Microsoft has begun testing promotions for some of its other products in the File Explorer app on devices running its latest Windows 11 Insider build. The new Windows 11 “feature” was discovered by a Windows user and Insider MVP who shared a screenshot of an advertisement notification displayed above the listing of folders and files to the File Explorer, the Windows default file manager. As shown in the screenshot, Microsoft will use such ads to promote other Microsoft products, for instance, about how to “write with confidence across documents, email, and the web with advanced writing suggestions from Microsoft Editor.” As you can imagine, the reaction to this was adverse, to say the least, with some saying that File Explorer is “one of the worst places to show ads,” while others added that this is the way to go if Microsoft wants “people ditching Explorer for something else.” BleepingComputer also tried replicating this on a system running the newest Windows 11 Insider build, but we didn’t get any File Explorer ads.
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