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Microsoft made a lot of changes in Windows 10 that helped it put the mistakes of Windows 8 in the rear view mirror. Not all of Microsoft's ideas are good, though. The company has shown a tendency to get a little too casual with how it promotes its services within Windows. You might even call these "ads." Microsoft would, of course, dispute that description. Some of these things that look very much like ads have started showing up in File Explorer. Specifically, Windows 10 has started nagging people to buy a subscription to OneDrive.
Microsoft's OneDrive cloud storage service is built into Windows 10 and tied to your Microsoft account. Everyone gets 5GB of space free, but you can pay to get as much as 1TB for a single user. That also includes an Office 365 subscription. Depending on your needs, that might be a good deal. That does not necessarily mean you want to be made aware of said deal while browsing your files.
The ad appears as a banner at the top of File Explorer, reminding you that OneDrive and Office 365 can be had for a mere $6.99 per month. You can take Microsoft up on the offer or dismiss it. It may just reappear at a later date, though. Some users reported seeing this a few months ago, but the incidence has ticked upward in the last week or so. This is not the first time Microsoft has crammed ads into the Windows UI — there are the lock screen ads disguised as backgrounds, notification ads for Edge, and a strange pop-up ad for Microsoft's personal shopping assistant in Chrome.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 12 2017, @02:18AM (3 children)
I'm sure you have bought a pre-built computer at some point in your life.
Whenever you buy a PC with Windows pre-installed? The OEM pays a royalty fee to Microsoft who leases those SLIC keys to manufacturers who then flash them into the BIOS.
Then same hard drive image is used on the assembly line. This windows install when booted inspects SLIC key loaded into memory by the BIOS and detects it's authentic.
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Sunday March 12 2017, @05:32AM
I'm sure you have bought a pre-built computer at some point in your life.
Whenever you buy a PC with Windows pre-installed? The OEM pays a royalty fee to Microsoft who leases those SLIC keys to manufacturers who then flash them into the BIOS.
Then same hard drive image is used on the assembly line. This windows install when booted inspects SLIC key loaded into memory by the BIOS and detects it's authentic.
Actually, with most PC vendors you pay for Windows (built into the price) whether or not that crap is pre-installed [wikipedia.org].
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 12 2017, @08:31AM
Oh, you deluded victim of corporate tech! You think we do not know what they do, and how to circumvent it? We have never bought a pre-built computer. Why? Micro$oft tax. I always, since 1982, have bought my computers in pieces, and then loaded a Free and Libre and Non-spyware proprietary shit Operating Systems. You think we cannot do this? We are legion. We are smarter than Micro$oft. And we will be back. Payback for monopoly is a bitch, dude! Chose which side you are on.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 12 2017, @09:38PM
But i'd rather not pay double for something i can put together with a screwdriver.