Microsoft says it has âlistened to feedbackâ following a privacy row over a new tool which takes regular screenshots of usersâ activity.
It was labelled a potential âprivacy nightmareâ by critics when it was unveiled in May 2024 - prompting the tech giant to postpone its release. It now plans to relaunch the artificial intelligence (AI) powered tool in November on its new CoPilot+ computers.
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When it initially announced the tool at its developer conference in May, Microsoft said it used AI âto make it possible to access virtually anything you have ever seen on your PCâ, and likened it to having photographic memory. It said Recall could search through a usersâ past activity, including their files, photos, emails and browsing history.
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But critics quickly raised concerns, given the quantity of sensitive data the system would harvest, with one expert labelling it a potential âprivacy nightmare."
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[Pavan Davuluri, Microsoftâs corporate vice president of Windows and devices says] that âWindows offers tools to help you control your privacy and customise what gets saved for you to find laterâ.
However a technical blog about it states that âdiagnostic dataâ from the tool may be shared with the firm depending on individual privacy settings.
[Microsoft says in a blog post that users can remove Recall entirely by using the optional features settings in Windows.]
This is why I never really understand when people go âJust use Linux!!â. It isnât a feasible option for everyone. For me, I work full time and I donât have the energy to constantly fix things if they break. When I switched to Linux, I took great pains to ensure that my computer use case is one that could work in Linux, built a computer with parts known to be fine in Linux(including an AMD graphics card) and run Debian Stable on because I wanted something that wouldnât be constantly updating. Iâm in a comfy situation now, but I did a lot of planning beforehand that you canât really expect people to do. Like, itâs great if we get more people using Linux, but thatâs not a trivial ask.
And thatâs ok! Like itâs totally ok to be the os that it is. And itâs ok that itâs not for anyone. Itâs certainly not for my desktop atm. But then itâs super amazing at appliance stuff. Iâve got home assistant on a minipc and truenas on a server. Itâs ROCK SOLID when itâs deployed where it will shine.
The OS that comes preinstalled will always have the largest market share unfortunately. The average person is not going to install a linux iso to a usb and disable bitlocker and whatever else windows adds to make it harder to change the OS. That is before even setting it up and making sure everything works. It helps if you are friends with someone that is into installing operating systems that can help you but not everyone has that friend. The best linux can do is try and keep microsoft in line. Valve has been doing a lot of the heavy lifting in that regard. It is also why user friendly distros are so important. Somebody who thinks emails and the internet is the same thing is not going to go for Arch.
Learning any OS isnât a trivial task, but thatâs something people seems to forget a lot.
But I get why people would say âjust use Linuxâ, because if by chance you have the means to switch then why would you stay locked to a tool made by a company that doesnât care about you or your needs ?
It would be counterproductive.
(Also getting more Linux users would be beneficial for the Linux community, it could even be beneficial to everyone if that number is big enough to make Linux a serious competitor but thatâs more a distant dream than a close reality)
