It's not entirely clear from the post, but allow me to provide some further context as I received this same pop-up myself.

I had purchased a legit Windows 10 Pro license with my own money for a custom built PC. Was always a trim installation because that's how I roll. Still got this out of nowhere when I booted back into my Windows partition the other day, was unclear what app or process pushed it. Some update either added a new app responsible for pushing these desktop level ads or enabled a pre-existing notification feature I had previously disabled. Just a typical Win10 toast notification a few moments after logging in. Dismissed it quickly and did not care to investigate, but that's about as bad as you can really get, IMHO. They've slowly been pushing the bounds, but here we are: ads straight to the desktop.

Man, this is genuinely painful to watch unfold... Yeah, yeah, Linux, I know, already started migrating, but let your feelings speak for a second, sib!

Think back to how much joy and sheer functionality Windows used to encompass. Even Vista, I swear! It was a poorly optimised mess bloated to hell and back with overlapping features, but it was bursting with a genuine desire to innovate. I honestly don't remember ever having as bad a time with Vista as I do with 10, even when I used to run it on an overheating MSI.

Not to mention XP and 7, which were, I dare say, the best operating systems I've ever used, almost interchangeably if we go for XP SP3 with more unofficial tweaks. I'm not trying to diminish the improvements brought on by 8 and 10, they did have some much needed upgrades for vital features and functionalities, that's undeniable. But everything good came wrapped up (or, rather, jumbled up like 10 sets of wired earbuds you just found in a pocket of the coat you pulled out of the washing machine) with sooo much intrusive crap, that it defeats the purpose...

Gotta grieve that shit...

Horrendously racist term aside, I feel for this dude. I've logged into Microsoft's support forums more than a few times specifically to call out and report the mindless idiots who keep marking their own unhelpful comments as "solutions."

Honestly I've been eyeing Linux more and more, but it also scares me a little. What I'm mostly worried about is losing any functionality I've gotten used to.

"Pay hundreds of dollars for a new computer"?

Forget this guy's struggles with Windows, I want to know where they're buying sub-1K PCs in 2025. I'll debloat Windows 8 for that deal if I have to.

This is why I run MAGA Linux with the Kristi Gnome desktop. Problem is my Java imports cost more.

I literally just want Windows 7 again but with security updates, driver support, and back end technology upgrades.

For now I'm settling with Window's current state with some Linux use mixed in with the intent to nearly fully migrate for my next desktop build. I'll only use Windows for whatever games refuse to budge on anti-cheat, assuming by then I'm even still interested in playing pvp games at all considering how enshittified they are with engagement based matchmaking and FOMO battlepasses.

I can mind the popups and ads but its the surveillance that I don't like. Mc recall was the whole reason I deleted my os and got arch

ERROR! Please drink a verification can!

EDIT: was trying to embed this gif, but not having any luck, so just linking it instead

I got this same pop up ad on my work computer. Beyond stupid.

I've been using windows my entire life and have never run into any of the issues Linux users talk about all the time.

Recently I installed Linux mint on my laptop, and then my main PC died so I replaced it with windows 11. I've had the unique experience of setting them both up from scratch alongside each other.

Windows 11 took longer to set up (4 days), but was 80% via GUI, and the 20% I did in PowerShell was mostly using winget with very few failures. I used ChatGPT for some planning and checklist and also used it to craft a PowerShell script that would silently install about 35 applications that I was too lazy to do manually by downloading the exe's, but I could have gotten there without it.

Mint took 2 days to set up but was 80% terminal, and I would not have been able to install half the things I wanted without the help of ChatGPT crafting baffling workarounds for me that I would not have found on my own.

In the end, both systems are 95% how I want them, with 5% unattainable due to their own unique issues.

I'll continue to use both for now, and see how I go in a year or so.

Edit: I must add that I am extraordinarily fussy about my OS configuration, it needs to look, act, and respond exactly how I want it to or I'm dissatisfied

Anon's on 4chan. He literally just has to go from v to g to have a treasure trove of information on how to not deal with this exact problem.

Got a new rog recently. The included bloatware, I think it was antivirus but I don't remember, made games (the thing it was designed for) basically unplayable. There would be random MASSIVE keyboard lag, like I would stop holding W and my character would keep running for several seconds. The mouse had no such issue so I could turn to mitigate, but fuck me it took a while to find the answer. And they're SHIPPING that shit.

Windows peaked at XP. Vista was the plateau on the other side, followed by the sheer cliff of windows 7.