Microsoft is inserting ads in One Drive that makes users think twice of the Windows 10 upgrade. People are complaining of the notifications they see to sign up for the cloud storage service at the top of the Quick Access screen when the File Explorer is opened.
The One Drive advertisement is part of the new Windows 10 Creators Update that is only available in beta for early adopters to test. It is scheduled to be released to all Windows 10 users within this year. This is not the first time that Microsoft has been putting ads throughout Windows as it had put adverts on some of its screen and apps before, which makes it a growing practice for the company.
A Reddit user reportedly saw a prompt to sign into OneDrive back in October but the claim was disputed by some as ambiguous or a promotion for Windows 10. This time around the new prompt is clearly an ad because as it can be seen, Microsoft is displaying the price for OneDrive and letting people click it with the "learn more" button.
A Microsoft spokesperson told The Verge that the One Drive prompt is a tip and users could opt out from receiving notifications if they want to. "The new tips notifications within the File Explorer in Windows 10 were designed to help Windows 10 customers by providing quick, easy information to enhance the experience relative to storage and cloud file management," a spokesperson said.
"That said, with Windows 10 customers can easily opt out of receiving these notifications if they choose." While the ads can be dismissed, people can't help but feel frustrated of the intrusive Windows 10 update with some calling Microsoft's "tip" as disgraceful and disgusting. The company has previously displayed ads within its Windows operating system.
Before upgrading to Windows 10, Microsoft deliberately placed ads and notifications into Windows 7 and 8. It was forced to pay compensation over the automatic Windows 10 installation and even attempted to pay users to use its Edge browser instead of the popular Chrome.
An expert on the Windows operating system has written a guide on how to disable the OneDrive ads within Windows 10 File Explorer. According to Paul Thurrott, users will only need to turn off the "Show sync provider notifications" at the bottom of the Advance Settings.