And I am evidently an minority here, but I don't really mind. I don't really have a problem with ads, I have a problem with annoying ads. Popups, banners, billboards, notifications, video segments, etc... they grab your attention and take up valuable space, I hate these, and I think everyone else does.
But here it is just a wallpaper that happens to be branded, it is not particularly distracting, in fact, I find it pretty good overall. I like this simple, low contrast style for a wallpaper on the background.
And that Tomb Raider lockscreen image from before was more than good, to me, it was one of the best!
Of course, you may have different tastes, but and I can easily imagine someone being unaware that it is an ad (or not caring) and making it his new default.
I understand why people wouldn't want this, but I didn't expect that much outrage. I mean, it is Windows 11, and you are letting Microsoft pick wallpapers for you, what did you expect? Getting to see the wallpaper behind all these much more intrusive ads, notifications and AI crap seems like a rather impressive feat. So much that I would have expected people who got there to have given up on complaining, or better, given up on Windows. And the author runs an "insider preview", talk about masochism!