Do you like dealing with ads, even in software you've already paid for? Of course you do! According to Microsoft, anyway Windows continues to send advertisements for its products to every corner.. A new look at the upcoming Windows 11 “feature” from a popular leaker says that the Start menu will soon get some ad injections.

And now it's official, Microsoft added on Friday.

Phantom Ocean, a Twitter leaker who has been working extensively on Microsoft topics, previously said that the Windows 11 Start menu is testing “app promotions” in an upcoming build. They will appear in the Recommended section of the menu, which currently includes applications that have been recently installed or run frequently by the user. This section of the Start menu also displays tips and shortcuts.

An image leaked by a Twitter user shows the Opera browser with an “enhanced” tag indicating it's an ad, along with “Browse Safely” promo text. The Windows Game Bar appears next to it, in a more standard recommended app example than you might see today.

A screenshot from Phantom Ocean shows personalization settings for the Start menu with a toggle for suggested “Tips, App Promotions, and more”, while the current version of the setting is “Tips, Shortcuts, New Apps”. , and more.” In some beta builds these promotions were labeled more straightforwardly as “advertisements”.

As it turned out, Phantom Ocean was basically right. Microsoft introduced Windows Insider Preview 22635.3495 in the beta channel on Friday, and Confirmed That these changes are coming. And it's the beta channel, which means Microsoft has it ready to hit your desktop sooner or later.

“We're now testing recommendations to help you discover the best apps from the Microsoft Store under Recommended on the Start menu,” Microsoft said. wrote. “This will only appear to Windows Insiders in the beta channel in the US and will not apply to commercial devices (devices managed by organizations).”

Can ads be turned off? Yes, it seems so, thanks.

“It can be closed by going over it. Settings > Personalization > Start. and turning off the toggle for 'Show recommendations for tips, app promotions and more,'” Microsoft wrote.

Advertising appears everywhere in Windows. We're reporting on Microsoft's intrusive ads in its flagship operating system. For the better part of a decade nowAnd It's only getting worse. Advertising isn't a bad concept—it's how this website stays in business, for example—but Windows is still a product you pay real money for, either through a license outright or when you buy a PC. As an additional cost of

It is, to use a highly technical industry term, useless.

This story was updated with new details from Microsoft on April 12 at 3:04 p.m. It was written by Mark Hechman.