Brace yourselves: Microsoft wants to put ads in Windows 11's Start menu

Good news everyone: first spotted by The Verge, a recent Windows Insider blog post revealed that the beta channel of Windows 11 will soon feature opt-out «recommended apps» from the Microsoft store in the Start menu, effectively introducing advertisements to a new, previously unsullied area of the OS. Sorry, did I say good news?

«Building on top of recent improvements like grouping recently installed apps and showing your frequently used apps,» the relevant section begins, «We are now trying out recommendations to help you discover great apps from the Microsoft Store under Recommended on the Start menu.»

Leaving aside the framing of this as some kind of great new feature for my benefit, my first thought was, «Wait, I thought the Start menu already crammed ads down my gullet?» Well, dear reader, I was actually thinking of the Search bar next to Windows 11's Start menu⁠—you know, the one where if you don't type the exact right file name you're looking for you get a bunch of Bing results that open into Edge instead of stuff on your computer? Yes, the sanctity of the Search widget was long ago sullied with «games for me» like «Idle Mining Empire» and «Bubble Shooter HD.»

No, the Start menu Recommended tab currently serves as a home for a smattering of your own installed programs and files new and old, algorithmically proffered by Windows. I disabled even the pre advert version of this feature a while ago because it felt like The Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known: «Here you go, you little piggy, your favorites: Elden Ring, some RPG from 20 years ago, and that notepad doc where you paste the URLs of gadgets and toys you want to buy for yourself, you adult baby.»

You'll similarly be able to opt out of the new Recommended apps from the store, but is it too much to ask to not have an OS I paid for keep shoving this crap in front of my face? It's chintzy and obnoxious, an extension of this feeling of Windows constantly foisting changes on users that nobody ever asked for, all