The latest Windows 11 Insider Preview build (22635.4805) has been rolling out for some, and Microsoft's blog proudly lists the changes.
Among them is the announcement that Game Pass Ultimate and regular Game Pass subscribers will see a new card on the Settings homepage encouraging you to share a 14-day free trial of PC Game Pass with 'up to a (sic) 5 friends.' And further down the post, under known issues? «The Home page of settings may crash.» I've yet to receive the update myself, but here's how my homepage looks currently, with multiple cards already present.
While it's not clear if the new ad is to blame for the crashing issue, I can't be the only one increasingly annoyed by the fact my Windows settings are becoming cluttered—especially as I am a Game Pass subscriber, and I don't need new features advertised to me for something I'm already paying for when I'm scrolling my settings menu.
Alright, I'm not really on the homepage that often, and you probably aren't either. But for the less PC-savvy, greeting settings explorers with a bunch of ads for other Microsoft products and features doesn't exactly make the experience straightforward—especially if the homepage crashes before they find the setting they're looking for.
Bloat is bad, and bloat this most certainly is. Anyway, there are still some useful features added in the new update, including the ability to use your Xbox controller to navigate and type on a new Gamepad keyboard layout, some new Narrator functionality, and some explainer messaging added to Snap.