What is actually being tested
Windows Latest reports that Microsoft calls the feature Assisted Setup. It began rolling out gradually to Insiders in the Experimental channel with Build 26340.9354, released on September 8. Microsoft's own Insider post for that date confirms the build and channel. Its highlighted features are cross-device Resume, Narrator math reading and per-display Magnifier zoom. Assisted Setup isn't among them. So the details of this flow rest on press testing, not on Microsoft release notes.
A 36Kr commentary framed the test as Microsoft legitimizing phone-style preloads. That is an opinion piece. The reported behavior is narrower than that framing.
How the flow works
The final OOBE screen, "Your PC is ready," now offers two choices. "Show optional setup" promises to install apps and pin sites to your taskbar. "Go to desktop" skips the flow and notes that the steps stay available in Get Started for later. Windows Latest says that both options reach the desktop, but only the first one opens the Get Started app.
Inside Get Started, the pages are:
- Apps: the first page lists WhatsApp, Duolingo, TikTok, Netflix, LinkedIn and Spotify, with a link to browse the Microsoft Store for anything else. Windows Latest ticked TikTok, Netflix and Spotify. All three downloaded inside Get Started and switched to an "Installed" label. The Store was never opened.
- Websites: the next page offers ten sites to pin to the taskbar, and the list is regional. On a UK-configured test PC it included BBC, Amazon UK, eBay UK and the Daily Mail alongside YouTube, Reddit and Wikipedia.
- Look and updates: "Change your look" opens Personalization settings. A check-for-updates page follows.
- Finish: a final "You're all set" page points to Microsoft's Windows tips site.
Opt-in, not preinstalled
This is the main correction to the "pre-installed" label. Nothing is installed until you open the optional flow and tick boxes. The free-codecs site makes the same point, saying that Assisted Setup only suggests apps, and only if you choose Show optional setup. Choosing "Go to desktop" skips it entirely.
Classic OEM bloatware sits on the disk before you ever sign in. It can often be removed, but it arrives uninvited. A checkbox list shown after setup is closer to a menu than a preload. Critics can still reasonably argue about what it means to put six commercial brands on a screen new users see right after setup.
Where the 36Kr argument goes beyond the evidence
The commentary says developers will naturally pay for placement. It also says the apps are exclusive to this channel and that Windows is in decline. None of that is established.
- Payments and exclusivity: none of the reporting I found documents commercial terms. Windows Latest itself notes that Microsoft doesn't explain why these six count as "popular picks."
- The 5% revenue claim: the 36Kr piece cites a third-party estimate that Windows license sales are about 5% of fiscal 2026 revenue. Microsoft's fiscal 2026 Form 10-K reports a combined "Windows and Devices" category of $17.084 billion on total revenue of $331.839 billion. That works out to about 5.1%. The category is not Windows license revenue alone, so the match with 36Kr's figure is partial at best. The filing also says nothing about why this test exists.
- Market share: the Statcounter figures are third-party usage estimates, not Microsoft data. Windows 11 reportedly peaked at 55.18% in October 2025 and fell to 50.73% by December. They are context only. They don't show why Microsoft built this flow.
- History: the Internet Explorer antitrust comparison and the Meizu 18 "three-zero" phone are used here as analogy. Their details weren't independently verified for this piece. An optional opt-in list is a very different situation from default browser bundling.
Open questions
- Rollout: Microsoft hasn't said whether this will leave Insider testing. The free-codecs site says it isn't part of the Windows 11 26H2 update and has no release date.
- Editions and management: no source says whether managed or enterprise PCs would see it, or whether it appears on all editions.
- Regions: only the website list is confirmed to vary by region. Whether the app list does is unknown.
- Package type: it is not documented whether the apps arrive as native packages, Store packages or web apps.
- Server-side delivery: Windows Latest says the experience is rolling out server-side. That fits Microsoft's OOBE documentation, which says some OOBE pages are delivered by cloud service. Microsoft says those pages can reach groups of users at any time and can be adapted from user input. Two people on the same build may therefore see different things.
What to do
- Home users and enthusiasts: choose "Go to desktop" on the final screen if you want a clean start. The same steps stay in Get Started if you change your mind.
- IT administrators: nothing here changes provisioning today. Still, if you test Insider builds for imaging or deployment, expect cloud-delivered OOBE content to vary between devices. Check managed and unmanaged devices separately.
- Everyone: treat the six-app list as Microsoft's current suggestion, not a standard.
The takeaway
The reporting supports one modest claim. Some Experimental Insiders see an optional post-OOBE flow that can install six named third-party apps without opening the Store. It is convenient, and it also puts commercial apps at a prominent moment in setup. Windows Latest also asks whether this fits with Microsoft's March promise of a "quieter" setup. Whether that is a fair trade is a judgment call. Whether money is changing hands, or Windows is following the phone industry, is still speculation.