@sqrtminusone I think we've had it in at least some capacity since Windows 7 (I have literally never used Vista or Windows ME so I can't swear it wasn't introduced earlier). The difference in previous versions, at least from my perspective, is that those ad blocks were clearly ad blocks and easy to discern from software on my computer.

This one presented itself as if it was software already on my computer that Microsoft was recommending to me. It looked the same as the software I was about to load except it had an icon I didn't recognize and a name I didn't recognize. Until I checked what was going on, I thought some malware had gotten onto my computer.

I've never been a Windows fan but this is a new depth for sure.