2021-06 Cumulative Update to Windows 10, Version 21H1, causes News & Interests (weather, specifically) to show up on the taskbar

[britechguy]

What I am reporting applies to Windows 10, Version 21H1, and occurs after the June 2021 Cumulative Update (KB5003637)

After I applied this cumulative update a new item appeared on the taskbar, which was displaying the current temperature/weather, but shows up in the context menu for the taskbar as the item News and interests. This is the first time in a very long time where I've had something "just appear" after any Windows Update.

If you wish to be rid of it, just bring up the context menu for the taskbar, find the News and interests item, then go to the Turn off item in the submenu and toggle it on (yes, it is an item called turn off, and you turn that on to get rid of this on the taskbar).

 

[Porthos]

KB5003637 June 2021 Update Rollup

Just a heads up that the few units I have that have seen this already, took quite a while to reboot. My desktop just took 20min to install this update. It doesn't seem to have broken anything, it just sat on a black screen for a rather extended period. Hopefully, this isn't a sign of things...

www.technibble.com

Disable_News_and_Interests_on_taskbar_feature_for_all_users.reg

Download


4 Save the .reg file to your desktop.

5 Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.

6 When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

7 Either restart the explorer.exe process, sign out and sign in, or Restart the computer to apply.

8 You can now delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.

 

[britechguy]

Disable_News_and_Interests_on_taskbar_feature_for_all_users.reg

Very handy, and not surprising that someone put this out there tout de suite!

 

[Sky-Knight]

The hate for that feature is quite crazy, of course... I'm working with people here in Phoenix and for everyone I work with so far... it's just depressing. We don't want to know how hot it is outside every second on the day. We're heading into a heat advisory for the next week, where we're going to be seeing temperatures among the highest they've ever been!

We all know it... and exactly none of us want to see it happen in real time in the corner while we're working!

 

[britechguy]

It's not that I hate the feature, per se, I just don't want it on my taskbar.

What I do hate is when stuff "just appears" without my having asked for it. I have no issue with MS presenting one of it's, "We've got a new feature, would you like to try it?," promotional dialogs immediately after any update where one has been introduced where they want to default it to on, but giving me the option to keep it off. They didn't do that in this case, and it's been ages since I had this last occur.

 

[Porthos]

We all know it... and exactly none of us want to see it happen in real time in the corner while we're working!

Currently, it is not real-time. You have to hover over it for it to update.

 

[Sky-Knight]

Currently, it is not real-time. You have to hover over it for it to update.

It's close enough! I've been watching that creepy thing move for two days now!

But yeah, when staring into this... it's not fun!

Excessive Heat Warning
Issued: 1:36 AM Jun. 10, 2021 – National Weather Service

...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 10 AM SUNDAY TO
8 PM MST FRIDAY...

* WHAT...Dangerously hot conditions. Afternoon temperatures 110
to 118 expected.

* WHERE...Portions of south central Arizona.

* WHEN...From 10 AM Sunday to 8 PM MST Friday.

* IMPACTS...Very High Heat Risk. Increase in heat related
illnesses, including heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat
stroke. Heat stroke can lead to death.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

An Excessive Heat Warning means that a period of very hot
temperatures, even by local standards, will occur. Actions should
be taken to lessen the impact of the extreme heat.

Stay indoors and seek air-conditioned buildings. Drink water,
more than usual, and avoid dehydrating alcoholic, sugary, or
caffeinated drinks. Dress for the heat - lightweight and light-
colored clothing. Eat small meals and eat more often. Monitor
those with a higher vulnerability to heat, including small
children. Check in on family, friends, and neighbors, especially
the elderly. If engaging in outdoor activity, take longer and
more frequent breaks and avoid the hottest parts of the day.
Never leave kids or pets unattended in cars.

 

[Porthos]

It's close enough! I've been watching that creepy thing move for two days now!

I got screenshots from it. One sitting there with no interaction and one after I hovered on it.
And I screwed them up, will add one in a bit when the temp changes.

 

[Sky-Knight]

I got screenshots from it. One sitting there with no interaction and one after I hovered on it.
And I screwed them up, will add one in a bit when the temp changes.

I haven't hovered over that thing all day... and it's updating! I'm not sure what interval... but it's definitely doing so. I also have open on hover disabled.

 

[fincoder]

not surprising that someone put this out there tout de suite!

It has actually begun appearing on various computers a few weeks ago, probably a staged rollout.

I thought I'd give it a go, configured my location manually (didn't want to enable location services on a desktop that doesn't move), turned off news categories I didn't want like sport

Unfortunately the next day, location had reset to the default and it was telling me the wrong weather! Set location again, reverted back the next day. The news categories all reset back to default too. Set location again, reverted back by itself again days later.

That was enough trial, now turned off!

There doesn't seem to be any strategy from Microsoft on extra non-essential features like this. In Vista they introduced sidebar widgets or whatever they were called, lots of people actually liked that because they could customise them and add third-party ones. That had performance and security issues, and eventually they just ditched it completely! Then they added live-updating tiles in Windows 8, and we still have those today in Windows 10 Start. Very few people use the Start menu full-screen so they're useless. Why not allow resizable updating tiles to sit on the desktop, and optionally miniature versions on the taskbar to click on to bring forward over other apps when wanting more detail? Instead they've invented a new tray thing that pops up when you accidentally wave the mouse over it. Weird.

 

[Sky-Knight]

It wasn't a staged rollout, it was a beta feature that was randomly activated so the telemetry could work its magic.

Now it's not beta... so everyone gets it. And by get it I mean it's turned on, because it's been installed since March I think? Assuming you were on 20H2 or 21H1.

 

[Porthos]

I did not hover for hours and it did not change until I hovered. If I would keep it on much longer it has to refresh itself more often without hovering on it.

 

[sapphirescales]

Why does Microsoft only work on features that literally NO ONE asked for?!?!?!??!?!!?!?!?!?!?! How about fixing the 25 year old bugs that still exist in Windows? No? Then leave my freaking computer alone!