Microsoft is bringing annoying Windows 11 Start menu ads to Windows 10 - eviltoast
If you are sticking to Windows 10 because it has fewer annoyances than Windows 11, especially in the Start menu, we have bad news for you.

Let’s put it this way; when Microsoft announced its plans to start adding features to Windows 10 once again, despite the operating system’s inevitable demise in October 2025, everyone expected slightly different things to see ported over from Windows 11. Sadly, the latest addition to Windows 10 is one of the most annoying changes coming from Windows 11’s Start menu.

Earlier this year, Microsoft introduced a so-called “Account Manager” for Windows 11 that appears on the screen when you click your profile picture on the Start menu. Instead of just showing you buttons for logging out, locking your device or switching profiles, it displays Microsoft 365 ads. All the actually useful buttons are now hidden behind a three-dot submenu (apparently, my 43-inch display does not have enough space to accommodate them). Now, the “Account Manager” is coming to Windows 10 users.

The change was spotted in the latest Windows 10 preview builds from the Beta and Release Preview Channels. It works in the same way as Windows 11, and it is disabled by default for now because the submenu with sign-out and lock buttons does not work.

      • oberstoffensichtlich@feddit.orgEnglish
        818·
        3 months ago

        Some people need to use actually good productivity applications on their computers.

        LibreOffice, Inkscape, OpenShot, GIMP, etc. just aren’t particularly good. No HDR support is embarrassing at this day and age.

        I have installed Linux more often than Windows and MacOS and it’s not even my main operating system. What Linux offers me is a bunch of similar desktop environments all running the same mediocre applications. I want to get stuff done, not fiddle with window managers and packet managers all day.

        Installing Linux to express your feelings about Microsoft might be emotionally therapeutic, but that’s about it.

        • OR3X@lemm.eeEnglish
          7·
          3 months ago

          IDK man, I’ve been using it exclusively on my main desktop at home and I’ve been getting along just fine with those “not particularly good” applications.

        • Tattorack@lemmy.worldEnglish
          5·
          3 months ago

          Been using it just fine on my Desktop. Blender 3D and Krita are equally as good, and in some cases better, than the subscription based programs. Libre Office has the same functionality as MS Word, but supports more formats. Every other daily use program, such as Firefox or VLC runs just as fine on Linux as it does anywhere else. I’ve had virtually no issues running games from my Steam library, even ones that aren’t officially supported.

          • oberstoffensichtlich@feddit.orgEnglish
            12·
            3 months ago

            Sure. Everyone’s requirement for a desktop is different. Blender is very good for sure and Krita is decent. However for painting and drawing Krita doesn’t hold a candle to Procreate on an iPad. As for games, if you’re not a super serious gamer, there’s tons of stuff that runs on Linux nowadays for sure.

            My phone records 4K video in HDR, which I then can neither view nor edit properly on Linux. Do you have VLC 3 running with working HDR support?

        • SplashJackson@lemmy.caEnglish
          3·
          3 months ago

          I was so startled to find LibreOffice Calc, the Excel-alike, had completely different keyboard shortcuts than Excel, completely messing with my muscle memory every. Single. Time. How are businesses supposed to adapt when they need to factor in the time loss for every Excel-using employee to learn the arbitrary new control scheme?

          • oberstoffensichtlich@feddit.orgEnglish
            12·
            3 months ago

            Having different keyboard shortcuts takes some getting used to for sure. However it’s not like Excel is the end all be all of spreadsheet usability. Business often depend on some idiosyncratic excel sheet, that doesn’t work in Calc in the first place.

            LibreOffice isn’t terrible. The Writer is actually pretty okay. The spreadsheet and presentation software feels like something from 15 years ago though.