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A PR disaster: Microsoft has lost trust with its users, and Windows Recall is the straw that broke the camel's back (www.windowscentral.com)

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

487 comments fedilink hide all child comments

It's a nightmare scenario for Microsoft. The headlining feature of its new Copilot+ PC initiative, which is supposed to drive millions of PC sales over the next couple of years, is under significant fire for being what many say is a major breach of privacy and security on Windows. That feature in question is Windows Recall, a new AI tool designed to remember everything you do on Windows. The feature that we never asked and never wanted it.

Microsoft, has done a lot to degrade the Windows user experience over the last few years. Everything from obtrusive advertisements to full-screen popups, ignoring app defaults, forcing a Microsoft Account, and more have eroded the trust relationship between Windows users and Microsoft.

It's no surprise that users are already assuming that Microsoft will eventually end up collecting that data and using it to shape advertisements for you. That really would be a huge invasion of privacy, and people fully expect Microsoft to do it, and it's those bad Windows practices that have led people to this conclusion.

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[–] [email protected] 44 points 6 months ago (4 children)

Just think they might go from owning 98% of the market to 97% of the market. I am sure this is a nightmare for them.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Gradual shifts can snowball into huge shifts. a few years ago Linux gaming only existed for the dedicated crowd, that somehow managed to make it work. Now for many it is no different from their Windows experience for most games, sometimes even better.

Think of it like bubbles pressing against each other. It matters not only how much pressure your own bubble has, but also how much pressure the other bubbles have in finding the equilibrium. The Windows bubble isn't only weakening itself, the Linux bubble is getting stronger and stronger

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

For me, gaming was the one thing holding me back from really adopting Linux. When I got a PS5, I felt the time was right to make the switch, but I've been pleasantly surprised to find pretty much my whole Steam library works fine on Linux. VR still doesn't work for me, but it seems to be getting there.

There is still a lot of googling and frustration involved in using and maintaining it, but I'm slowly learning through exposure. There is nothing I want to do on a PC any more that I need windows for. If the auto update stuff worked better, I'd probably recommend it to everyone. But I've tried both Mint and Ubuntu and the software updater constantly runs into issues very quickly after install. I'm guessing because of all the different ways to install software, but I can't understand why it doesn't just apt update/upgrade behind the scenes because that seems to work just fine.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

But I've tried both Mint and Ubuntu and the software updater constantly runs into issues very quickly after install.

I have a Blue-Build based custom distro (not many customisations tbh), that I'm planning to ship for my sister as well as me. So far, updates have been painless because it's just one base image overwriting the other. I have a feeling that that's where Linux distros in general is headed. I can imagine Bazzite being just right for you if you're into gaming.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Primarily I use my Linux box for development, but I do like to game on the PC from time to time. And then also I like to connect to oculus for SteamVR. I haven't been able to do that since I got off windows. Yeah, I could dual boot or whatever, but I just don't want to.

I'll look into Bazzite because maybe I can move my kids' computer to Linux as well. They do nothing but game/discord on theirs.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

You just wait and see. I'll bet it goes all the way down to 96 and then they'll really be sorry.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 6 months ago

Year of the Linux destktop!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

MS's frequent missteps - win11, total recall, ai inescapable etc., - may just finally catch up with them. While they continue to devour game studios and shut them down for irrational reasons, who knows?

Stop being so negative and open your mind. Hell, MS did, you can use bash on the command line now. Times do change.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago

i assume you mean that sarcastically but that is a nightmare for them and every bit of lost marketshare makes it easier to lose more

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Hey, if it makes some SVP not get their quarterly bonus then maybe we'll see a marginal change for sex months! Maybe!