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Windows 10 is bringing ads to File Explorer – how to turn them off

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Re: Windows 10 is bringing ads to File Explorer – how to turn them off

#71

Post by givinguflac »

omginternets wrote: post #29
unholiness wrote: post #24

In browsers, ad blockers are being used more and more commonly for even non-technical folks. In native apps mobile apps, there are some okay ad-blocking solutions. But when the ads are baked into the operating system itself... I have a hard time seeing Microsoft or Apple losing the ad blocking battle. So, instead of getting ads somewhat sandboxed inside a browser, in the future we may be getting ads inside the start…

>I have a hard time seeing Microsoft or Apple losing the ad blocking battle At the risk of hijacking your comment, what's the present situation with regards to running Linux on Apple hardware? I quite like my Macbook and am generally tolerant of MacOS (mostly because it's POSIX-y enough to feel familiar), but would definitely consider installing a Linux distro depending on how well it worked.

It works well, using an alternative boot menu. http://lifehacker.com/5531037/how-to-triple-boot-your-mac-wi...

Re: Windows 10 is bringing ads to File Explorer – how to turn them off

#72

Post by lutusp »

cutler wrote: post #52
coldtea wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm aware that Windows 10 is a "free" OS, but trying to ram this type of behaviour down my throat is despicable unethical behaviour and I don't condone it. It is why I've switched to Linux for my daily computing needs. That would make sense if the benefits were more than the costs. Which, for the average people, aren't. Just the hassle of using a new interface, much less one that needs more admin work like Linux, i…

Linux sometimes isn't even compatible with standard open source software. Recently I installed Lubuntu LTS on a 5-year-old Celeron laptop and was dismayed to see LibreOffice with clunky grey window borders looking like a 1998 Java applet. The menu bar was also blacked-out. The owner was not impressed.

Your basic point is legitimate, but in passing I want to say that in Linux distributions you can change the windows decorators/formats to suit yourself, often including a theme designed to resemble Windows.

Not to detract from the point you're making, which is quite valid.

Re: Windows 10 is bringing ads to File Explorer – how to turn them off

#73

Post by clouddrover »

criddell wrote: post #64
TAForObvReasons wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As a mass-exodus to Linux and macOS curretly seems unlikely, their strategy appears to be winning so far. ... or people just install windows 7 / avoid upgrading to 10. Hard to call that a "win" Take everything with a grain of salt, but metrics still point to Windows 7 dominance: http://gs.statcounter.com/os-version-market-share/windows/de... https://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share...

Isn't Microsoft starting to block updates to Windows 7 on new hardware?

Yes: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4012982/discusses-a...

Re: Windows 10 is bringing ads to File Explorer – how to turn them off

#74

Post by cm2187 »

givinguflac wrote: post #67
cm2187 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When companies think their business is to monetize their customers to the last penny instead of making a product people want, it is the beginning of the end. True for Microsoft, true for Apple. I think, long term, we will look back at 2016 as the turning point.

Serious question, where do you see Apple monetizing customer data? I can't think of any way they monetize customers beyond hardware and app sales.

Removing the audio jack to sell more dongles or proprietary devices. Shoving down our throat all their paying services: icloud, apple music, apple pay, etc.

It used to be that I would be eager to buy a new iphone because I was keen to get the new features. Now I hold on to my older model because it has less of this nagging and new "features".

Re: Windows 10 is bringing ads to File Explorer – how to turn them off

#75

Post by LeoPanthera »

criddell wrote: post #68
LeoPanthera wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The LTSB edition is supposed to be this version, except it still includes the ads for OneDrive, so who knows what they're doing.

Consumers can't buy that edition though.

Right. For consumers, there is no version of Windows 10 where telemetry can be switched off.

I use the "Shutup10" tool to disable everything can be disabled, but I don't use Windows 10 as my everyday OS.

Re: Windows 10 is bringing ads to File Explorer – how to turn them off

#76

Post by cyberpunk »

cm2187 wrote: post #69
cyberpunk wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a reasonably noob-unfriendly linux distro (arch) on my bleeding edge kaby lane xps 13 laptop (month or two old) and even the touchscreen worked without any messing around with config files and so on. It came with ubuntu pre-loaded and I assumed they tweaked the arse out of the configs for it, and so expected pain when I replaced the OS. Turns out I was wrong. Vanilla with a minimal distro and even the touchscr…

It's easy to forget how obscure is a technology to someone who doesn't have the experience and understanding of all the underlying concepts. I tend to do the same with programming. I tend to think certain things are trivial, until I see a beginner struggling with concepts that are so obvious I didn't think it was worth spending more time than just mentioning them. I am a beginner on linux, and outside of a few basic…

Yep so I'm definately being biased by personal experience here -- not claiming otherwise. I've been using and working with unixy types for >15 years or so and probably type 'grep' a hundred times a day (I'm a lead dev).

I'm genuinely just curious how your world looks as it's so different to mine -- I must live a sheltered life but even junior devs I have with routinely push makefiles and bash scripts etc..

Are you a dev? Do you just live in one big contained environment like visual studio or such that has all these kind of tools rolled in?

Re: Windows 10 is bringing ads to File Explorer – how to turn them off

#77

Post by Klathmon »

cyberpunk wrote: post #65
Klathmon wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's amazing how much this story has blown up, along with the "Google home has ads" story. In both cases they seem almost insane how many people are up in arms about this. It's them pushing a service of theirs in their os. Apple does it, Google does it, Ubuntu does it, everyone does it. And it's such a non issue. They are promoting a service that is very tied in to the OS that a lot of people want and don't know exis…

You think it's not a big deal that you pay microsoft $119 for an OS and they're injecting ads into the local file browser? How are those being targetted? Ads on sites and apps -- yeah okay. We got to pay the rent for the content we're viewing.. Ads baked into the OS, especially one you'be paid for, is disturbing.. For me anyway.. I've not used windows in a long time, but I'm kind of dissapointed in the way they've be…

I guess I just don't think of it as an ad.

Just like how Apple pushes their cloud storage, Google pushes drive, even Foss software pushes or bumps other complementary packages.

They are being "targeted" because you are already running the software, so if it's saving your shit to a paid account, just hide it, if it's not then show it. No tracking or nefarious stuff needed.

If they were really truly​ putting ads in explorer, I'd be right there with everyone shouting about how bad it is, but this isn't doing that, it's telling you they offer cloud storage.

Re: Windows 10 is bringing ads to File Explorer – how to turn them off

#78

Post by dboreham »

Keverw wrote: post #58

Are the ads only for storage service? At first I was thinking we'd start seeing banner ads like we do on blogs. If it's only Microsoft pushing their own integrated services I don't really have much of a problem, but for software I paid for showing third party ads when I never ever had an expectation of such a thing then I do agree it is very horrible. The "Not now" button does seem like a anti-pattern instead of a si…

The only one I've seen was for their storage services. I admit it surprised me initially, but I suppose it could be worse. Hopefully it does not go the way of Skype which (for me) is almost entirely unusable on Windows these days due (I assume) to the ads locking up/hanging the process.

Re: Windows 10 is bringing ads to File Explorer – how to turn them off

#79

Post by pera »

dc3k wrote: post #40
grawlinson wrote: post #2

Here's a better idea - show Microsoft that you don't accept this type of behaviour by switching products/services. I'm aware that Windows 10 is a "free" OS, but trying to ram this type of behaviour down my throat is despicable unethical behaviour and I don't condone it. It is why I've switched to Linux for my daily computing needs.

> trying to ram this type of behaviour down my throat is despicable unethical behaviour and I don't condone it. It is why I've switched to Linux for my daily computing needs. Last time I used Linux (well, Ubuntu specifically) every time I searched for anything in the file system I would see at least half a dozen ads for products on Amazon. Significantly worse than anything I've ever seen in Windows 10 personally. Uni…

I believe Ubuntu was the only Linux distribution doing such thing (https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/ubuntu-spyware.en.html). You may want to try some other distribution like Fedora, openSUSE or Debian.

Re: Windows 10 is bringing ads to File Explorer – how to turn them off

#80

Post by jaxn »

This is very disheartening.

As a direct result, I am spending some time tonight researching running Linux on my Suface Book.

I have been impressed with what seems like a new Microsoft. I even made the switch from OSX to a Surface Book as my primary laptop. I used OSX for a decade and ran Linux as my primary OS before that.

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