The presence of ads in Windows has always been quite controversial, especially because many users believe that once they pay for a product, Microsoft has no right to harass them with ads. While this is a completely false statement, as users are actually paying for the right to use Windows (rather than owning the software), the additional presence of ads has never been accepted by users anyway.
However, Microsoft doesn’t seem to be bothered by this. The software giant is now experimenting with a new idea, which is likely to add to the frustration of its user base.
The latest ad goes directly into a user session in the Start menu, and affected users can now see an ad using OneDrive to back up their system when they click on the Start menu to access User Session Control.
“Back up your files,” the ad reads, prompting users to go to OneDrive to transfer important data to the cloud. This option sits alongside basic Windows controls such as locking the device, logging out, and changing account settings.
Microsoft hasn’t officially announced the change, but at this point, it looks like the company is just experimenting with the idea. So not all users will see the new OneDrive ad, and it shouldn’t be a surprise to see the software giant pull the controversial idea entirely before it hits more devices, as it’s happened so many times.
For now, however, bringing advertising to Windows is something Microsoft has clearly not given up on. The software giant still believes that ads should be part of the Windows experience, so it’s not necessarily surprising that various experiments occasionally pop up (fortunately, they didn’t make it to production devices).
