Currently in test version, the latest Windows 11 update displays advertising messages in Explorer or in the taskbar. Microsoft explains that it was an internal experiment and which should not appear.
Will we soon experience ads in Windows? The question is worth asking since a tester of Windows 11 build 22572 discovered an advertising message in Explorer. It is only a line of text but it could be the beginnings of a real evolution.
The screenshot reads: “ Write with confidence across documents, email and the web with advanced writing suggestions from Microsoft Editor ”. Which means Windows 11 wants to entice users to turn to Microsoft Editor. According to XDA-Developers , other users have seen messages to install Powerpoint which, it should be remembered, is integrated into the Office suite, and is therefore not included in Windows 11.
An error or new feature ?
Clearly, this is not very aggressive, and it only concerns Microsoft products , but these messages would also be visible in the Start menu and in the taskbar. A visual pollution to which Microsoft had rarely been accustomed, even if it is necessary to remember in the past, the ” push ” to encourage the use of the OneDrive cloud service or, of course, the Microsoft Edge browser.
Anyway, the publisher immediately reacted to this discovery, and Microsoft pleads the “ bug ”. ” This was an experimental banner that was not intended for external publishing and has been disabled,” Windows Senior Program Manager Brandon LeBlanc explained in a statement to The Verge . Nevertheless, if it is experimental, it is that Microsoft is seriously considering adding advertisements to its products in the Explorer.
