A NEW FEATURE HAS POPPED UP in a Dev Channel Windows build that has proved most unwelcome—advertisements. These pop up in File Explorer, promoting just Microsoft Editor so far. The online response was rapid and vociferous, as you might expect. Microsoft said that the feature was “not intended to be published externally”, and has turned the ads off. The last time Microsoft tried to place ads in Windows, inserting them into a 2018 beta build of Windows Mail, it backtracked then, calling it an “experimental feature that was never intended to be tested broadly”.
Though Microsoft experiments with new features in its development builds, its response isn’t particularly comforting, as it’s clearly still developing systems to include adverts in Windows. The company makes little profit from Windows sales, licenses for new machines cost little and the upgrade from Win10 is free, so it looks increasingly likely that Windows will not remain ad-free forever. With an estimated 1.4 billion Windows 10 and 11 PCs in the world, such potentially rich pickings are hard to ignore. Apple and Google currently spam you with offers, and many have become inured to their presence. If adverts do go live, there will be howls of protest, which might explain why the company is tip-toeing towards that day. –CL