I don't think Microsoft wants to be funded by advertising. They and Apple are trying to run the exact same playbook of not charging for OS upgrades, and instead focus on value added services on top (App Stores, Cloud Services, etc).

Apple telemetry and intrusive advertising for their services is so similar on iOS on volume/scale/purpose to everything people are complaining about on Windows 10, but I guess Apple gets a free pass because they are the "scrappy underdog" that also had a larger market cap for a few recent years?

To be fair, Apple doesn't have as much of a reason to misuse your data as Microsoft, and their main way to benefit off you is by selling you more devices. Microsoft failed in the mobile department, so they mostly have desktops, laptops, and high end tablets, but their money comes largely from software running on those devices, and a lot of those services use personal data.

So, Apple wants to make sure you have a good experience on their devices so you'll buy more, Microsoft wants to know which of their products will fit your usage.

To me, Microsoft's telemetry is more creepy than Apple's, but both pale in comparison to Google's tracking. I choose to avoid all three companies' products as much as possible because I don't like being tracked.

Microsoft advertises their own products and wants you to pay for products in their ecosystem. They will shove the same stuff down your throat (Azure, Onedrive, etc) pretty much whatever you do, which means they don't have a vested interest in behavioral advertising.

Google on the other hand shows ads across the internet, so they have to track you a lot more intimately in order to make you buy a new toaster or whatever (I haven't seen online ads in years, so I don't really know what they're like).