Windows 10 Share “soon with” Ads

Microsoft is working on the next feature update for Windows 10 called the Creators Update.

The new version of Windows 10 will be made available in April 2017 according to latest projections, and it will introduce a series of new features and changes to the operating system.

The built-in Share functionality of Windows 10 will be updated in the Creators Update as well. We talked about this when the first screenshots of the new user interface leaked.

The core change is that the Share user interface will open up in the center of the screen instead of the sidebar.

Along with the change come ads. If you take a look at the following screenshot, courtesy of Twitter user Vitor Mikaelson (via Winaero), you see the Box application listed as one of the available share options even though it is not installed on the device (and never was according to Vitor).

The suggested app is listed right in the middle of the share interface, and not at the bottom.

Microsoft uses the Share UI to promote Windows Store applications. This is one of the ways for Microsoft to increase the visibility of the operating system's built-in Store.

The Share UI is not the first, and likely not the last, location to receive ads on Windows 10.

Ads are shown on Windows 10's lockscreen, and in the Windows 10 start menu for instance. While it is possible to disable the functionality, it is turned on by default.

Ads in the Share UI will likely be powered by the same system which means that you will be able to turn these ads off in the Settings.

Microsoft is not the only company that uses recommendations in their products to get users to install other products.

I'm not fond of this as I don't like  it that these suggestions take away space. While I don't use the Share UI at all, I do use the Start Menu. The recommendations there take away space from programs and applications that I have installed or am using.

Yes, it is easy enough to turn these off, and that's what I did as I have no need for them. Should I ever run into a situation where I require functionality, say sharing to Box, I'd search for a solution and find it.

I can see these recommendations being useful to inexperienced users however who may appreciate the recommendations.

There is a debate going on currently whether to call these promotions advertisement, or recommendations / suggestions.

Now You: What's your take on these? How do you call them?