I too don't see ads anymore since switching to Debian (GNU/Linux) but Windows is FULL of ads for Xbox, candy crush and Microsoft's office. I've heard that iPhones and apples devices in general come preinstalled with an apple store app for specifically purchasing walled garden devices... I would say that counts as ads.

[–] fallingcats@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Don't forget onedrive, which seems to come back every other reboot

[–] vox@sopuli.xyz 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

it doesn't.
i uninstalled it on all of my machines and haven't seen it ever since.
same applies to edge, i uninstalled it in 2021 and it only came back once (after a copilot backport update), a week ago in 2024

[–] Smorty@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Really? Is that a thing now? I mean it has been some years since my PC has seen Windows...

[–] vox@sopuli.xyz 3 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

it's not.
never happened to me
maybe a thing on windows home, but i only use enterprise

[–] jamyang@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Do you know a way to purchase Win11 enterprise key? Afaik, you do need to own a company or something.

[–] vox@sopuli.xyz 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

mas can activate it permanently with hwid

[–] vox@sopuli.xyz 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

enterprise (and "pro for workstations") edition of windows 11 has little to no ads.
same applies to windows 10 pro or higher with local accounts
you should go with enterprise if you need windows for any reason anyway, as it's the only edition with an option to disable telemetry (set it to "Security" in group policy editor, in pro it only goes down to "Required", and no debloating tool will help with that) (it's impossible to do without partching the os or using a firewall in other editions, yes, Microsoft basically paywalls privacy)
ma account login can be blocked via a gpo in pro or higher editions, the system pretends they don't exist at all (e.g. add new account button brings up a menu to add a local account immediately)

[–] Smorty@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 8 months ago

Yeeeeeaaah I'm still not gonna use Windows. Thanks for the explanation tho! I did not know that there were substantial differences between the different versions.

[–] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

you should go with enterprise

Which a regular person can't buy.

The easiest legal route to a permanently debloated Windows with 10+ years of patches is Windows Server Essentials.