Microsoft promotes subscription management to top of Accounts page on Windows 11
Microsoft released a new Insider build of Windows 11 this week that makes several key changes to the operating system. One of these changes promotes subscription management regarding Microsoft 365 services to the top of the Accounts page.
When you open the Accounts page on a Windows 11 machine right now that has not joined the Insider program, you will get a list of options, including checking the linked Microsoft account. Windows 11 users may open it by selecting Start > Setting > Accounts. The option to check subscriptions and other Microsoft account information is under the "Your Microsoft account" subsection on the page.
Coming soon to all devices running Windows 11, subscription management information is displayed when the main Accounts page is opened. Windows 11 users see the info under Settings > Accounts, instead of Settings > Accounts > Your Microsoft account.
Windows 11 displays the subscription status if the user signed-in to the system with a Microsoft account. The information is displayed at the top, and the remaining Accounts settings pages are listed below just like before.
Free users get little out of it, just the info that they are using free services and links to Office apps and OneDrive. An "upgrade" link is displayed prominently on the page.
Paying Microsoft 365 users get more information on the page. Windows 11 lists the subscription plan, e.g., Microsoft 365 Family, and billing information.
Windows 11 will even notify users if the linked credit card has expired: "Your credit card has expired. Update your payment info to keep your subscription".
The page lists the payment method and the amount that is going to be billed. Additional information and an option to fix expired payment methods are available as well.
Closing Words
The information that Microsoft displays on the Accounts settings page may be useful to Microsoft 365 subscribers, but since it is not the only way subscribers are informed about expiring payment information or upcoming payments, it is not as useful as it may look on first glance.
For free users, the information is practically useless, unless they plan to upgrade the subscription. Microsoft may use the change to promote its subscription services more prominently, as any free user who is opening the accounts page is now setting an upgrade link displayed prominently on the page.
Now You: how do you sign-in to Windows devices? Do you have a Microsoft 365 subscription?
windows turning to a big ad for their services. Not surprised here.
What’s really surprising is that they keep adding them to windows settings.
They have no shame any more, but that’s our fault and the fault of our goverments for not starting serious antitrust lawsuits against Microsoft.
I don’t understand how Microsoft always gets away with it today when Apple, Amazon and Google have a lawsuit pending against them almost once a month.
@ Dumbledalf:
> but I won’t be trying Linux again anytime soon to see if it works.
Perhaps if you asked on a real Linux community support site or even IRC you’d get the answers you’re looking for. Posting here is like posting on Pepsi’s website about the mating habits of swans.
900th reason not to use this horrible OS.
“Must fill empty space.”
“Must always have contact with Mothership.”
Starting to wonder if bots are designing Win 11.
I have not paid for the license to be bothered by Microsoft promoting its own Microsoft subscription services at all and more prominently, not even at all.
This behavior from Micorosft raizes an outer question by me: “Will be the next thing that other programs like LibreOffice and others will be not allowed anymore on the system?”
So this “Operating System” is just morphing into a sales portal? Sounds about right.
Left Windows after 20 odd years this year to a Mac.
Can see the writing on the wall for MS…
Yes I see the irony of switching to Apple but I don’t think we’ll be getting forced ads, candy crush and subscription based use in future.
The thing about all Fruit People I’ve encountered is they have no idea how to do anything beside what their devices do for them. Messaging group with non-iOS users included? Nope. Transfer files from their devices to a non-Apple device without Air Dropping or whatever? Nope. Reading from something with NTFS file system? Nope. So on and so on. All can be done but they don’t care.
First year in college (university) one of our kids asked for an iPad, probably the best tablet out there; sure beats a bunch of paper notebooks. They got one and still loves it. I asked if a Macbook would be good too, “I don’t want one of those things, everyone has one and they never work right.” This is someone who has used almost every electronic contraption available.
Good luck, hope all stays well. There’s nothing magical or superior about Apple products beyond their huge success creating a cult of compliant tech averse users who apparently enjoy paying far too much for devices and particularly, services.
Well, except any of their devices with mobile data capabilities put you, probably unknowingly, in a mesh network. Amazon’s garbage does the same. If allowing Apple to use your device to locate a perfect stranger’s Air Tag on the other side of the country without your knowledge is OK, rock on!
No? Return it in person and see what happens.
@ULBoom
I had the same mentality as you did….for 20+ years…
But after trying a Mac, I was wrong and there’s no going back.
Homebrew and a bunch of well designed apps and the fact it just works keeps me happy.
Have fun with registry tweaks, hacks and fighting Microsoft’s updates every couple of months to turn off ads and telemetry…
Here in my class there is a girl tha has a Mac and the only thing she does is working in fully happiness. She doesn’t care about silly drivers, silly hardware acceleration freezings, silly weird updates, nonsense disgraced upgrades, weird bsods, pathetic taskbars or silly all kind of MS bullshit everywhere messing around. She only works. She is happy. Me and my friends are all the day long fighting with W10/11 nonsense printer issues (yes, it still happens, we are still today unable randomly to connect to our college printer because it’s a weird silly failure at wifi it says, day yes, day not, destroying our nerves and destroying our brains trying to solve it). And the worst is to see, we all, that the girl with the only Mac in the class is printing whatever she wants in the same f****** printer day after day with none problem at all! It’s madness! :[[[[[[[[[
@John G.
Weird, I have none of these issues either. Mostly because I know how to configure a machine. What good is all the spoonfeeding of Mac, when you cannot setup a headless Linux server to self-host or build your own system from OEM parts?
You become a dependant person paying up double for the fear of leaving your comfort zone. There are people that don’t change their own oil or their tires, and that is fine. But I expect them to pay up for their comfort. They deserve to be milked financially :)
@John G.
Sadly Mac is like Linux – for simple work it’s OK, but if you want to play games, you’re stuck with stupid Windows.
You omitted that part – Mac is good for some things, but not all things. Windows on the other thing, can do all things, albeit poorly in recent years.
I keep saying it and I will repeat myself once again:
The only reason Microsoft does this, is because they realize full well they hold the monopoly of the desktop and laptop markets and they can do whatever they want, because people will spread their butt cheeks for them.
I really hope Steam Deck takes off and makes gaming on Linux hassle free, especially anti-cheat software supporting it, then maybe Linux will become more supported by hardware manufactures with proper drivers.
I have a computer with i5-8400, GTX 1650, SSD and HDD and last when I tried installing Linux, the Linux installation would not detect my SSD, I tried it on my HDD, but the graphics driver felt bad, because just navigating through the Linux desktop environment, the windows opened and closed in a sluggish way, simple games like Vanilla WoW from 2004 barely ran with 25-30 FPS, it was a tragedy, so I had to go back to stupid Windows. Later on I read some forums where people trying to use Linux also complained that their SSDs were not detected and people suggested about changing something in the BIOS to AHCI, but I won’t be trying Linux again anytime soon to see if it works.
@Dumbledalf Simple work are great.
>for simple work it’s OK, but if you want to play games
I like how you imply working is for the masses but gaming is for a select elite