Apple has released a new version of iTunes for Windows 11 (and Windows 10), which also includes support for the newly debuted iPad Air and iPad Pro models. 

You can download iTunes version 12.13.2  for Windows from both the Microsoft Store and from Apple’s website.

iTunes has been phased out for macOS and is no longer present on Apple’s own desktop operating system. Apple still updates iTunes pretty regularly on Windows, though, and this new update follows a release that brought in security fixes back in December 2023.

This latest iTunes update also delivers a security fix, dealing with a vulnerability that could lead to the app unexpectedly shutting down, or a malicious party leveraging  “arbitrary code execution” (allowing an attacker to do nasty things to your PC, basically).

Apple's transition away from iTunes to more modern apps

In general, though, it does seem like Apple is trying to move away from iTunes in favor of its more modern media apps like Apple Music, Apple TV, and iCloud. These modern media apps are also available on Windows, and are optimized to match Windows 11’s own sleek contemporary aesthetics. 

iTunes is more than a media app - it’s also a device manager that many users of Apple hardware are used to, allowing iPhone and iPad users to carry out tasks like backing up data and installing software. However, nowadays you can do that using the newer Apple Device app, which you get through the Microsoft Store as well. 

There’s one caveat to consider - Apple’s new apps might not work as intended if you also have iTunes installed, as Neowin points out, so it’s advised that you pick one to use and uninstall the other.

iTunes: a timeless hub for Apple's media

Apple’s legacy media manager is a classic and still has a lot of purpose as it’s a place to manage all the media you’ve purchased from Apple including music, movies, and TV shows, as well as Apple Music.

If you prefer to continue to use iTunes, of course, you’re still in luck, as you can grab this latest version from the Microsoft Store. This will work whether you’re using Windows 11 or Windows 10, but not Windows 7. You can get older versions of iTunes from Apple’s website (but of course, you shouldn’t still be using Windows 7 for obvious reasons - the lack of security updates being the primary concern).

It’s good that Apple’s still looking out for users who might want to continue to use iTunes, and it also gives Apple a way in with customers who might prefer Windows as their PC’s operating system. 

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Microsoft’s Copilot AI could soon help Windows 11 users deal with texting on their Android smartphone (and much more besides in the future).

Windows Latest noticed that there’s a new plug-in for Copilot (the recently introduced add-ons that bring extra functionality to the AI assistant), which is reportedly rolling out to more people this week. It’s called the ‘Phone’ plug-in – which is succinct and very much to the point.

As you might guess, the plug-in works by leveraging the Phone Link app that connects your mobile to your Windows 11 PC and offers all sorts of nifty features therein.

So, you need to have Phone Link app up and running before you can install the Copilot Phone plug-in. Once that’s done, Windows Latest explains that the abilities you’ll gain include being able to use Copilot to read and send text messages on your Android device (via the PC, of course), or look up contact information.

Right now, the plug-in doesn’t work properly, mind you, but doubtless Microsoft will be ironing out any problems. When Windows Latest tried to initiate a phone call, the plug-in didn’t facilitate this, but did provide the correct contact info, so they could dial themselves.

The fact that this functionality is very basic looking right now means Google will hardly be losing any sleep – and moreover, this isn’t a direct rival for the Gemini AI app anyway, as it works to facilitate managing your Android device on your PC desktop.

Expect far greater powers to come in the future

Microsoft has previously teased the kind of powers Copilot will eventually have when it comes to hooking up your Windows 11 PC and Android phone together. For example, the AI will be able to sift through texts on your phone and extract relevant information (like the time of a dinner reservation, if you’ve made arrangements via text).

Eventually, this plug-in could be really handy, but right now, it’s still in a very early working state as noted.

While it’s for Android only for the time being, the Phone plug-in for Copilot should be coming to iOS as well, as Microsoft caters for iPhones with Phone Link (albeit in a more limited fashion). Still, this isn’t confirmed, but we can’t imagine Microsoft will leave iPhone owners completely out in the cold when it comes to AI features such as this.

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Windows 11’s Snipping Tool is getting more useful updates in testing – though Microsoft is looking to sneak Bing into the mix here, too, by the looks of things.

The update for Snipping Tool is in the process of rolling out to testers in the Canary and Dev channels, and it comes alongside a minor update for the Paint app too, so let’s get that out of the way first (and we’ll come back to that major Bing change later).

The new version of Paint (v11.2404.42.0) comes with a small but notable tweak. Microsoft has decided its AI feature that knocks up pictures for the user upon request is no long called ‘Cocreator’ but is now ‘Image Creator.’

As for Snipping Tool, with version 11.2404.37.0, Microsoft is introducing the ability to drop emoji into screenshots, which you can move around or resize before planting them in the image.

Also new is functionality that detects QR codes in screenshots, allowing you to instantly follow where the code is linking to.

Finally, Microsoft has added the ability to change the opacity of a shape fill, and the ruler tool has returned.

Remember, this is all just in testing for now, and you can find the full details of the changes in Microsoft’s blog post.

Analysis: Bing search in the mix

Most of these Windows 11 Snipping Tool changes were spotted already, hidden in test builds, so it’s no surprise to see them formally arrive in the app. And speaking of hidden features, there’s another one that’s just been pointed out by leaker PhantomOfEarth on X (formerly Twitter).

As mentioned at the outset, this appears to be Microsoft cramming Bing into yet another of its products by way of a ‘Visual search with Bing’ option. This is functionality that will fire up an image search, with the Bing engine, for the current screenshot. Although we don‘t know how it‘ll work yet, it could present results in-line in the app (in a panel, maybe), or more likely open the search in Edge. (Microsoft will never miss a chance to get Edge open, let‘s face it).

Although in fairness, this feature could be useful to some, others may regard it as cluttering up Snipping Tool‘s menu. At any rate, this isn’t actually in testing – it’s not rolling out yet, anyway, but the leaker suggests it likely will soon.

Regarding the change of name in Paint, Image Creator is a more direct and to the point name for the feature than Cocreator. As well as bringing it in line with Microsoft’s use of this name elsewhere, this could be read as an indication that the AI powers of Paint won’t be expanded any further than image generation. (As Cocreator kind of suggests an assistant with more sweeping powers, perhaps).

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Windows 11’s Share menu is getting a new feature - the ability to share links as QR codes that a smartphone or other suitable device can scan (you can check out our guides on how to scan QR codes with an iPhone or with an Android).

The Share menu isn’t the most widely used, especially outside of Microsoft’s own apps and services, but Microsoft looks like it’s hoping to boost its popularity by making the sharing of web pages more seamless, especially across different devices. 

This feature is part of a new preview version, Windows 11 build 26212, available to Windows Insiders through the Canary Channel. The build saw the introduction of a button that generates a QR code within the Share menu dialog box, which will apply to Microsoft Edge and other supported apps. People can generate QR codes for URL addresses and cloud files in the Windows 11 Share menu, which is opened in most apps by clicking the share button in the app’s toolbar.

Once you have the preview build installed and you follow the process to generate a QR code, you can then open the Camera app or dedicated QR scanner on your device, and hold it up to the screen. 

More about the new Share window

Writing in a blog post publicizing the development, Microsoft explains that the Share menu will not close if you accidentally (or deliberately) click outside of it. To close it, you’ll have to click the close button in the top right corner.

There’s also an added provision if you use your Gmail address for your Microsoft Account: you can send yourself an email from the share window and receive it in your Gmail inbox (instead of just Outlook/Hotmail accounts).

A similar process already exists in Windows 11 for people who have Phone Link set up on multiple devices. These users can send a link via the Share menu, but this development makes it even easier to share things across devices as you don’t have to log in or set up anything after installing the preview build. 

We’ll have to see if this makes the Share menu more popular with users, as most people are used to the clipboard functions in Windows for moving information from one place to another, or they just save the data to the device they’re currently using to retrieve when they need it.

This development isn’t a dramatically big change, which means it can be easy to adopt, but also easy to miss. It’s also still in the testing stage, so we’ll have to wait and see if and when Microsoft chooses to fully adopt it in a future Windows 11 update.

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If you’re running an unactivated version of Windows 11 (or Windows 10), your access to Microsoft Edge’s settings might be restricted in the future. This is already the case when it comes to things like Personalization settings for Windows 11 in an unactivated installation, as well as constant reminders prompting you to activate the OS.

If you don’t mind those constraints and plentiful reminders, you can install and run Windows 11 and Windows 10 without activation for free.

However, it seems like Microsoft has added multiple flags in testing that allow for blocking certain browser capabilities in an Edge preview build - if you’re using Windows 11 (or Windows 10) and it’s unactivated. The three flags in question in Edge spotted by Windows Latest are:

• msEdgeActivatedStateCheckAndUpdate
• msEdgeNonActivatedOSTrigger
• msEdgeLockSettingsInNonActivatedOS

Looking to see the effects of each of these flags being enabled, Windows Latest tried running the Edge Canary test build with one flag enabled at a time. Windows Latest turned on the ‘msEdgeLockSettingsInNonActivatedOS’ flag successfully, which resulted in some of Edge’s settings being locked. Then, when Edge’s settings page was opened, it displayed a banner that stated:

“We notice your Windows is not activated, some customization has been limited.”

Pushing further, Windows Latest explored other parts of Edge settings and also discovered that the ‘When Edge starts’ panel (which allows for configuration of what happens when the browser launches) was blocked due to Windows 11 not being activated.

An unwise move?

This is an interesting strategy that doesn’t entirely make sense to me, because as Windows Latest points out, the policy seemingly only targets Windows - Edge users on Mac devices and mobiles don’t see this kind of interference. That makes me think, well, Microsoft is mulling this move simply because it can, and if you want Windows enough to install it, then you want the OS enough to tolerate measures like this. 

Considering how clearly desperate Microsoft is for more people to use Edge, having instigated multiple instances of aggressively pushing users to make Edge their browser of choice, this strategy is even more puzzling since it could drive people away (having finally gotten what Microsoft wants, apparently!).

If you want to continue using Windows unactivated, you could just switch to Chrome, Firefox, or another of the best web browsers that doesn’t have these restrictions. It’s worth remembering that this development is still in the early testing stages, though, and hopefully won’t make it to the final version rollout - but I wouldn’t put it past Microsoft. 

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If you’re a Windows 11 user who isn’t quite ready to leave the operating system behind but would like a break from seeing ads all over the place, I have some news that might make you feel better. There’s a free app that cuts out ads to make your Windows 11 experience a little less frustrating - it’s called OFGB, which amusingly stands for ‘Oh Frick Go Back.’ 

OFGB makes use of your system’s Windows Registry to disable all kinds of ads, including File Explorer ads, Lock Screen tips and tricks, Settings ads, “Finish Setup” ads, “Welcome Experience” ads, personalized ads, “Tailored Experiences, and Start Menu ads. It’s easy to use, and you can pick and pick and choose which of these you’d like to turn off by simply ticking the appropriate boxes (frankly, I’d recommend turning them all off).

How to get your hands on OFGB

You can download OFGB from its official GitHub page, and there are two versions: a self-contained (but larger) version and one that isn’t self-contained (meaning it depends on external software components to run). If you’re not familiar with coding and are unsure which version to get, I’d recommend the first version (OFGB-Deps.exe). 

Also, make sure you get one of the versions of the Source code files (I’d recommend the .zip file). Download these files, and click OFGB-Deps.exe to begin the installation. 

Oh frick, this is perfect

OFGB was created by Arch Linux user (Arch is a customizable version of Linux) xM4ddy on GitHub, who herself has had enough of Windows ads being injected in every nook and cranny of the OS. She gave the following quote about her frustrations with Tom’s Hardware: 

"Windows lost me a long time ago by adding more and more telemetry, ads, and the lack of easily configurable options.”

You can also see a demo and read more from the creator in her Reddit post publicizing the new app.

OFGB joins an existing platoon of third-party workarounds that enable you to make automated edits to the Windows Registry so that you see fewer ads. There’s also Wintoys, an app that recently saw a major update, and Tiny 11 Builder, a tool for creating your own slimmed-down version of Windows 11, which also recently got an upgrade. 

OFGB looks like a clean, straightforward solution if the ads are something that bothers you, but only if you’re confident about trying custom third-party apps - if you’re not, it’s best to stick to using Windows as it comes. 

That said, you might be looking to take the leap, and you wouldn’t be alone - Windows 11 is reportedly losing market share to its predecessor Windows 10, which is set to no longer be supported by Microsoft next year, and many people have been expressing their anger at Microsoft’s ramping up and insistent ads in Windows 11 for a good while now. I wonder if third-party apps like OFGB will continue to work, because I could see Microsoft making every effort to push ads through - as it clearly isn’t paying much attention to the chorus of existing complaints. 

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There are reports of Microsoft working on an AI-enhanced mouse cursor in Windows 11, and it could launch alongside the long-rumored AI Explorer tool. AI Explorer will be a brand-new feature that will leverage new powerful NPU (Neural Processing Unit) technology in the next generation of Windows devices.

AI Explorer is expected to integrate into Windows 11 and be able to log all of your PC activity, including what websites you visit, which apps you open, and what documents you edit, in order to make your activity searchable. This hefty amount of data to be captured by AI Explorer is why rumors suggest that the feature will only be available on PCs with powerful components that feature NPCUs dedicated to AI tasks.

AI Explorer's screen comprehension and cursor transformation

Insights gleaned from combing over preview builds suggest that AI Explorer is being built to be able to comprehend what’s happening on your screen, make suggestions based on that information, and make all of your previous activity searchable. According to Windows Latest, AI Explorer will be context-friendly and appear at the top of your screen when prompted.

The references to cursors designed for AI Explorer were found in a new Windows file and shared by Microsoft watcher Albacore (@thebookisclosed) on X, who applied these files to see how the cursor transforms for demo purposes. So far, it’s predicted that the new-look mouse cursors will only be for AI Explorer, but how these will be implemented in Windows 11 is for Microsoft to reveal. 

Insights from Microsoft's 'Sophia' AI cursor for Office

The new AI Explorer cursors might follow the path of an AI cursor that Microsoft has already introduced - a Microsoft Office AI cursor codenamed “Sophia.” In November 2023, Microsoft wrote about Project “Sophia” on its official Learn blog, where it explained that the endeavor is still a preview feature, how the AI cursor would work, and provided instructions on how to use it, accompanied with explanatory screenshots.  

Using the keyboard screenshot Alt + C, you’re able to interact with a chosen part of what you’re seeing on screen, as well as the text that’s generated by a large language model (LLM) in response to your query. When talking about how Microsoft Office’s AI cursor functions, Microsoft explains that it can respond to natural language commands and is able to provide recommendations based on the provided context as you navigate the contents of your screen. 

This could give us some idea of what Microsoft is exploring when it comes to developing AI cursors and how they’ll be adopted into familiar parts of Windows. 

When we expect to see AI Explorer in play

We don’t know exactly when Microsoft will debut AI Explorer and its new cursor, but Windows Latest suggests that AI Explorer will be announced along with a new line-up of Snapdragon X Elite-powered Windows 11 AI PCs at  Microsoft’s annual developer-focused conference, Microsoft Build 2024 later this month May. AI Explorer is apparently going to be exclusively available to those who purchase one of these new Snapdragon X Elite PCs equipped with 16GB of RAM, 256GB of SSD storage, and a 45 TOPs NPU chip.

Microsoft’s push to convince Windows 10 users to upgrade to Windows 11 has been rubbing people up the wrong way for a while, and the concept of AI cursors is intriguing, but it could also prove divisive. Lots of people just don’t want AI in their devices yet. Also, I could see a lot of users being wary of having an even greater amount of data collected and stored (although it sounds like it’ll live locally on your device, for now). Those users might feel compelled to stick to older devices that aren’t compatible with features like AI Explorer, but that fact won’t stop Microsoft from trying. 

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Clippy is back on the desktop, in a fashion, with the iconic assistant (originally in Office 97) coming to Windows 11 in order to debloat the OS – via a third-party utility, we should swiftly add.

The idea to resurrect Clippy comes from a German software developer Belmin Hasanovic, who has drafted in the assistant – the icon of which is an animated paperclip, as you may recall – for their Winpilot open-source utility.

As Tom’s Hardware reports, Winpilot has a new version out (v2024.5.6) which incorporates Tiny11 Builder, a separate tool that allows for creating a highly streamlined installation of Windows 11.

Besides that new ability, Winpilot offers a range of features mainly revolving around removing various bits of bloat from Windows 11, from getting rid of default apps you might not want to more advanced tweaking.

Winpilot can also handle tightening up privacy settings, and stripping out Copilot functionality from Windows 11 if you’re really not keen on the desktop-based AI assistant (that Microsoft very definitely is keen on).

Where does Clippy come into this? It’s the Winpilot assistant that offers help, tips, and suggested options, appearing on top of the app’s interface. Clippy also lets you know what Winpilot has done to your system when it comes to debloating measures and the like.

Analysis: Clippy cheekiness

Naturally, this is all very tongue in cheek, and there’s some (intentional we presume) irony in the fact that a debloating utility has what is – let’s face it – an element of bloat. As Tom’s observes, having used the Winpilot tool, the Clippy speech bubbles obscure some of the utility’s actual interface at times, which is something the developer needs to address, surely.

The dev describes Clippy as the “manic cousin of Microsoft Copilot” and it does come out with various jokes and somewhat colorful language – so it is entertaining in some respects. But as noted, it seems like there’s work to be done in reining Clippy in.

If this tool looks at all familiar to you, it might be because it’s been around for some time. Winpilot is the new name for the old app, BloatyNosy, which in turn was previously known as ThisIsWin11. As the old BloatyNosy name suggested, this is about removing bloat and ensuring privacy, but as ever with third-party utilities, we’d be cautious about using them.

The less far-reaching tweaks Winpilot can make are likely to be fine, but when it comes to pulling out bits of the core interface of Windows 11 like Copilot, you need to tread carefully, and be wary about unintended side effects. Particularly with future Windows 11 updates, for example – where changes Microsoft makes could break things in respect of Winpilot’s tweaking (or that’s certainly not an unimaginable scenario).

Big fans of Clippy out there (you know who you are) may also be interested to learn that the assistant has been brought to the Windows 11 desktop before – not as a feature to get rid of Copilot, but rather, to replace the AI.

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Windows 11 just received a new preview build and it makes a number of important changes to the central pillar of the operating system’s interface, File Explorer – and there’s an interesting announcement about Copilot here, too.

As you may be aware, File Explorer is what you’re using when opening folders on your desktop, and Windows 11 got web browser-style tabs in these folders courtesy of the first major update for the OS (at the end of 2022).

In the new build 22635 in the Beta channel, Microsoft has introduced the ability to easily duplicate a tab in File Explorer.

All you need to do is right-click on an existing tab, and there’s a new option to duplicate it – click that and a second copy of the tab will be opened. It’s a neat shortcut if you want to dive deeper into other folders inside a particular folder, while keeping that original folder open.

On top of this, the preview build ushers in multiple fixes for this part of the interface, including the solution for a memory leak when working with ZIP folders in a File Explorer window. A fix has also been implemented for an issue which means the spacing between icons in File Explorer becomes very wide.

There’s also a cure for a bug where a search wouldn’t work the first time you tried it, and it’d return no results. Microsoft also notes that it: “Fixed a few issues impacting File Explorer reliability.”

There’s not much else happening in build 22635 – check out the blog post for the full list of other tweaks – but Microsoft has taken a notable step back with Copilot.

The company notes that over the past few months in Windows 11 preview builds, it has tried out a few new ideas with the AI assistant, observing that: “Some of these experiences include the ability for Copilot in Windows to act like a normal application window and the taskbar icon animating to indicate that Copilot can help when you copy text or images. We have decided to pause the rollouts of these experiences to further refine them based on user feedback.”

Analysis: Some careful thought is required for Copilot visibility

It’s interesting to see that feedback has resulted in a halt on those Copilot experiments, though obviously Microsoft is careful not to say exactly why these changes have been rescinded (for now).

We were particularly skeptical about having Copilot effectively waving its hands at you from the taskbar, with that animation declaring it can help with something, so we aren’t too surprised Microsoft is having a careful think about how to proceed here.

If there is any behavior along those sorts of lines, it’ll have to be subtle, and users will need the ability to switch it off, if they don’t want animations on the icon (which is also happening with widgets on the taskbar, too). We’ll be keeping a close eye on Microsoft’s moves in this respect.

The work on File Explorer is good to see, and should make it more stable and reliable overall. Duplicate tabs are a useful shortcut to have brought in, as well, and were only recently spotted hidden in test builds, so Microsoft has moved pretty swiftly to officially introduce this change.

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The developers of Tiny11 (a slimmed-down third-party version of Windows 11) have released a new version of their Tiny11 Builder, a tool that enables you to modify and customize your own version of Windows 11 to make it more trimmed-down. 

This version will allow you to make Windows 11 ISOs (installation media) with disabled telemetry - basically, Microsoft’s inbuilt automated data collection and communication process for monitoring, analysis, and reporting of your system. Disabling telemetry has multiple implications for increasing user privacy, using fewer system resources to run Windows 11, and getting greater control over your user data.

Tiny11 Builder is essentially an open-source script that you can run on your device to make it possible to slim down your Windows 11 for a smoother user experience. You can get the script for Tiny11 from the developers’ GitHub page by copying and pasting the code into a Windows PowerShell window, or by downloading the script file (which will have a .ps1 extension), right-clicking the file, and selecting ‘Run with PowerShell.’

For the uninitiated, PowerShell is a Microsoft tool that allows you to automate tasks and processes in the Windows operating system. The easiest way to find it is simply by searching for it in Windows Search, but it’ll open automatically if you follow the second method listed above. 

How Tiny11 Builder works to unlock Windows 11's efficiency

Running Tiny11 Builder this way will prompt your system to use Microsoft-made tools to remove items that aren’t essential, but that you wouldn’t be able to remove in its default state. 

This process isn’t as straightforward as downloading an official Microsoft ISO from its dedicated website, but according to Neowin, the resulting IOS image comes out clean and fully functional. It also allows you to bypass issues like needing a Microsoft account and certain hardware requirements, as well as permitting you to kill off Microsoft Edge, Get Started, OneDrive, and any other Windows bloatware that you might consider unnecessary. 

The updated version of the Tiny11 Builder script allowing for disabled telemetry was put up on GitHub on April 29, 2024, and announced by Tiny11 creators NDTEV on X. If you’re concerned about how much of your user data is collected and shared with Microsoft, this is a popular option with many people who share such concerns. It allows you to curb the sharing of data through Windows functionalities like Application Compatibility Appraiser, Customer Experience Improvement Program, and others. 

The ability to remove telemetry looks like the only change to this iteration of Tiny11 Builder, but NDTEV seems to have plans to give Tiny11 additional capabilities as per the developers’ GitHub repository. Future plans include enhanced language detection, more flexibility in managing which Windows 11 features to keep and purge, and maybe even a unique new user interface. 

This is maybe one notch above ‘beginner’ when it comes to implementing software on your PC, but if you’re interested in it, I’d encourage you to try it. With Microsoft’s recent onslaught of ads, I can see tools and solutions like this becoming more popular, and for all of our sakes, I hope Tiny11 Builder stays open-source. 

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Windows 11 and Windows 10 users are in some cases facing a problem whereby their VPN connection is failing to work thanks to the latest cumulative updates from Microsoft for these operating systems.

We’re talking about the main updates for last month, April, which are KB5036893 for Windows 11 (ushering in Moment 5 features), and KB5036892 for Windows 10 – and this also holds true for the preview updates released at the end of April.

Neowin noticed that Microsoft has officially acknowledged that these updates are breaking some VPNs, posting on its Windows 11 health dashboard to say: “Windows devices might face VPN connection failures after installing the April 2024 security update (KB5036893) or the April 2024 non-security preview update.”

Microsoft informs us that it’s working on fixing the problem and will “provide an update in an upcoming release,” but sadly, we don’t get any details beyond that.

Analysis: Rocky road for updates of late

This is a vague diagnosis from Microsoft, with no info provided as to what might be the root cause (or causes) of this VPN-related problem. It’s not affecting all Windows 11 (or Windows 10) users by any means, but certainly some VPN users are experiencing service failure. All we can do right now is wait for Microsoft to continue its investigation into finding out what’s gone wrong with the April update, and to provide those additional details – hopefully soon.

For those affected, this is a troubling situation, as the April cumulative update is very different from an optional update – you have to install it (Windows 11 Home users can only delay it for a bit if they want to take evasive action). Also, without the update, you don’t have the latest security measures, so your PC is just a bit more vulnerable to intrusion.

For home-based PC users running into this bug, Microsoft only offers up the following advice: “If you need support with your personal or family account, use the Get help app in Windows.”

It’s been a pretty rocky road for the April update for Windows 11 when you consider that the upgrade has brought with it some other nasty bugs, including a new spin on the Blue Screen of Death – which we dubbed the White Screen of Doom. Plus the preview update for April has an odd issue with profile photos, and there are other glitches floating around besides. So, all in all, Microsoft isn’t having a great time of things lately.

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Microsoft seems intent on making ads disguised as recommendations a fact of life in Windows 11, and the tech giant has apparently begun testing promotional recommendation pages that take up your whole screen, urging users to install Edge and other services - similar to the page you see when you first set up your device or install Windows 11.

Thinking back, I recall a few times when this screen appeared on my own Windows 11 PC after an update, and it caught me off guard as my PC is already set up to my liking. Like myself, some users would be greeted with “Let’s finish setting up your PC” automatically after a Windows Update had been installed. Before this, this sort of notification might appear if you bought a PC and set it up for the first time, but now it looks like anyone already up and running could also see it. 

A breakdown of the new notification in Windows 11

The new notification screens were spotted by Windows Latest following Microsoft’s monthly Patch Tuesday update in April 2024. As shown in a screenshot provided in Windows Latest’s report, the notification screen explains that the ‘set-up’ process will involve backing up your files using OneDrive, restoring “Microsoft recommended settings” (read: setting Edge as your default browser), backing up your phone on your PC, setting up Windows Hello, as well as getting a Microsoft 365 subscription, and turning on Phone Link between your phone and PC.

You are then given two options, neither of which is to opt out of the notification if you’re not interested. You can choose to “Continue” or select “Remind me in 3 days,” and the pop-ups will eventually return. Windows Latest tried the ‘Continue’ option, which led to a “Let’s customize your experience” page which prompts users to customize their Start menu’s ‘Recommended’ section. As shown in a provided screenshot, users would be given some control over the apps that appear in this section. 

If you decide not to make any adjustments you’ll be guided to a page with the heading “Use recommended browser settings.” The top option, not by coincidence, is Microsoft Edge - Windows 11’s default browser. This is accompanied by Bing as the default search engine, which again no surprise. Enabling these also pins the Edge icon to the taskbar and creates a desktop icon (if you’ve removed these). Luckily, if you’re not interested in using Microsoft’s web browser and search engine, you can click on “Don’t update your settings,” (which sounds like you’re getting left behind), and you can keep your previous settings. 

A closer look at Microsoft's promotional tactics

This isn’t the first of Microsoft’s heavy-handed attempts to get people to use its software and services, and not the first to be met with distaste from users. As Windows Latest points out, Edge already comes preinstalled, and it’s difficult to remove for users running Windows 11 outside of Europe. 

If you make it through all of these option screens and have any patience left, you’ll be met with more promotional pages for other Microsoft services, like the offer to try Microsoft 365 Family with a free trial. You could forgo this and subscribe to Microsoft 365 Basic, which includes ad-free OneDrive and Outlook, along with 100GB of cloud storage. In the screenshot that Windows Latest includes, no prices are stated - just a ‘Continue’ button. After this page, users are urged to set up Microsoft’s Phone Link app, which works in a similar way to Apple’s AirDrop feature, and allows you to access data on a linked Android phone on your PC.

Each page does at least have an option to skip that particular step and finish the PC setup process, but this is strange wording, because as I mentioned earlier when I saw the notification, and as Windows Latest stated while documenting this process, our PCs were already set up to our liking.

This has been happening in parallel with Microsoft adding ads disguised as recommendations in the Start menu and experimenting with adding Xbox Game Pass ads on the Settings page. I don’t like this direction for Microsoft, and if it’s not careful, it could end up annoying users rather than encouraging them to try out the software.  We live in a time when people’s attention spans can be short, but frustrations and annoyance can live in people’s minds for a pretty long time. 

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