).
  - thenewnewguy 7y ago
    As far as I know there is basically no reason to use OO, it is a completely dead project. All of the development effort is being focused on LO, so if you want a FOSS word processor use LO.
    - opencl 7y ago
      OO isn't completely dead, the Apache foundation is still maintaining it. It's more like it's on life support. But it is definitely true that LO development is far far more active and there's not much point in using OO over it. And Abiword for Windows does exist but hasn't been updated in the past decade.
  - chapium 7y ago
    Using it now, for the first time in over a decade. I'm pretty pleased with libre writer so far, even though it is pretty bloated, relatively, when compared to wordpad.
gtk40 7y ago
To me, the advantages are support for multiple common file formats out of the box on Windows (text files with Unix line endings, DOCX, ODT, etc.). I know I have an option with a base Windows install for some file types if I'm ever using it.

S_A_P 7y ago

It reminds me of how solitaire has "ads" now. Maybe its just me, but the only "Ad" I get is "Hey are you tired of ads? buy it here!" or "Hey you can change your card style". Both from MS.

LegitShady 7y ago

Notepad++

klingonopera 7y ago
...is a (great!) replacement for vanilla Notepad, but Wordpad and Notepad have very different use-cases. LibreOffice Writer!
MikeTheGreat 7y ago
Close, but not quite the same WordPad is a rich text editor; Notepad++ is a text file editor. WordPad lets you do stuff like boldface/italicize/change the font size of the text you're looking at, and it does the WYSIWYG thing of actually showing you the nicely formatted document.

peatmoss 7y ago

I want to like the Microsoft that appears to be turning over a new leaf from their “evil” days. And their new hardware is legitimately exciting. However, between the telemetry collection in Windows 10, and straight up maddening stuff like ads in the OS, I just see red. The last time I clicked on a start menu my jaw nearly hit the floor due to all the extraneous and very much unwanted junk. Microsoft is clearly doing a lot right in terms of UX, but I lament that it feels like one step forward and two steps back. I can’t imagine that corporations would allow Microsoft to market to their end-users. There must be some ultra-premium edition of Windows 10 that one can buy, where telemetry and ads are fully disabled? Do most PC enthusiasts figure out how to disable that stuff or buy professional editions? My experience is limited to occasionally seeing family and friends do things in Windows, so maybe I’m just unaware of what the Windows-using technorati have known all along.

cryptozeus 7y ago
No ads in my work machine
- anonymfus 7y ago
  Did you read the article? It's a currently disabled optional feature in the latest insider build.
  - darkwater 7y ago
    I think it was referring to GGP mention of "junk" in Win10 start menu. AFAIK there are no ads in the Enterprise and Education versions of Win10
    - penagwin 7y ago
      But why ads at all in a $100 operating system?
      - kofejnik 7y ago

riddlemethat 7y ago

Windows 10 is quickly becoming freeware. It’s smart. It’s probably worth much more to Microsoft to Track user behavior and sell ads through it than to charge for it. Surprised they haven’t done this sooner. No doubt they’ll still offer a volume license/pro version with less advertising. I haven’t used Windows as my daily driver since 2004 but companies pay lots of money for me to support it for them. More ads means more issues means more revenues for people like me to help companies. Sucks for consumers who aren’t technical.

klingonopera 7y ago
I recently reinstalled a colleague's laptop, with Windows 10, done quick and dirty, he was concerned he didn't have a key/license, said doesn't matter, we can install first and activate later. After installation, the thing was self-activated. Legit ISO downloaded from Microsoft, though via that ISO downloader software, starts with something with "H" and runs ads when you use it. Kinda makes me wonder why MS is even bothering gatekeeping their ISOs. Why not make them freely available? ...nobody makes cash of OSes anymore... It's market share they're after.
- corobo 7y ago
  You mean like this? https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10I...
  - gruez 7y ago
    That page seems to have some user agent sniffing. If you're on windows it doesn't offer direct iso download.
    - corobo 7y ago
      Of course Windows gets the worse version of it.. Come on over to Linux everyone! We’re bound to have the year of Linux on the desktop, any decade now.

pariahHN 7y ago

This...does not seem as bad as I originally thought. Just a prompt bar to use Office instead of WordPad. I was thinking it would look like the start menu does. Admittedly I would be more concerned if it was advertising something other than a product most consumers regard as the default way to edit text.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
jandrese 7y ago
The headline made it sound like the horrible mess that Freecell has become, but this is fairly low key.
- reaperducer 7y ago
  this is fairly low key Only if you're inured to this kind of corporate intrusion on your machine that you paid for with your money. My toaster barking, "Hey, wouldn't you like a nice Thomases' English Muffin instead? Nooks and crannies!" is also fairly low-key, but not something I want.
  - Wowfunhappy 7y ago
    Agreed. The fact that we're making comparisons to worse scenarios just shows how low standards have become.
  - Infinitesimus 7y ago
    It's more like your toaster saying "we have another model that provides xyz features you may or may not want"
    - tomc1985 7y ago
      Why is that even remotely OK?

at_a_remove 7y ago

Actions like this are why I went to the trouble of getting Windows 10 Long-Term Service Branch (LTSB) now renamed Long-Term Service Channel. I can lock down more and I only get security updates, rather than games just appearing in my Start Menu.

szczepano 7y ago

Screensaver ads please.

mjevans 7y ago
You say that as a joke... it isn't funny how true this probably is.
Terr_ 7y ago
Windows 10 already has them on the lock-screen. https://www.pcworld.com/article/3037396/windows-10-lock-screen-ads-begin-with-rise-of-the-tomb-raider-push.html https://www.pcworld.com/article/3037396/windows-10-lock-scre...

eaandkw 7y ago

Don't even get me started with Windows. I am still mad the simple things like a calculator and picture viewer somehow got removed.

vel0city 7y ago
That's strange. I still have a calculator on my Windows 10 install. Its resizable, has a history, can do unit conversions, a quick shortcut to keep on top, and has a ton more features than the old one. The old Windows Photo Viewer still exists and is the default out of the box to open .TIF files. With a couple of short registry hacks you can make it the default for other photo types again. Other than multi-page TIF files, I usually do prefer the newer app as it once again offers a ton more features.
- tomc1985 7y ago
  Regarding the photo viewer... IrfanView
  - klingonopera 7y ago
    The VLC for images!
- eaandkw 7y ago
  My biggest complaint is that I have to do anything. Viewing and picture and the calculator have been around forever. I should not have to do a registry hack to bring it back. I usually don't learn that anything has changed until I actually want to use it then I'm like WFT where did X app go?
  - vel0city 7y ago
    The calculator is included on any regular, unmodified install of Windows -- no registry hack required. There is still a photo viewing app available called Photos. Its different, but overall has a ton more features. Once again, no registry hack required. Or are you arguing that default apps in Windows should just never change to newer, more featured versions?

harshreality 7y ago

What is the use case for WordPad? It implies: 1. You don't have MS Word proper, and you don't need perfect Word interop. 2. You want basic WYSIWYG, so neovim or emacs or equivalent, and even things like Notepad++, are out. 3. You don't have or can't use LibreOffice... because reasons? I suspect either people won't care about WordPad ads or they'll discover LibreOffice and won't look back.

jsight 7y ago
I suspect that the other major scenario is that you opened it by accident and thought you were opening Word. Features like this aren't for techies who already know the difference.
jmkb 7y ago
Wordpad is great for reading and authoring documents with text attributes but without page formatting. It's comparable to TextEdit on MacOS. And compared to Word or LibreOffice it produces extremely clean RTF code. (Or it used to, haven't used it in Windows 10.) And yes, it's handy for opening .doc and .docx files if no office suite is installed. ("Because reasons" often being that it's not a machine under your control.)
Doctor_Fegg 7y ago
As a former magazine editor and still a freelance writer, I use TextEdit, the Mac equivalent, and have done for years. It's WYSIWYG; it's fast; it doesn't get in the way. It isn't a bloated behemoth like LibreOffice or MS Office or any other Office. It just pops up a window on the screen for you to type in. Any styling beyond bold and italic would be done by the designer in InDesign anyway.

jon-wood 7y ago

Opening the article it seems like this has been more than a little overblown - I was expecting something like banner ads for random things, and it turns out to be small, dismissible, banner suggesting that you might like to use MS Office instead.

dewey 7y ago

Before reading the article I had a worse version of this in mind. Cross-promoting their own products, while not especially great, is a lot less bad than having "regular" ads with all their privacy issues embedded in your OS. Pretty similar to what Apple does with their "Sign up for Apple Arcade" push notifications, iCloud Login badges etc. It's still pretty bad but the headline is blowing it a bit out of proportion.

fapjacks 7y ago

Everybody defending Microsoft's actions is using some variation of "it's only a small ad for Office" but their Stockholm Syndrome is causing them to ignore that the word "ad" these days is a loaded term that also implies Microsoft is shipping your (WordPad) activity back to Microsoft to "improve user experience" and not just to tell you that Microsoft also happens to make software called Office, too. Get real.

Zhyl 7y ago
A banner "advertising" a more feature rich version of the same application is a different kettle of fish to the actual paid advertisements that they are currently injecting onto lock screens and start menus. Granted, I wouldn't want annoying pop ups on any of the products I use, but I think at this stage "Microsoft are going to do anti-consumer things because nobody is going to stop them" is expected behaviour and if you don't like it your only real recourse is to buy a Mac or install Linux. Having made the switch to Linux myself I feel like I can look at these things a bit more objectively. I can say "recommending Word isn't that bad" not out of Stockholm syndrome, but instead as a tertiary observer, watching the house burn down from the outside.

alerighi 7y ago

As a Linux user, I prefer much more the old Microsoft. Nowadays Microsoft business shifted from selling licenses to making money selling the user data, that is something far worse and concerning. Take a look at this, they suggest the user to use Word online, buy for what reason? Simple, to collect their user data. Or have you tried to install Windows 10 recently? They do everything to force you to sign up with a Microsoft account, think about a non expert user that buys a computer and thinks that is necessary to register one, also they propose to accept default settings that enable all the possible data collection. Also they are doing harm in other ways, especially against the FOSS community, despite the stupid slogans 'Microsoft loves Linux', no they don't, they are just trying to get the Linux developers to switch to Windows, they made installing Linux on a computer more complex thanks to UEFI and secure boot, and they offered the solution, why do you have to install Linux first place, we have the WSL, you can run your Linux software inside Windows so you have no reason to install it bare metal.

compuguy 7y ago
UFEI and secure boot predate the current CEO of Microsoft's tenure....
thefunnyman 7y ago
I think there's a simple explanation here which is a lot less exciting than you suggest. Namely that Microsoft is pushing Office online to better compete with Google's offerings. Similarly, they're pushing use of a Microsoft account mainly for the convenience this offers to non-technical users with things like synced settings and automatically backed up documents. They continue to offer options to use a local account for those that want it and I really see no problem with pushing an account as the default option for the majority of users. No one complains that Apple pushes iCloud accounts on people.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago
  > Similarly, they're pushing use of a Microsoft account mainly for the convenience this offers to non-technical users with things like synced settings and automatically backed up documents. This doesn't jive with the progression of their efforts to hide the option away. At first it was a small text link on that portion of the install screen, then it was that link plus another, now it looks like this [0]. [0] https://www.howtogeek.com/442609/confirmed-windows-10-setup-now-prevents-local-account-creation/ https://www.howtogeek.com/442609/confirmed-windows-10-setup-...

app4soft 7y ago

Would MS Paint get ads too?

AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago
If Microsoft made Photoshop? Yes.

tombert 7y ago

God, I hate when OS companies do this stuff. I remember back when Ubuntu had Unity as its default, it would send any app-search you had to Amazon to recommend stuff to you. Granted, it was trivial to disable it, but I really don't want to have my OS send a request to Amazon whenever I hit the Super key and search for Tor or something.

JohnFen 7y ago
> it would send any app-search you had to Amazon to recommend stuff to you I remember that, too. It was when I stopped recommending Ubuntu to people.
- tombert 7y ago
  Honestly I still recommend Ubuntu to people; the smart-lenses were pretty unpopular and have been removed, and while it was annoying that it was enabled by default, at least you could actually turn it off.
  - JohnFen 7y ago
    > have been removed That's good to know. I don't use Ubuntu myself (because I tend to have an inordinate number of technical problems with it), but tended to recommend it to newcomers based on reputation. Perhaps I should start again.

mnm1 7y ago

How disgusting. What they've done to Windows makes the Microsoft of the 90's look tame. It's not an OS. It's a malware and advertising platform that spies on its users. It's shocking to me that people who run actual businesses with sensitive data would even consider running Windows. Or any government. For people who care about their data and their computing, that's one less platform they can run on. All the pretty hardware in the world doesn't change the fact that they no longer make an OS to go with it.

DoofusOfDeath 7y ago
I already feel bad for the bureaucratic hassles faced by physicians in the U.S. But... I'm curious if HIPPA-related lawsuits against healthcare providers using Windows 10 could start mobilizing small businesses against what Microsoft is doing.

withinrafael 7y ago

Original tweet owner here. This functionality is locked behind a feature control mechanism, in a pre-release version of Windows 10. The feature is named BlankDocOfficeUpsell. The feature control mechanism is used by Microsoft to gate potential features in public builds for various reasons (e.g. experimentation). Using tools I wrote (https://github.com/riverar/mach2 https://github.com/riverar/mach2), and public debugging symbols, they can be manipulated on/off and is usually a good indicator at what's coming in a future Windows release. This particular feature upsells Office online via a yellow bar, not unlike the Message Bar in full Office applications. The Message Bar is typically used for important security warnings and alerts [1], presumably one reason this particular design was chosen. At this time, the upsell notification can be closed but that action is not persisted -- the ad will re-appear at next WordPad launch. This could change but that's not a guaranteed pattern (see: permanent PowerShell Core ad in PowerShell). [1] https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Enable-or-disable-security-alerts-on-the-Message-Bar-ADBF15D9-9195-4498-BDC3-5CB0DFE93852 https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Enable-or-disable-s...

Krasnol 7y ago
> The Message Bar is typically used for important security warnings and alerts [1], presumably one reason this particular design was chosen. ...and which will continue to make this bar useless leading to people continue to ignore security warnings and drive on the train of vulnerabilities within word documents which has been so successful for decades now. Good job Microsoft. Thank you for finding this.

cs702 7y ago

The way things are going, I wouldn't be surprised to see the following in coming years: * All your Windows applications start getting ads, unless you pay for a subscription. * Your home appliances start getting ads, unless you pay for a subscription. * Your car starts getting ads, unless you pay for a subscription. * Your wrist-watch starts getting ads, unless you pay for a subscription. ...and eventually: * Your ad-free subscription services start getting ads (like Hulu). * You can't avoid ads, and all information about you will be sold, regardless. ...But I hope it doesn't play out like that.

peteretep 7y ago
I pay for access to a few newspapers, and heavily resent additionally getting ads.
dylan604 7y ago
>* Your ad-free subscription services start getting ads (like Hulu). Hulu is not ad free now. >* You can't avoid ads, and all information about you will be sold, regardless. Sounds like you've been watching Black Mirror again
Razengan 7y ago
If there is money to be made, it will.

Animats 7y ago

This reminds me yet again why I don't run Windows 10.

djsumdog 7y ago

I wish Microsoft would just start working on Windows 11 instead of doing this Win10Forever+ads. None of us want this model. The general public doesn't seem to care (unless they do and can afford a Mac), so Microsoft will probably keep going down this route. It's bad enough I have to spend two hours digging through a new Android phone to turn off all the Google tracking (if there's no Lineage rom for it), but I also have do to it on my Win10 gaming rig. No one else seems to care about privacy.

companyhen 7y ago

Skype has ads now too, crazy.

pojntfx 7y ago

Use Linux.

philjackson 7y ago

Wordpad's that tool you use very occasionally to look at files that have unix line endings.

contextfree 7y ago
Notepad now also supports unix line endings (was added in the October 2018 update)

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

avian 7y ago

Some of the buttons on the ads say "Open Office" [1]. I guess the intended meaning is "Click here to open Microsoft Office", but the wording is suspiciously close to OpenOffice. I'm sure that will account for some clicks from people vaguely aware that there's a thing out there called OpenOffice. [1] https://winaero.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Wordpad-Ads-in-Windows-10.jpg https://winaero.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Wordpad-...

Silhouette 7y ago
It would be mildly hilarious if Microsoft activated this, and then the EU issued an IE-style ruling that to avoid unfair competition it had to promote popular alternatives to Microsoft Office on an equal basis.
- justinclift 7y ago
  Yeah, this seems like a reply of the MS+IE scenario. Unfortunately, that took several years before the conclusion of the court cases (with MS losing). Thus pretty much locking in IE as the monopoly default for a long time afterwards.

jwildeboer 7y ago

Told by a page that is full of ads and “click here to find out about UNRELATED AD STUFF” Welcome to dystopia.

Vaslo 7y ago

As I open to a bunch of ads on my phone via this website...

sandov 7y ago

Each time I get frustrated at destkop Linux I feel tempted to just go back to Windows, but then I remember that Microsoft does this sort of thing.

LinuxBender 7y ago

Can I also opt into a program where every time I say, "Brought to you by Carls Jr.", Cortana credits me $1? /s How much more can Microsoft do to the user before they actually rebel against it?

rb808 7y ago
bing has this, I usually get about $20 in Amazon cards/yr for using it.
- earenndil 7y ago
  Is giving away that much of your privacy really worth $20/year? That's 0.02% of a regular software development salary. Two hours of work at minimum wage.

m0zg 7y ago

Maybe their plan is to ruin Windows so badly that people would voluntarily switch to Linux? Who knows. Most of their cloud is Linux, and Windows Division has been disbanded long ago.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y ago
It has been my suspicion for some time that they are intentionally ruining Windows. Not to get people to switch to Linux, but rather to just kill off the personal computer as a concept and switch everyone to some kind of Microsoft Live Desktop subscription.
- _underfl0w_ 7y ago
  Almost like a targeted version of what Apple has been inadvertently doing with their desktop OS for several releases now.

jbverschoor 7y ago

This leaves Apple to be the only ad-free platform, next to the opensource osses.

vortico 7y ago
Apple has "ads" of these form for Safari and possibly other products.
- chapium 7y ago
  Safari is a great advertisement for Chrome.

johnminter 7y ago

Try SublimeText3 [1] instead. It is a cross platform editor. You can try it out and use it for free. The expectation is that if you like it and continue to use it, you will purchase a license. I really like it for programming any task I want to use plain text. There is also a build system and one can download packages that enhance coding in many different languages. I have no economic interest in this, I'm just a satisfied user. 1 - https://www.sublimetext.com/blog/articles/sublime-text-3-point-0 https://www.sublimetext.com/blog/articles/sublime-text-3-poi...

dougbarrett 7y ago
The article isn't talking about Notepad which SublimeText3 would be a good alternative to, but WordPad which is more of a WYSIWYG editor.
wildrhythms 7y ago
WordPad is a rich text editor, not a code editor.

symfoniq 7y ago

This sort of tackiness in Windows 10 is one of the primary reasons I've switched back to macOS. Windows 10 is a great OS in many respects, and I like the hardware story more than in Apple world, but I just can't get over Microsoft's need to invade my workspace with tacky, distracting, irrelevant ads. The first time I saw a "Candy Crush" ad in the Start menu (of Windows 10 Professional, not Home), I hoped Microsoft would get enough negative feedback to see the error of their ways. But it seems like they're going the wrong direction. And yes, I'm aware of the LTSC version of Windows 10. I have no way to install it legally.

christophilus 7y ago
I just switched back to Windows to get a reasonably priced laptop with a real keyboard. Booted it up, and got an ad for dropbox. Nice. Pretty much guaranteed I won't be a dropbox customer, and that I'm going to be searching for a Linux distro that supports 5k monitors...
- mustaflex 7y ago
  i feel the same, It just build up resentment for these forced ads and preinstalled software. I can't even stand to see Skype and oneDrive icons anymore, I stop what I'm doing at the moment and go to uninstall them.

iamaelephant 7y ago

Ads on this webpage https://imgur.com/11hpqgN https://imgur.com/11hpqgN

sandov 7y ago
A website is pretty different from the word processor that your OS comes with. Ads in a word processor are like ads in your house's wall. Ads in a website are like ads in a football stadium.

globular-toast 7y ago

If there ever came a day when there was no option but to run this kind of software on computers then I'd just stop using computers. I'd pack it all in and go and live in the hills. It just wouldn't be fun any more. Thankfully I don't see that day coming. There's enough people like me.

JohnFen 7y ago

Hrm. I guess it's time to find a reasonable third-party replacement for WordPad.

justinclift 7y ago

This seems like a straight out anti-trust violation. eg using their monopoly in the desktop OS market to get people using their Office application They've had problems with this before, eg Windows + IE. Hopefully the EU takes action here as well.

arthurcolle 7y ago

They included instructions to enable ads in WordPad... wtf?

pndy 7y ago
To test out how this "ad" looks like - via Mach2 tool

egdod 7y ago

Amazing. Windows peaked at 7, and every update has been downhill ever since.

kizer 7y ago

Full disclosure: work there. I’d say that’s an exaggeration - trying to take an objective perspective. Some users may not know a better option exists. The beige notification bar isn’t intrusive and can be closed. A significant question is whether the notifications will be able to be disabled (readily, from within the Wordpad app).

jakobmi 7y ago

I think that's just clickbait heading. They just promote their full version in their light version. That's normal and expected since forever.

WidnowsAdmin 7y ago

Update your Windows to last security update Download last update: https://pastebin.com/TpaTxVxq https://pastebin.com/TpaTxVxq