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> Microsoft is seeking feedback on the changes, so it’s possible the company could decide to ditch these ads in development builds of Windows 11 if there’s enou

> Microsoft is seeking feedback on the changes, so it’s possible the company could decide to ditch these ads in development builds of Windows 11 if there’s enough feedback that suggests they’re not going to be a popular addition. Just Say No. Windows leadership recently changed for the better. Hopefully these misguided ads are a vestige of the outgoing leader, who previously lead consumer advertising, but has now been pushed out. Microsoft has a once-in-a-generation opportunity with Arm laptops based on Qualcomm/Nuvia (ex-Apple), this is not the time to squander that opportunity with distractions like advertising. https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/28/24114362/microsoft-windows-surface-reorg-ai-pcs-report https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/28/24114362/microsoft-window... After Windows and Surface chief Panos Panay departed Microsoft last year, the software giant quickly split his two divisions into two different teams. It was a move designed to push Windows engineers to focus on more web and AI features under Mikhail Parakhin, who was previously responsible for Bing and ads. It didn’t work out. Six months after that shake-up, Windows and Surface are back together under a new leader, following frustrations from the very top of Microsoft.. Parakhin was responsible for Microsoft’s reborn advertising business and all of the company’s ad-based consumer businesses.. the web experiences team that Parakhin led had a different culture from the rest of Microsoft that often resulted in micromanaging and “insane deadlines” for projects.. The Windows and Web Experiences (WWE) team that Parakhin briefly oversaw also developed the malware-like Bing pop-ups we’ve seen appear in Windows recently.. The new Windows and Surface chief, Davuluri, is experienced when it comes to the combination of hardware and software that Microsoft needs to get right in this new era of AI. Davuluri has worked at Microsoft for more than 23 years and has been at the heart of Surface engineering. He was deeply involved in the company’s work with Qualcomm and AMD to create custom Surface processors.

kevincox 3y ago
LOL "Yes we love the ads" said no user ever. If they had any intention of listening to user feedback they never would have started this project because the feedback is obviously going to be negative. At the very "best" they will cherry-pick a few metrics that show that it is a "popular addition".
- walterbell 3y ago
  > they never would have started this project Most likely human who started the project: Parakhin is leaving his current position and “has decided to explore new roles” according to a Microsoft internal memo obtained by The Verge. He will report to Kevin Scott, the previous face of Microsoft’s AI efforts, during a transition phase. But it sounds like Parakhin will be leaving Microsoft soon.
- michaelmrose 3y ago
  The question isn't if the feedback will be negative its if its negative enough to outweigh the revenue increase
summerlight 3y ago
I'm still not sure this is simply because of leadership. MS has been pushing ads on Windows over at least 10 years. And in fact this is a pretty natural move for the product in the saturated market. You're not going to "grow" anymore by traditional user acquisition and failed to enter the mobile market, then you need to build a new segment. This environment gives a strong incentive toward ads-based business model for the Windows division. There likely is an army of PM desperately looking for new growth opportunities and decided to put ads everywhere since this is a so obvious strategy with low risk, high ROI. Changing a single or two senior leadership can help reversing this trends, but it's not sufficient.
vitorgrs 3y ago
This is very naive thinking that all the ads came with Mikhail Parakhin. He only lead Windows for 6 months. Windows have ads since Windows 10, 9 years ago. There was several leadership changes on Windows in those 9 years. And the ads continued every single leadership. The reason these ads exists, it's because Microsoft can't profit anymore on Windows itself (they don't sell updates), they don't have a store with enough users/dev to monetize on it, and they don't sell enough hardware like apple to profit from it as well. So there's only two things left for them: ads or subscription Btw, this "ad" actually already existed on Windows 10.

kevincox 3y ago

LOL "Yes we love the ads" said no user ever. If they had any intention of listening to user feedback they never would have started this project because the feedback is obviously going to be negative. At the very "best" they will cherry-pick a few metrics that show that it is a "popular addition".

walterbell 3y ago
> they never would have started this project Most likely human who started the project: Parakhin is leaving his current position and “has decided to explore new roles” according to a Microsoft internal memo obtained by The Verge. He will report to Kevin Scott, the previous face of Microsoft’s AI efforts, during a transition phase. But it sounds like Parakhin will be leaving Microsoft soon.
michaelmrose 3y ago
The question isn't if the feedback will be negative its if its negative enough to outweigh the revenue increase

summerlight 3y ago

I'm still not sure this is simply because of leadership. MS has been pushing ads on Windows over at least 10 years. And in fact this is a pretty natural move for the product in the saturated market. You're not going to "grow" anymore by traditional user acquisition and failed to enter the mobile market, then you need to build a new segment. This environment gives a strong incentive toward ads-based business model for the Windows division. There likely is an army of PM desperately looking for new growth opportunities and decided to put ads everywhere since this is a so obvious strategy with low risk, high ROI. Changing a single or two senior leadership can help reversing this trends, but it's not sufficient.

vitorgrs 3y ago

This is very naive thinking that all the ads came with Mikhail Parakhin. He only lead Windows for 6 months. Windows have ads since Windows 10, 9 years ago. There was several leadership changes on Windows in those 9 years. And the ads continued every single leadership. The reason these ads exists, it's because Microsoft can't profit anymore on Windows itself (they don't sell updates), they don't have a store with enough users/dev to monetize on it, and they don't sell enough hardware like apple to profit from it as well. So there's only two things left for them: ads or subscription Btw, this "ad" actually already existed on Windows 10.