Microsoft is starting to enable ads inside the Start menu on Windows 11 for all users. After testing these briefly with Windows Insiders earlier this month, Microsoft has started to distribute update KB5036980 to Windows 11 users this week, which includes “recommendations” for apps from the Microsoft Store in the Start menu.
Luckily you can disable these ads, or “recommendations” as Microsoft calls them. If you’ve installed the latest KB5036980 update then head into Settings > Personalization > Start and turn off the toggle for “Show recommendations for tips, app promotions, and more.” While KB5036980 is optional right now, Microsoft will push this to all Windows 11 machines in the coming weeks.
Microsoft’s move to enable ads in the Windows 11 Start menu follows similar promotional spots in the Windows 10 lock screen and Start menu. Microsoft also started testing ads inside the File Explorer of Windows 11 last year before disabling the experiment and saying the test was “not intended to be published externally.” Hopefully that experiment remains very much an experiment.
I know it sucks to have to discard some manufacturers because of their poor Linux support but that’s where we are.
I prefer to pick manufacturers that support Linux than having to go back to Windows.
I’ll probably look more into it, but the only reason I didn’t before is because I couldn’t find one in my price range with reasonable specs that ran on Linux. I have a G15 5515 that cost me around 500 when I got it, has an rtx 3050 and 16gb ram with a ryzen 5. System76 didn’t really have any comparable offerings for that price at the time.