Bing Wallpaper app now shows full-screen ads, and users are furious
Bing Wallpaper showing Ad for Harry Potter and Fantastic beasts box set
A long-time Bing Wallpaper user reports that the app has started displaying a full-screen ad for a Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts box set, replacing the wallpaper. The user describes it as 'atrocious UX' and momentarily thought they had installed adware. Another user agrees and suggests sending feedback and uninstalling the app.
For a moment I thought I installed some adware malware.
- tialaramex
Since this thread is mostly people complaining about Windows, here are two more fun anecdotes
1. I installed a new Windows-only gaming setup. Out of the box it was able to figure out how IPv6 networking works here but didn't get IPv4. So for the 10-20 minutes it took to fix that I was able to see what's a priority for Microsoft (so it works even with just IPv6) and what's non-critical so you can demand IPv4
Adverts everywhere: Critical, Ipv4 not needed
Turning *off* the adverts: Non-essential, need Ipv4 or you can't change this
2. In my day job we look after the software which runs exams. For obvious reasons this software cannot do anything except present your exam and accept whatever your answers are. The University doesn't have buckets of money and almost all its machines run Windows, so exams happen on Windows. With a locked down environment you can still write the formulae you were supposed to memorize on your tits and then wear a top you can pull down to look at them "discretely" the same as in a paper exam, but you can't ask ChatGPT to write your essay about Singapore's housing policy for your politics exam or have it tell you whether the X-ray in figure 1 shows evidence for options A, B, C or D in your 3rd year medicine exam.
Despite the fact that this software is as locked down as we could possibly make it, and so the machine definitely cannot "install OneDrive" even if the student really wanted to instead of taking their exam, Windows will still sometimes in […]
- OisinMoran
Recently had to install some stuff on a Windows laptop, test it, then ship it out to a customer, and my god the culture shock coming from Mac (and previously Linux and before that Windows)! Randomly selected (and not particularly good at that) rotating wallpapers, random unrelated facts on the log in page. Had to nuke as many of them as possible, but they don't make it easy.
- bobtheborg
Not true for me. Not sure where author is and why (s)he is seeing this (wallpapers seem to be country based.)
or
https://bing.com/ and use the < > to move through history.
- bejd
I'd be more surprised if this was the first time Microsoft did this.
I checked the download page[0] and next to the download button they say they will do this
>You will also receive in-app notifications with promotional offers from Microsoft
- ungreased0675
Microsoft seems determined to destroy every bit of remaining customer goodwill. Who approved this ad?