Will Microsoft fill Windows 11 with advertising?
Microsoft is experimenting with the inclusion of advertising within the crucial Start menu of Windows 11: these will be apps recommended to the user. Will the operating system collect data for personalized ads?
In just over a year, support for all systems prior to Windows 11 will cease, so Microsoft expects the adoption of its latest operating system by an ever-increasing number of users. Apparently, the Redmond-based software house intends to monetize as much as possible from the OS, also through advertising in the menus. But let's go in order.
ADV IN WINDOW 11?
According to the previews of the hi-tech newspaper The Verge which has combed through the contents of the latest updates released , Microsoft is experimenting with the insertion of advertising within the crucial Start menu of Windows 11, which as we all know is a fundamental hub of the program, if only the user must necessarily go through it to close or restart the system.
However, these will not be advertising banners along the lines of those that appear on any Internet site, rather a series of "recommended" applications that will replace the classic information on the files in use or to be searched for. In short, the logic is that adopted by Google when, following a search, it makes certain results appear at the top because they are sponsored. The image below helps to understand the scope.
At the moment it is only a beta, therefore the pre-marketing test version. It will not be inserted into devices belonging to commercial licenses and those managed by organizations. Microsoft will collect feedback from users who are testing the new entry and then decide if and how to proceed.
HOW ADVERTISING WORKS IN WINDOWS 11
From what we know, the advertising function will be active by default, which means that it can be deactivated, but you will have to browse through the options in order to find and tick the appropriate item. An interesting point will concern sponsored apps: will they be the same for everyone or will each user see their own based on the last programs used? Naturally, this last hypothesis would call into question a use of the data and history which must be previously agreed with the user.
This isn't the first time Microsoft has tried to insert advertising into its operating system. Other attempts were made last year, to be precise in File Explorer but in the end nothing was done after testing with the beta version.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/microsoft-riempira-di-pubblicita-windows-11/ on Mon, 15 Apr 2024 08:58:02 +0000.