If you thought that Microsoft was done with Recall after its catastrophic reveal as the main feature of Copilot+ PCs, you are mistaken.
Microsoft wants to bring it back this October 2024. Good news is that the company plans to introduce it in test builds of the Windows 11 operating system in October. In other words: do not expect the feature to hit stable Windows 11 PCs before 2025 at the earliest.
While Recall may have sounded great on paper and on work-related PCs, users and experts alike expressed concern. Users expressed fears that malware could steal Recall data to know exactly what they did in the past couple of months.
Others did not trust Microsoft to keep the data secure. We suggested to make Recall opt-in, instead of opt-out, to make sure that users knew what they were getting into when enabling it.
Microsoft pulled the Recall feature shortly after its announcement and published information about its future in June. There, Microsoft said that it would make Recall opt-in by default. It also wanted to improve security by enrolling in Windows Hello and other features.
I wonder why are they so invested into this “feature”.
Building a fully trained model on user preferences/habits is the holy grail of marketing.
You can infer user intelligence, addictive personalities, and vices. You can couple that with income and likelihood to spend.
When you pull that kind of data from email or even from web browsing, you don’t get the kind of depth that you can get from a trained model.
There’s models with all your habits and preferences, they’re worth serious money. And that’s why Microsoft is pushing so hard to make sure you log in with a online account.
Honestly, it’s an exciting feature. I just don’t trust anyone to build it, or even myself to keep it safe.
Linux is just as bad though —
.zsh_historyrecords every command you run!(/s, obviously…)
Yet another reminder that alternatives, where your privacy is not for sale, and your hardware belongs to you, actually exist in 2024
What do you recommend? What is the most Apple-like+MacBook like?
Ubuntu or Pop OS use GNOME by default which is similar to macOS
Pop!_OS won’t use GNOME for much longer. They’re currently developing their own desktop called COSMIC.
COSMIC itself has a similar design to macOS
Who thought they were abandoning it?
I doubt they secured it particularly well either, because the nature of proper security is building it from the ground up with security as a core principle, but it was always coming back.
They delayed because “oh shit, people noticed we didn’t even bother with security theater” and to let the backlash die down. They still consider it a major selling point.
By the comments I’ve seen, it seems like no one read their previous announcement where they said they were delaying the feature while they continued work on it. We already knew they were still going to ship it.
Just having it disabled by default is a massive improvement. It’s crazy that they initially considered releasing it with no encryption and it on by default.
I use Arch Linux… btw
Seriously, the alternatives are there… It’s time to take the leap and never look back.
While Recall may have sounded great on paper and on work-related PCs,
Ah yes, all those IT people were probably thrilled with the prospect of Microsoft getting sent constant screenshots of their employees’ machines, with all those company secrets, sensitive information, and everything
So imagine you’re on PornHub and then out of nowhere, Clippy shows up and says “hmmm looks like you need some help pleasuring yourself”, then starts flicking through similar nude pictures and videos to what you’ve been looking at before. The idle animation of the AI assistant even changes to Clippy morphing into the shape of a penis and shagging a rolled up piece of lined paper is if it were a fleshlight. You can’t tell if Microsoft are mocking you for being a coomer, nor can you tell whether to find Clippy’s sexual deviancy funny or creepy.
Somehow that hypothetical dystopia of Clippy watching you masturbate is only slightly worse than what Microsoft plan to do with Recall. If the mere thought of a machine learning AI taking screenshots of your desktop every few seconds and learning from your computer usage habits isn’t absolutely fucking terrifying… Then imagine that these are likely being uploaded to a server for the perusal of advertisers, intelligence agencies and any hackers skilled enough to break into Microsoft’s servers.
Even if it was stored locally, all it takes is one dodgy web link for you to inadvertently send all your Recall data to a hacker and have it ransomed.
Not a problem for me, since I plan to stop using Windows in 2025.
Much like Chrome forced me to Firefox, Windows will force me to Linux. It is inevitable.
This tool stinks of management requesting a better way to spy the employees. It has little to no benefits for the user.
I’m not sure any company wants to have recordings of their employees screens feed to Microsoft servers. It could never happen at my company because of the amount of private information we deal with. Privacy laws, NDAs, you name it. There’s no way we could enable this without a shit storm of risk.
<Insert how you’ll use Linux> <shit on Microsoft and how you are done> <rest of the population uses Windows because they don’t know shit about tech and how shitty this is> <realize work loves Microsoft and you can’t change that> <destroy all your tech> <become a Luddite hermit>
people not knowing shit about tech is not their fault. I’ve been using tech for 30+ years, and I’m usually the most tech savvy person in my circle of family and friends, except for a friend in IT.
the reason I’m not getting into Linux is no longer gaming, it’s that whenever i see some fuckers talking about Linux it’s completely indecipherable with proper names, commands, and jargon. it’s straight up technobabble, and when it’s not insufferable elitism it’s certainly disinviting.
you think people are going to listen to a bunch of nerds talking about distros and shit, using 40 different acronyms within two sentences, and think “ah this is my new home” … like do you fucking hear yourselves at all‽ you sound exactly like a character from the hackers, and not in a good way.
if anything is preventing people from switching it’s Linux users, and probably developers as well. if you make it look like people have to have a degree to get into your shit, they’re not gonna do it.
That is one of the most annoying thing that i experienced (and still do) when i switched to linux some months ago. Sometimes I have a problem and I look online to solve it where I see that i have to do some terminal commands explaimed with terms I dont know and maybe edit a file in /etc, only to find out some days later that I could have done it very easily with the GUI in much less time and without that hassle. Most advanced users find the terminal easier, but for new users it is really hard without knowing the commands and can only copy-paste. Over time i started to learn some commands, but doing it so abruptly will just discourage everyone.
Switching to linux was a very good thing I did and I should have done it earlier, but I still keep a copy of windows, the biggest reason is to have a machine that just works if i really need to do some thing and if I have a problem with linux, that and for compatibility, to a smaller extent as I (luckly) do not use need to use THAT programs the just refuse to work in linux
The alternative of showing things in the GUI is not great either because of the number of distros and desktop environment. I imagine that a article/forum response with 30 SS of the different combinations of distro + desktop environment will be overwhelming for the beginner anyway
yeah, thats one of the reasons why most tech support hotlines are less than helpful when you are running linux (except basic configuration data) - the amount of different systen configurations, UI’s and versions you can run into is just too big. Windows had at the most 5 different concurrent versions in the wild (Win98/ME/NT/2000/XP was the maximum i encountered in the same timeframe, and the NT’s were occurring once in blue moon)
But at the same time is easier an answer more specific things than finding a answer in the windows forums, not only that is easier to search for “fedora 40” than “windows 10 update 22ThatBreaksMyFuckingSystem000”
My personal experience has shown me that the average person calling a support hotline has just enough computer experience to move the mouse and type web addresses into the google search bar instead of the address bar of their browser. you definitely wont get a cohesive description of their issue out of them, and they wont be able to tell you what OS they are using. (i got answers like “Microsoft”, “HP” or “Internet Explorer” when asking)
There is no way in hell to guide them so you get specific error messages or fix the issue with them instructing them over the phone when their OS can look and feel a thousand ways and you can’t see their screen.
I personally don’t have an issue with researching why something doesn’t work, but i know about the importance of error messages and how they relate to the used software. But there is no way to guide someone like the described callers through that process when differentiating between the left and the right mouse button is already difficult.
Work is the only reason I still have windows in my life, and thankfully, they will be trialing linux as an option for employees in the next month or two. I signed up so damn quick lol.
I got lucky that my last 3 jobs have all let me use Linux on a work laptop, but I guess it’s not too surprising since I work as a web developer and production always runs on Linux lol
Since Recall is constantly watching what you do, is it plausible that it could summarize and quantify for an employer how much work is being done on the machine during work hours?
Or not being done. Recall absolutely will not take into account how many “run & gun” hallway meetings you will have for a simple example, let alone researching an issue on your phone while you shit.
Plenty of productivity & engagement measurement tools already exist anyhow.
From: [email protected]
Subject: [ACTION REQUIRED] Work Policy ViolationDear Wayge Slavei,
Your working performance has been reviewed, and you have been found to be in violation of Bigcorpo workplace policies. As per your contract, you are required to take a 30-minute break for lunch and entitled two additional 15-minute breaks to use at your discretion.
As identified to our policy review process, you have multiple periods of inactivity throughout the work week, including:
- 42 to 59 minutes of inactivity during Wednesdays at 2 PM
- 27 to 56 minutes of inactivity every day from 12:30 to 1 PM.
These periods of unsanctioned inactivity are against corporate policy, and you will be required to attend mandatory training, which will take place virtually on Wednesdays, after the company-wide weekly All-Hands Project Alignment meetings from 2 to 3. Continued violations will result in your termination.
Thank you,
Douche Nozzle
Finished migrating to Linux right on time
Is there anything you’d recommend as a migration tutorial from someone who’s used windows their whole life?
My tip is don’t obsess too much about if you’ll find replacement for this software or that software, the moment you’ll need it you’ll try and you will definitively find alternatives BUT it will take time to get used to it and it’s the way it is.
The more you stay on the new system the easier it will be. I switched my desktop recently and I had the temptation of going back but I stuck to it and now I don’t have the temptation, but I need windows for stupid whatsapp videocalls though (there are alternatives but the other person isn’t tech savvy and I want to make things easier)
@Gaspan made a good list. I would like to add a few more points.
- Make a list of some applications which you use regularly
- Either search if the applications work on Linux OR see if they have Linux alternative. You can just post the list here and ask the community
Also, get into a mindset of learning. I know you are used to Windows for decades now, but now you are switching to a new OS. It will be bumpy at first but you will get used to it; do not fear it! Imagine switching from a car to a bike. You have to invest a little time in learning. Once you get used to it, it’s smooth riding all the way. Best of luck!!
Source: Windows user of 2 decades converted to Linux.
Thank you so much!!
Really helpful!! Thank you so much!! :)
Lots of comments in here saying this sends stuff to Microsoft and yet that isn’t true. It’s an offline local feature.
I personally look forward to giving it a try.
Perhaps for a few quarters or years until you’re locked in. Infinite growth demanded by investors make the eventual harvest as sure to come as taxes and death
Did they make hard commitments to 100% keep the data local and never use it to spy on you? What does their privacy policy say? Come on dude, we’re talking about microsoft. You’re more likely to receive millions from a nigerian prince than to get some privacy from them.
A Google search later: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/privacy-and-control-over-your-recall-experience-d404f672-7647-41e5-886c-a3c59680af15
All local. Nothing sent. You can choose to not believe it, but it’s deceptive to imply they don’t say it’s local.
If you don’t believe them it’s one thing but they said what they said.
No internet or cloud connections are required or used to save and analyze snapshots. Your snapshots aren’t sent to Microsoft. Recall AI processing occurs locally, and your snapshots are securely stored on your local device only.
That’s better than I thought. For the moment.
It only mentions the snapshot storage and processing. It’s a perfect solution for them. The AI will crunch the data and report only it’s findings to Microsoft for advertising purposes. They save on storage and electricity by offloading the data harvesting to your machine.
I see, they don’t state anywhere that the results of the screenshot analysis are never transmitted to them.
