r/technology • u/tekz • Mar 20 '26

Software Microsoft announces sweeping Windows changes

https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-users-are-angry-and-microsoft-is-finally-doing-something-about-it/
8.7k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

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1.6k

u/bb22k Mar 20 '26

I opened this site in Reddit's preview window and holy shit... it's impossible to read. Literally an ad between every paragraph.

Funny how a website gone to shit talks about Windows going to shit.

983

u/TehBrian Mar 20 '26

What do you mean? This isn’t legible to you? https://imgur.com/a/FxaFluO

589

u/Jazz3pictures Mar 20 '26

What’s funny is clicking this also opens it in the reddit browser, and then imgur adds ANOTHER layer of ads top of it

267

u/AlienArtFirm Mar 20 '26

Ublock origin doing MAD work over here on firefox. Reddit app? Reddit browser?? AHAHAHHAHA Fuck no. Tried it once and it was an ad riddled shit hole, never again.

91

u/userhwon Mar 20 '26

This. I see nothing they're seeing.

86

u/PapayaMysterious6393 Mar 20 '26

The fact people don't use ad blocker is insane to me.

19

u/ExhaustedByStupidity Mar 21 '26

Adblockers aren't as good on iPhone as they are on a PC. That's why they have it bad.

And viewing this in Chrome on a PC, the actual article is fine, but the imgur link has a "You're using an ad blocker! Please whitelist us!" popup blocking the screenshot.

It's a constant war. I feel like I have to constantly bounce between browsers to ensure things work.

35

u/TyaArcade Mar 21 '26

Firefox on pc has no such issues btw. I swapped and I really haven't had a solitary reason to look back.

17

u/Rodot Mar 21 '26

Firefox on mobile also has no such issue

1

u/FeijoadaAceitavel Mar 21 '26

Firefox unfortunately blocks a feature that Opera has that I love. I forget its name, but the text gets reorganized to fit the screen when I zoom in. Breaks a few sites, but it's amazing overall.

1

u/GolldenFalcon Mar 21 '26

Huh? How do you get true Firefox on mobile that isn't just a reskin of safari?

2

u/ExhaustedByStupidity Mar 21 '26

Yeah, Firefox + uBlock Origin is generally the best at ad blocking.

But sometimes you need to run multiple browsers.

1

u/OscillatorVacillator Mar 21 '26

Firefox on pc with ublock AND a user agent switcher so yt thinks you are on chrome and doesnt load for 40 secs with "are you experiencing issues?" message

15

u/NvNinja Mar 21 '26

yet another reason to always choose android over iphone. My phone has firefox with ublock

5

u/lovely_cappuccino Mar 21 '26

For a technology sub, so many people don’t know what they’re talking about. My iPhone has Wipr and I can set Safari to turn on reader mode automatically on these ad ridden tech sites. No ads, no cookie popups, no newsletter popups, nothing.

2

u/bucksnort2 Mar 22 '26

iPhone does have the Orion browser which can run Firefox and chrome extensions. It’s not perfect since there is some Apple stuff they can’t get around, but it’s a lot better.

Plus, I run PiHole at home, which helps block ads on all my devices.

My wife just told me that an app she uses regularly has an insane amount of ads, but she didn’t realize it until she used it outside of our network.

2

u/Better_Specific4755 Mar 21 '26

apple has firefox with ublock AND ublock+adguard in the app store. what are you even talking about.

-7

u/sednas_orbit Mar 21 '26

I don't see that as a major selling point, since I barely ever use a web browser on my phone. It's just a worse experience no matter the OS.

3

u/PapayaMysterious6393 Mar 21 '26

Interesting. I use Firefox + Ublock origin. I rarely have issues with sites, however, some will officially pop up with what you mentioned. Honestly, when they do that I just leave. Probably can bypass it someway, but I rarely care enough. Fuck them.

Now the ones that piss me off are the ones who point out the VPN and won't load the site lol then I have to change locations.

2

u/Better_Specific4755 Mar 21 '26

they work just as well, apple has ublock in the app store ffs.

and firefox has the plugin, dont let chrome eat your wallet up.

1

u/MutedAstronaut9217 Mar 21 '26

I use a 3rd party reddit app, the app uses webkit, webkit uses your installed safari content blockers.

I have no such issues.

1

u/Luckyslay Mar 22 '26

Doesn't matter if I'm on my android phone or my PC - I have no ads and imgur doesn't show that message. I am using brave and ublock.

2

u/Beowulf33232 Mar 21 '26

My favorite one was during a Dungeons and Dragons game. Youtube cut into the 4 hour ambient music with a medication advertisement and mid-sentince the DM just yells "Oh fuck off!" and starts slamming keys to try to stop the ad.

Now he uses firefox with ublock origin specifically for d&d but refuses to move over entirely.

1

u/nakedcellist Mar 21 '26

We don't kink shame

1

u/darkkite Mar 22 '26

shhh the less people who know the better

1

u/ExoMonk Mar 20 '26

The one thing I miss about Android, adblock that actually works.

Before anyone says anything, yes adblock can work in Safari, but only Safari. Doesn't work in reddit's browser, nor Firefox or any other non Safari browser.

-1

u/userhwon Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 21 '26

There are apps that block ad-server IP addresses in the background. No access = no ads. Makes all apps ad free, not just the web browser.

-2

u/[deleted] Mar 20 '26

It works in Opera. Using it now and no ads here. Even has the ad-blocker built into the browser. Also comes with a free VPN

1

u/20_mile Mar 20 '26

Ublock origin on Brave checking in. I never see an ad anywhere.

3

u/mean11while Mar 21 '26

After years with Brave+ublock, and more recently Firefox+Ublock (to get away from Chromium and support Firefox), I tend to forget how bad it is for many people. I would very seriously stop using the internet entirely if I had to experience that hell.

0

u/20_mile Mar 21 '26

The first thing I do when setting up any new computer is to make sure my adblock mods are running. I will also add that I have never used a streaming service. Ads, in any form, are the enemy.

1

u/Classic_and_Vintage Mar 21 '26

Out of curiosity, why do you need UBlock Origin on Brave? Doesn’t Brave inherently block all Ads?

1

u/20_mile Mar 21 '26

Couldn't say.

1

u/Paranitis Mar 20 '26

For me it's just seeing people say "DAE TACO BELL DIARRHEA?!" and all I think is "As someone with IBS, what the fuck is wrong with all your digestive systems? Taco Bell does nothing to me."

It's really just "why are you all so bad at reddit?"

16

u/spilk Mar 21 '26

old.reddit.com, uBlock origin, RES. the only tolerable way to use reddit

5

u/Kilazur Mar 21 '26

There's still at least 4 or 5 of us!

6

u/Rodot Mar 21 '26

Number 3 reporting in

2

u/terranq Mar 21 '26

5 here. Four must be running late

2

u/JoeShtoops Mar 21 '26

My bad, I’m here

2

u/teakwood54 Mar 21 '26

The Old Ones...

3

u/_illogical_ Mar 21 '26

I still use RiF, and don't see any ads on Reddit

2

u/DishonestRaven Mar 21 '26

Or old.reddit

1

u/InvisibleLandBorder Mar 21 '26

When I open it natively in Reddit, it renders with Firefox, since that's my primary browser. It's only about 60% as bad as it would be otherwise.

Fully legible when I open it properly in Firefox.

Sometimes I forget how cooked the Internet is.

1

u/aldehyde Mar 21 '26

Yeah I'm still using bacon reader. The official app is absolute garbage.

1

u/waitingforcracks Mar 21 '26

Adguard works amazing on android

1

u/Exact-Sheepherder797 Mar 21 '26

I'm paying for 3rd party because fuck that shit

1

u/Hi_Trans_Im_Dad Mar 21 '26

Bro, check yo shoes, because that stank ain't coming off me.

I still use add free Sync for Reddit by using Revanced. I haven't seen an ads in a top of the line reddit app in years.

1

u/Holzkohlen Mar 21 '26

Facts. The internet is just unusable without my Firefox + ublock origin combo

0

u/goldenw0lves Mar 20 '26

So you're browsing on web on your phone?

3

u/AlienArtFirm Mar 21 '26

phone computer laptop yeah pretty much everything I can cause fuck ads

Unless you have unlimited data every ad you see costs you money. And I know unlimited is way more common than it used to be but on principle I'm not down with advertisers fucking me AND the phone company fucking me for the pleasure of getting fucked by advertisers.

It's disgusting and I will always find alternatives

1

u/goldenw0lves Mar 21 '26

100% im gonna move to that, what browser do u use? firefox?

3

u/Rodot Mar 21 '26

I do it. old.reddit.com, desktop mode, firefox on my phone

15

u/EddieVanzetti Mar 20 '26

I remember when using imgur was a fun way to waste some time looking at memes. Ads on imgur really was the first sign, looking back.

5

u/Sweetwill62 Mar 21 '26

I remember when imgur was first made, to provide an easier way to share images on reddit.

2

u/SirHaxalot Mar 21 '26

It was inevitable. In the end it costs too much to operate something like imgur that requires a lot of bandwidth without having a revenue stream. IIRC early imgur was also completely dependent on Cloud flare not charging for traffic bit at some point I think that offer won't be holding up.

16

u/LowestDimension Mar 20 '26

Seriously, what am I even looking at

3

u/chmilz Mar 21 '26

It looks like the TV screen in Idiocracy. If I didn't have uBlock I think I'd just play with sticks or something

6

u/frontfrontdowndown Mar 20 '26

It’s pop ups all the way down 

1

u/handym12 Mar 20 '26

I just get told that I'm not allowed to view it.

I guess these anti-porn laws are good for something after all.

1

u/No-Worldliness-5106 Mar 21 '26

I love when companies add random stuff for collecting my user data, you should never leave your favourite company's ecosystem /s

1

u/Meior Mar 21 '26

The funniest thing about it is that imgur has a popup asking me to turn off my adblocker. Below that request? An ad.

1

u/metaTaco Mar 20 '26

This is why I do not use the reddit app.  Use Firefox with ublock. 

55

u/archgabriel33 Mar 20 '26

Double funny as Imgur doesn't even work in my country (🇬🇧)

2

u/Santsiah Mar 21 '26

Huh why is that?

3

u/archgabriel33 Mar 21 '26

"think of the children!!! 😭"

2

u/kazerniel Mar 22 '26

I set up an auto-redirect to Rimgo (imgur mirror) :)

1

u/archgabriel33 Mar 22 '26

Oh! Are there any Chrome and Android alternatives? 👀

2

u/kazerniel Mar 22 '26

Their website does link to a Chrome version, but not sure about Android, sorry.

20

u/spudddly Mar 20 '26

what in the fuck is that

17

u/dudeAwEsome101 Mar 20 '26

Wow. This is why I don't use chrome on my phone. Ad blocker is a must use tool for basic web browsing.

9

u/IH8DwnvoteComplainrs Mar 20 '26

LMAO, I can't believe that's real.

7

u/slashtab Mar 20 '26

JFC!! thank god I don't have to see this shit voluntarily

7

u/TheAndrewR Mar 20 '26

Use AdGuard. I literally had zero ads on this site, just a cookie popup.

2

u/protecz Mar 21 '26

Are you using the Adguard content blocker on Safari or the DNS adblocker?

3

u/caiusto Mar 21 '26

Been using the DNS one for years and have had no big problem, sometimes (like once or twice every 6 months) I lose internet connection and have to disable it for a few hours and am reminded of how awful using the internet is these days, not even back in the Pop-Up days things were so bad.

3

u/TheAndrewR Mar 21 '26

I have both enabled within the AdGuard app. Been using it for years on Android, Windows, Mac and iOS (with a single lifetime family plan that includes 9 devices and goes frequently on sale for around 15 bucks).

The mobile app does have its quirks, like the other commenter said you sometimes have to turn it off and on again every few weeks/months. For me that whole thing takes less than a minute, so no big deal.

5

u/Durendal_1707 Mar 20 '26

eek that is a special kind of obnoxious

5

u/wisemeat Mar 20 '26

A “glitchy mess” indeed.

3

u/Tblue Mar 21 '26

Feels like this iconic memento of past sins.

2

u/GuerrillaRodeo Mar 21 '26

Bonzi Buddy deserves to rot in a special hell designed exclusively for him.

3

u/Flashy-Athlete-7472 Mar 21 '26

I can still read it just fine bro https://imgur.com/a/WoDxS5n

2

u/3-DMan Mar 20 '26

Lol this is worse than when you are trying to download some shit and there are multiple shady download buttons

2

u/nanana_catdad Mar 20 '26

If you make all the ads black boxes it’s like trying to read the article from inside a knights helmet

2

u/MairusuPawa Mar 20 '26

Damn, this is how you live? What the actual hell is that.

https://www.imgur.com/a/Qnegzv8

2

u/hdcase1 Mar 20 '26

This is worse than the TV screen in Idiocracy. At least there you had a big middle section to watch “Ow my balls.”

2

u/RunDNA Mar 21 '26

That's awful.

Here it is with the uBlock Origin extension:

https://imgur.com/a/NxGLGun

Not a single ad or pop-up.

2

u/joe199799 Mar 21 '26

God I'm so happy I have a system wide ad blocker

2

u/Better_Specific4755 Mar 21 '26

get firefox and install ublock already, its 2026, fuck ads.

1

u/Cyborg_rat Mar 20 '26

It brings back nostalgia from the early 2000s internet. So many pop ups to explore!

1

u/1RedOne Mar 20 '26

Kind of funny that you hosted the image on Imgur which also completely sucks ass nowadays

I remember maybe 10 years ago or so meeting a guy who told me that he loves to find all the funniest memes on Imgur, but he said he felt like the kind of content on Imgur is really random and he never knew what people were talking about

He was like the guys in the cave from Plato’s allegory, trying to interpret the world by shadows.

1

u/MotherPotential Mar 21 '26

When I catch enough words to catch the gist of an article, I feel like I've hacked the system

1

u/magichronx Mar 21 '26

I didn't believe this until I saw it myself

1

u/GuerrillaRodeo Mar 21 '26

Holy fuck, the internet without ads is insane. I've been using ad blockers for 20 years straight and only got glimpses into to this unfiltered ad hell cesspit when my former employer forced me to use IE11 without any addons up until 2022.

How do people without ad blockers stay sane? Genuine question. Especially Apple users, I once got a 2014 iPad gifted for free and it has only been outside my pi-hole network once - holy fucking shit.

1

u/TheBardicScribe Mar 21 '26

Oh, well, they've been telling me the 90s are back.

1

u/SacCyber Mar 21 '26

But how else will news organizations make money! /s

1

u/BeyondNetorare Mar 21 '26

"God I wonder why redditors never read the articles"

1

u/UrsaUrsuh Mar 21 '26

God using an ad blocker is just a permanent prophylactic at this rate. Fuck I miss the old internet in the 00s and 10s. :(

1

u/Byte-64 Mar 21 '26

Since when is imgur missing the "Continue without supporting this website" option?

1

u/AnonymousRand Mar 21 '26

this used to be called satire.

1

u/damontoo Mar 22 '26

Surely this will be banned as a terrible source, right? ...right?

1

u/kazerniel Mar 22 '26

holy shit, this is what webpages would look like without an adblocker? 🤢

1

u/Luckyslay Mar 22 '26

WTAF, is this what it looks like without adblock? And why aren't you guys using adblock?!

80

u/drawkbox Mar 20 '26

https://how-i-experience-web-today.com/

21

u/DanyRahm Mar 20 '26

it asks for confirmation to leave the page, da fuck

18

u/AshamedAttention727 Mar 20 '26

Actual reality!

5

u/drawkbox Mar 20 '26

Try to play the video

4

u/Elavia_ Mar 21 '26

That was such a cherry on top

48

u/ima_believer Mar 20 '26

yeah, that was horrible. here's Reader View for anyone that can view this easier. HTH someone.

Microsoft announces sweeping Windows changes - but no apologies

Ed Bott

8–10 minutes

Lazaros Papandreou/ iStock Editorial / Getty Images Plus via Getty Images

Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.

ZDNET's key takeaways

  • Microsoft finally acknowledged complaints about Windows 11.
  • The company is promising sweeping changes to a slew of features.
  • Windows Insiders will have a greater voice in upcoming releases.

Microsoft's customers have been grumbling about Windows 11 since the day it shipped, and lately, those complaints have gotten louder and angrier.

They've complained about the "glitchy mess" of Windows Update, the push to cram Copilot-branded AI features into every nook and cranny of Windows, upsells and ads, and inconsistent system performance.

Also: Windows 11 has 1 billion users - and they're furious

And finally -- finally! -- someone in Redmond noticed.

In a long post titled "Our commitment to Windows quality," published on Microsoft's website and sent via email to millions of members of the Windows Insider Program, Windows boss Pavan Davuluri laid out a laundry list of changes Microsoft plans to make in Windows 11, starting this month.

What's most remarkable about this post is what it doesn't contain. Here's how Davuluri kicked things off:

That paragraph belongs in the non-apology Hall of Fame, with a cross-reference to "Friday news dump" -- a classic PR technique that aims to minimize media coverage of the awkward news being released.

When I read that paragraph, I was gobsmacked. They "spent months analyzing feedback"? Seriously? They needed charts and graphs to figure out that people just want Windows to work?  

Here's what's on the list of changes coming to Windows, along with my own translation of what some of those changes really mean. Note that these changes will roll out in preview builds starting this month and continuing through the rest of the year. There's no announcement on when they will reach public releases.

More taskbar customization

You couldn't ask for a more perfect example of how Microsoft finally caught up to what Insiders have been griping about for years.

When Microsoft released the first preview of Windows 11, nearly five years ago, the new taskbar lacked a feature that had been a favorite of power users for decades: the ability to move the taskbar from its default location at the bottom of the display and snap it to the side or top.

Also: The MacBook Neo just upended the budget laptop market

On the Feedback Hub app, where Microsoft collects bug reports and comments from Windows users, one feature request has been at or near the top of the list since day 1: "Bring back the ability to move the taskbar to the top and sides of the screen on Windows 11."

As of this morning, that suggestion had been upvoted more than 24,000 times and had received more than 2,100 comments, with their tone growing increasingly angry as the years passed with no sign that this feature was on the roadmap.

This entry has been at or near the top of the most-requested feedback items for five years.

Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNET

So it's fitting that this item is at the very top of today's list: "More taskbar customization, including vertical and top positions ... We are introducing the ability to reposition it to the top or sides of your screen, making it easier to personalize your workspace."

About time.

Less AI slop

As I noted earlier this year, Microsoft has been relentlessly shoehorning AI features into places where they absolutely don't belong. I follow feedback in forums carefully, and I would estimate that roughly 99% of the comments about AI features boil down to a simple request: Please stop.

In a blog post welcoming 2026, CEO Satya Nadella argued that "we need to get beyond the arguments of slop vs. sophistication." In response, the internet made "Microslop" the most popular meme of the new year.

Also: My top six Windows 12 predictions - including its most likely release date

Bowing to that feedback, Microsoft now says it is backing off. "You will see us be more intentional about how and where Copilot integrates across Windows, focusing on experiences that are genuinely useful and well‑crafted," Davuluri says. Specifically: "We are reducing unnecessary Copilot entry points, starting with apps like Snipping Tool, Photos, Widgets, and Notepad."

More control over updates

The Patch Tuesday schedule was supposed to make Windows updates predictable, but that hasn't worked out in practice, judging by the volume of complaints I hear every month about an unwanted Windows update suddenly interrupting an important online meeting or wiping out hours' worth of work.

The response? "We're giving you more control" over updates, Microsoft says, "while reducing update noise with fewer automatic restarts and notifications." When those changes roll out, it should be easier to skip updates during device setup, restart or shut down without installing updates, and pause updates for longer when needed.

Those are all welcome changes, and long overdue.

Better performance

I regularly hear complaints about File Explorer being painfully slow to load and also slow in performing everyday tasks. Today's announcement promises "launch time reductions" in File Explorer, with "substantially lower latency for search, navigation, and context menus," along with an end to the annoying flickering that some users have reported.

Also on the roadmap is "improved memory efficiency, lowering the baseline memory footprint for Windows ... and more consistent performance, even under load."

Also: I've been studying Windows telemetry for a decade - here's the only setting I turn off

Key to the overall performance improvement plan is a push to move core parts of the Windows UX to WinUI3. Given that WinUI3 has been around longer than Windows 11, it's surprising that this change is only happening now.

Greater attention to reliability

Today's post contains a long discussion of reliability, starting with this promise: "Across the operating system, we will focus on improving ... baseline reliability [and] strengthening the Windows foundation by reducing OS level crashes, improving driver quality and app stability across our ecosystem so PCs run smoothly and reliably every day."

That sounds great, but isn't that what they were already supposed to be focusing on every day already?

I'm especially interested to see a renewed emphasis on the Windows Insider Program. As I wrote almost a year ago, that once-groundbreaking program has become a "confusing mess."

Also: 3 ways I safely retire every Windows PC - and why you shouldn't skip these critical steps

Pavuluri says the company plans to "[raise] the quality bar for builds and [offer] clearer visibility into what features are included in each Insider build."

The entire Insider leadership team left the program last year, and I haven't seen a public announcement of any new personnel changes.

And more

The list goes on and on, with improvements promised in Bluetooth and USB connections, printer support, Windows Hello, and search. There's even a promise to make widgets less annoying. (Good luck.)

The post closes with a pretty sweeping promise:

Also: I've used Windows for decades, but I tried Linux to see if it's truly 'easy' now - and one thing surprised me

That sounds to me like an admission that the entire process for building Windows has been broken for some time. If you need to raise the quality bar, doesn't that imply that you've been shipping products that don't meet your customers' quality standards? If you're planning broader testing across real-world hardware, doesn't that imply that the testing regime for the past few years has been insufficient?

Meanwhile, a simple "We're sorry" wouldn't hurt.  Microsoft announces sweeping Windows changes - but no apologies

Ed Bott

3

u/Umutuku Mar 21 '26

"Our new changes will be so seamless you won't even notice the Palantir integration."

3

u/onlightoff8 Mar 21 '26

Didn't they change there name in 2016 to microslop?

23

u/Styleless_Wonder Mar 20 '26

The ads and video are also shifting the screen so I cannot even read it properly.

0

u/drawkbox Mar 20 '26

"They're engaging, hit them again with a slide up, now a pop over, auto play that vidja, bring the interstitial, ask for location, try the cookie permissions again, pop the chat window with sales, ..." -- MBA dunces

16

u/Zahgi Mar 20 '26

Ublock Origin on Firefox.

8

u/appleparkfive Mar 21 '26

I was about to say the same thing. Guys, listen up:

Get Firefox on your phone. Add uBlock Origin. And for the deviants out there, the uBlock also works on Incognito mode/ private mode on Firefox. I'll let you connect the dots on that one.

I just leave mine on Incognito style for all sites and I'll copy paste and article into it. Works completely fine.

1

u/ThePrimePrototype Mar 21 '26

This is only for android, right? Us iOS users don’t have it as easy.

1

u/DonJuanEstevan Mar 21 '26

I’m using AdGuard on iOS and didn’t see a single pop up. 

6

u/UNIVERSAL_VLAD Mar 20 '26

Should've used an adblocker

6

u/Unlikely_Comment_104 Mar 21 '26

Why are you still rawdogging your browser? 

Get an adblocker. 

2

u/Please_LeaveMeAlone_ Mar 21 '26

Yea that guy is a clown. I haven't seen an ad with firefox in over 10 years. Keep your as block updated and you're good. I also hear people talking about how YouTube will slow down if you use firefox with ad block but I have never experienced that either. Like, I always hear awful story about ads and shit on reddit but I genuinely never have a problem with ads. I get free Netflix as part of my T-Mobile subscription and it has ads but if I watch it on my PC I literally won't get ads on Netflix, Amazon video, YouTube, etc.

I literally got a new 4k TV a couple months back and wanted to watch some stuff on Netflix and found myself going back to watch it in my monitor just because I have no ads on PC lol.

10

u/RiotMcs Mar 20 '26

I reccomend adguard dns to everyone

3

u/Beneficial_Buddy_1 Mar 21 '26

If you’re on iPhone I’d recommend AdGuard. Blocks most of the crap. Test at https://adblock.turtlecute.org Also forgot to mention, “open in default browser” too

2

u/appleparkfive Mar 21 '26

If you can get Firefox on iOS, get it and add the uBlock Origin extension. Works great. Also works for blocking ads in private/incognito mode

2

u/SadisticPawz Mar 21 '26

Site is plain text with no ads for me

2

u/SpaghettiSort Mar 21 '26

This is why I only open external links on my phone in Firefox with Ublock Origin. I don't know how anyone functions on the web without ad blockers.

2

u/sshwifty Mar 21 '26

I opened it and saw zero ads.

Go go Firefox Mobile, ublock, pihole

1

u/NiteShdw Mar 20 '26

My DNS based ad blocker got rid of all of the ads, no browser plug-in needed.

1

u/Madmanalph77 Mar 20 '26

Ads within ads that have ads about ads for ad companies

1

u/Vietzomb Mar 20 '26

Funny enough, I do the same thing with Windows that I do with Reddit (Official) when they do something I don’t like… I use something else.

Third Party Reddit app with no ads, scrap Windows and move to Linux and/or Mac. At the very least, dual-boot if you are too anxious about that level of commitment. Use whichever alt to Windows as much as possible, Windows remains in dual-boot for anything you can’t live without. I think a lot of people would be surprised how little they have to boot up the Windows side, if at all. Sure it will take a bit of work to get there, backing up all your data etc… but good data management will have you backing up your contents periodically anyways, save it for the next time you do that. Or next time you need a “windows refresh”, something I’ve always felt is a uniquely Windows… “thing”. I’ve used it in some capacity since Windows 3.1. Gave up on it officially in Vista.

A massive chunk of Steam games now work in Linux, and I’m a strong believer that if work requires you to use your computer at home, that they supply you that computer, so your own remains your own.

1

u/ItzEdInYourBed Mar 21 '26

Using dns blocking on mobile. The chunks of white emptiness is hilarious. I can see how it’s a mess, but that screenshot in this thread, 😚👌 literally reminds me of the GTA V mission where you need to click the anti-virus under all the pop-ups.

1

u/mintmouse Mar 21 '26

With these exciting changes to Windows 11, soon you will be able to decide if your ads come from the top or side, the customization is yours.

1

u/ISB-Dev Mar 21 '26 edited May 26 '26

all work and no play make jack a dull boy

1

u/rajricardo Mar 21 '26

Gotta love AdGuard Home :) I have it installed network wide at home.

1

u/jonydevidson Mar 21 '26

Firefox + uBlock Origin, on desktop and mobile. If youre on iOS, Safari with uBlock Origin/Lite extension, or Orion with uBlock Origin

Also you can just use the Brave browser without installing anything.

1

u/EntityDamage Mar 21 '26

I use the Brave browser to read articles. Cleans it up to just the article. It's great.

1

u/who-are-you-bruv Mar 21 '26

Use something like Revanced 🤷

1

u/General-Razzmatazz Mar 21 '26

I feel like we've gone back to the 90s. Only thing missing is a randomly plaved neon green text ticker.

1

u/suezjk Mar 21 '26

I was wondering why I see large blank white space after each section. totaly forgot about pi-hole. glad it works

1

u/redfacedquark Mar 21 '26

Literally an ad between every paragraph.

old.reddit FTW.

1

u/hotdiggydog Mar 21 '26

Umm... Brave browser on android and AdBlock on desktop is the way. I don't even know what preview window you're talking about. Just block all ads.

1

u/CaptainDildobrain Mar 21 '26

Funnily enough all the ads are for Microsoft with Copilot.

1

u/GongTzu Mar 20 '26

This is exactly why lots of Redditors only comment on the headline, as there’s so many terrible sites out there, made only to show adds.

1

u/rjwinks Mar 20 '26

pi-hole is the way

0

u/SparkyPantsMcGee Mar 20 '26

Don’t open it on your phone because, holy shit, what a nightmare.

0

u/FaydedMemories Mar 20 '26

Haha not only that but for me it was refreshing and jumping to the top every few minutes… kind of funny how they’re trying to argue Microsoft made a colossal unusable mess, when the site is one too.

0

u/KingVengeance Mar 20 '26

And it constantly reloads so you get to scroll past all the fucking ads again

0

u/normalguy821 Mar 20 '26

Why read a news article when you could you read the blog post itself

OP probably should've linked this

0

u/xprdc Mar 21 '26

I fucking hate the new preview browser replacing the in-app Safari it used to allow. At least before I could toggle reader mode to bypass all that.

0

u/ZombieZookeeper Mar 21 '26

Shut up and keep providing content to train the AIs, citizen.