In a move that is unlikely to make the company many friends, Microsoft has started to push adverts on the lock screen for Windows 10.
As ExtremeTech notes, it's not like we didn't know this was coming, but it will certainly be interesting to see the wider reaction now that lock screens are actually being adorned with ads – the first one is for Rise of the Tomb Raider, by the way.
This decision will likely produce more cracks in the ice Microsoft is skating on with Windows 10, which has been getting thinner of late with all the controversy surrounding the amount of data the OS sends back to Redmond HQ (even if you adjust all the settings you can to block this, data is still being sent – at least with the Home version of the operating system).
At any rate, not everyone is seeing the adverts yet, so this "feature" would appear to be still rolling out (it may even be US only at this point).
Flick that switch
If you do find yourself being wound up by said adverts, the good news is it's easy enough to put a stop to them.
Simply hop on over to Settings, Personalisation, Lock Screen. There you'll find a little button for 'Get fun facts, tips, tricks, and more on your lock screen', which will be on. Switch it off and you will no longer be bothered by Lara Croft trying to persuade you to buy her latest adventure.
As well as privacy issues, the other major controversy surrounding Windows 10 is how Microsoft is pushing the upgrade hard at Windows 7/8.1 users, including making it a recommended update earlier this month (meaning that installation could conceivably kick-off automatically without the user taking any action).
- Also check out: Should you upgrade to Windows 10?
