I don't like it either, but it's probably unsurprising given that neither corporations nor users tend to upgrade to new Windows versions in a reliable fashion.
I think using ad-based monetization was short-sighted and will damage their brand in the long term, but presumably they did the math and decided it was a good idea anyways.
Can you give me some examples of ad-based monetization, please? I'm on Windows 10 Pro with suggestions turned off, so all I've seen is a popup that suggests using Edge.
I don't see this as being particularly different from Google showing me an advert for Chrome every time I do a search....
> I don't see this as being particularly different from Google showing me an advert for Chrome every time I do a search....
I expect ads when I visit someone's store. I don't expect ads in my home, even if I'm just renting it from someone else. That's the difference that I see.
The suggestions that you have turned off, which happen to be opt-out rather than opt-in, and suggest non-Microsoft products, is a pretty blatant example of ad-based monetization, if you don't want to count promoting Microsoft's own products as advertising.
"Paid advertising" is where you take money from somebody, and the person you take money from controls the content. I don't see how Microsoft suggesting that you try Edge or OneDrive (which are free, and which you already have) fit into that category.
I was assuming you were talking about the suggestions that suggest apps on the start menu. Those are non-Microsoft apps. How do you think apps get on that list?
Just had a look at my Windows 10 Pro with suggestions turned off and there aren't any ads like that. Or maybe it's because I've never downloaded a game.
However, if I had found one, it doesn't seem like it would be worth too much hysteria.... though I confess that the Chrome adverts on Google's search page actually do annoy me. Slightly.
Of course, I use Google Search much much more often than the Windows 10 start menu ;-)
You get 5GB free, which is more than most people use, and that's in addition to infinite storage for email. OneDrive also compresses Office documents so they take up less space, and it automatically de-duplicates files.
It's a very useful 5GB, given that its part of the OS and you can save to it like an internal drive.
Of course, in the long run, Microsoft wants people o sign up for Office 365, which provides 1TB per person. That way you get 5TB of storage for peanuts, as well as the full desktop Office and integrated smartphone and tablet apps.
> You get 5GB free, which is more than most people use, and that's in addition to infinite storage for email.
I double-checked to be sure. My "free" 15GB of storage in Gdrive is actually 0GB (ie zero, nada, nothing) because I have almost 15GB of email in Gmail.
The same amount of email in Outlook still leaves 5GB free in OneDrive, for new users. (I have 25GB because Microsoft grandfathered my earlier storage.)
If you're shooting 4K with an iPhone then obvioulsy you'll use iCloud (also 5GB) not OneDrive. Good luck with that.
If you're a normal person then you'll probably use 200MB (my wife) to 1.5GB (me) shooting jpegs. I checked my folders.
If you think 5GB of OneDrive is a suitable option for a pro/semipro/serious photographer shooting RAW then I suspect you may have more serious problems than OneDive...
I think using ad-based monetization was short-sighted and will damage their brand in the long term, but presumably they did the math and decided it was a good idea anyways.