$\"Windows$ <\/p>\n

Image: Microsoft<\/span>\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Seeing an exclamation point online or within Windows is usually cause for alarm. It\u2019s a call to action, to do something<\/em>. In future versions of Windows 11, Microsoft is going to use it to flag new features in the Start menu that it wants you to use.<\/p>\n

And they\u2019re definitely happening.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Microsoft announced Windows 11 Build 22621.1483 for its Windows Insider program. The key new feature? Notifications for Microsoft accounts in the Start menu. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis update introduces notifications for Microsoft accounts in the Start menu,\u201d Microsoft wrote in a . \u201cThis is only available to a small audience right now. It will deploy more broadly in the coming months. Some devices might notice different visual treatments as we gather feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n

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$\"Microsoft$
Microsoft added this tiny example to its blog post to illustrate it. Open this image in a new tab to zoom in.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
If this sounds familiar, it should. Last November, Windows testers began seeing these Windows ads and notifications<\/a> in an earlier build. But two things stand out. First, Microsoft is actively saying that these new ads will deploy \u201cmore broadly in the coming months.\u201d Secondly, this new \u201cfeature\u201d was released as part of the Windows 11 Insider Release Preview channel.<\/p>\n
For those who are unfamiliar with Microsoft\u2019s beta program (and here\u2019s how to join the Windows Insider program<\/a>, if you\u2019re interested), the Dev Channel is where Microsoft tests code and features that may<\/em> arrive in the stable version of Windows 11. The Release Preview Channel is the final testing phase for trying out new features and anything that debuts there will definitely<\/em> ship in a future of Windows 11, according to Microsoft\u2019s testing channels. So, yes, you\u2019re going to see ads in your Start menu.<\/p>\n
What makes this so infuriating is that it dilutes the power of the exclamation point. Yes, we live in a world where everything is \u201cepic\u201d and people are \u201ckilling it\u201d by buying grapes at a discount rather than the full price. But an alert should be an alert, not an invitation. While Start ads may be a new feature (though Windows ads, sadly, aren\u2019t<\/a>) we can hope that they\u2019re rarely, if ever, used.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tAuthor: Mark Hachman<\/a>, Senior Editor\t\t<\/h3>\n
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As PCWorld’s senior editor, Mark focuses on Microsoft news and chip technology, among other beats. He has formerly written for PCMag, BYTE, Slashdot, eWEEK, and ReadWrite.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Read More<\/a>
\n Thomas Kazmierczak<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Image: Microsoft Seeing an exclamation point online or within Windows is usually cause for alarm. It\u2019s a call to action, to do something. In future versions of Windows 11, Microsoft is going to use it to flag new features in the Start menu that it wants you to use. And they\u2019re definitely happening. On Tuesday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":620977,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25086,46,63],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-620976","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-stopping","8":"category-technology","9":"category-theres"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

\n\t\t\n\t\tAuthor: Mark Hachman<\/a>, Senior Editor\t\t<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\nAs PCWorld’s senior editor, Mark focuses on Microsoft news and chip technology, among other beats. He has formerly written for PCMag, BYTE, Slashdot, eWEEK, and ReadWrite.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n