Microsoft recently stuck an ad in the lock screen of Windows 10, meaning many of the 200 million users who upgraded from previous versions were greeted by an advertisement over the past 24 hours.

The ad in question was for the Windows Store version of Rise of the Tomb Raider, and for some users it took up the entire screen with a picture from the game. The new Tomb Raider installment was added to the Windows Store last month, bringing a AAA game to a platform that doesn’t have many of them.

This isn’t a surprise: Microsoft discussed using the lock screen for ads last spring before Windows 10 was widely released. But this is the first time actual ads have shown up.

If you want to disable these unwanted guests, you’re not alone — and there’s an option to do so, as explained by HowToGeek. To summarize, you need to hit Start, then Settings. Head to Personalization, then Lockscreen settings. If “Windows Spotlight” is selected, pick either a “Picture” or “Slideshow” instead. Then uncheck the option that says “Get fun tips tricks and more on your lock screen.” This should disable such ads from showing up on the lock screen entirely.

When we talked to Windows Store developers recently about sales, one developer told us visability is a key problem. Basically, people don’t look at the Store very often, so sales come from outside press instead of exposure within the Store itself.

Microsoft told us it was hoping to increase visibility for Store apps, and lockscreen ads certainly accomplish that. The question is at what cost.

https://twitter.com/lunatrius/status/702553285962633216

Windows 10 is well regarded among technology journalists and many Microsoft fans, but many Windows users were annoyed with the persistent pop-ups to upgrade that have been pushed to Windows 7 and 8 users. Ads showing up in the operating system certainly aren’t going to endear Windows 10 to those folks, to say the least.

The question is whether most users will care; there is an option to disable the ads, after all. It will be interesting to see how users react, especially if such ads become more common.

Related Posts

New study shows AI isn’t ready for office work

A reality check for the "replacement" theory

Google Research suggests AI models like DeepSeek exhibit collective intelligence patterns

The paper, published on arXiv with the evocative title Reasoning Models Generate Societies of Thought, posits that these models don't merely compute; they implicitly simulate a "multi-agent" interaction. Imagine a boardroom full of experts tossing ideas around, challenging each other's assumptions, and looking at a problem from different angles before finally agreeing on the best answer. That is essentially what is happening inside the code. The researchers found that these models exhibit "perspective diversity," meaning they generate conflicting viewpoints and work to resolve them internally, much like a team of colleagues debating a strategy to find the best path forward.

Microsoft tells you to uninstall the latest Windows 11 update

https://twitter.com/hapico0109/status/2013480169840001437?s=20