Microsoft may finally be addressing one of the most frustrating aspects of Windows 11: the constant advertising and upsells. According to Scott Hanselman, one of the engineers responsible for the new Windows fixes, the company is now working to make Windows 11 a “quieter and more relaxed operating system with fewer upsells,” particularly in areas like the Start menu and system prompts.
This comes after years of criticism in which users have complained about being pushed to services like Edge, OneDrive, Microsoft 365 and even Copilot, often in places they didn’t expect.
Why is Microsoft reducing advertising?
Windows 11 has gradually evolved into a platform that not only runs apps but also promotes them. From Start menu recommendations to setup time prompts and full-screen nudges, Microsoft has been pushing its own ecosystem pretty aggressively. Even Microsoft insiders have recognized the problem. The push for a “quieter” experience is essentially the company admitting that Windows has gotten a little too noisy and needs to be fixed.
However, don’t expect the ads to disappear completely. The goal here seems to be to reduce clutter, not to eliminate it.
What exactly could change?
The biggest change here is simple: Windows will try to sell you fewer things. Microsoft wants to reduce promotions in the Start menu and operating system while improving performance, cleaning up the user interface and reducing unnecessary prompts so that the overall experience feels smoother and less intrusive.
Speaking of changes, Microsoft is also working on other user-friendly changes, such as potentially removing forced Microsoft account sign-in during setup, bringing back a movable taskbar, optimizing Windows 11 to run better with 8GB of RAM to compete with devices like the MacBook Neo, and even revamping Copilot AI’s aggressive integration into the operating system. All in all, it looks like Microsoft is finally focusing less on promoting services and more on improving the core experience.
