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Why Does Windows Want Me To Look At The News So Bad

birdartwww // April 1st 2025

you may be familiar with "Microsoft Edge Of My Seat" over here:

New Tab page of the Microsoft Edge software. It's laden with advertisements.

but i have since considered that there is more to the story.

i present to you:

The Windows 10 "Punch You In The Face" button:

The Windows 10 news panel. It takes up half the screen.

The Windows 11 "Shxt Zone":

A button on the Windows 11 taskbar displaying "Breaking news!"

The Windows 11 "Oh you just wanted the weather?" panel:

(which has only just recently become possible to disable)

The Windows 11 widgets panel which displays news headlines alongside weather information

The Windows 11 "Search Experience:"

The Windows 11 search panel which is filled with "helpful" information before even entering a query.

The now (thankfully) extinct "News Weather You Want It Or Not"

Image of users on the Microsoft User Feedback application complaining about the news feed in the Weather application.

You will also find/have been able to find such foolery on Microsoft's mobile devices like the killed-too-soon Surface Duo (at least back when they supported it...)

Image of the Microsoft Surface Duo 2. THough the text is in Japanese, a news feed can be clearly made out on the home screen.

like ain't nobody ask for that. Do not show that to me

What I want to know is, which news company is paying the big bucks to get their dumb little articles plastered all over Microsoft's offerings? No one else does this. Is Microsoft so strapped for cash that they have to accept money from who I can only assume to be "Big News?"

Lots of these either can't be disabled or were only made to be disable-able after people BEGGED them to do it.

A suggestion in the Microsoft User Feedback application to allow the option to "completely turn off the news articles in Windows 11's Widgets feature so I don't have to see them anymore." The suggestion has 13,712 upvotes and is marked as "implemented."

And all this after Windows LITERALLY has a news app:

Icon for the Windows 11 news applicaton.

I will check the news if I darn well want to, all right? Steve Ballmer? You listening?

Tags: #Windows #Shxtpost Blog Home

It's the end!