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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

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.

sverit ,

Well, getting their OpenID Signing Key for Azure Active Directory stolen was magnitudes worse in my opinion.

https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/2024-04/CSRB_Review_of_the_Summer_2023_MEO_Intrusion_Final_508c.pdf

just_another_person ,

Why is Lemmy showing me news from the 00's?

Katana314 ,

The article was revised with a PR release from Microsoft saying they'll make the feature opt-in.

Let's of course not forget that things like upgrades to Windows 11, and use of an MS Account instead of local account, were opt-in...until they weren't. Require them to sign a contractual agreement that this feature will remain opt-in forever.

AWittyUsername ,

Where are at point no where new features added to something (phone, OS, website, etc) are only to further monetize the user while providing a minimal benefit.

People are losing trust with technology providers.

If this technology existed back in Windows 95 days people, would have gone wild for it.

masquenox ,

TIL: There are still people that trust Microsoft.

helenslunch ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

As expected, there is no evidence that this is "the straw that broke the camel's back". Don't waste your time reading this article.

MS has been doing this kind of shit for decades and their market share has never changed significantly.

Was it stupid? Yeah. Are people upset? Sure. Is anyone going to do anything about it? No, because the vast majority don't care or they would have stopped using it a long time ago.

Weslee ,

I'm using windows 11 and after hearing about recall and all the other shit they've done, I've finally decided to make the jump to Linux

So for atleast me, this was the final straw

fluckx ,

I had dabbled in gaming on Linux but never made the jump. After reading about recall I spent a week making my choice on OS of choice ( and then I switched a week after :') ).

I'm fully on Linux now. Even if they fully back down from windows recall I dont need an OS that's trying to sell me something based on whatever I do in it.

It was my final straw as well.

Edit: and it hasn't really been bad either. The shader compilation after every gfx driver update is a bit annoying. That's about it.

I'll probably run into something at one point. Like some anti cheat that doesn't work and is preventing me from playing the game.

Macaroni_ninja ,
@Macaroni_ninja@lemmy.world avatar

Im in similar scenario. Which distro you decided on?

barsquid ,

If you are interested in gaming, Bazzite is built on top of a Fedora distro but adds default installs of Steam and (optional) Nvidia drivers and tweaks. It's got a cool immutable root setup. You should be able to stay pretty up-to-date, but can roll back the entire OS if an update breaks something.

fluckx ,

I ended up with nobara ( KDE ). Though if i had to reinstall I might give bazzite a go.

No hate for nobara though. It's working fine gaming wise. Had a gfx issue once after an update, which was resolved by just running the nobara system updater.

I have some issues getting devpods to work. But that is completely unrelated to gaming :D

kava ,

If you don't enjoy having driver issues, just install regular old Fedora with Gnome. The fancier you get with Linux, the more maintenance you have to put into the system. Fedora works out of the box.

fluckx , (edited )

Tbh it was kind of my fault. I should've used the general updater that comes with nobara by default.

Edit: the devpod issue is a bit weird and not driver related. Its got something to do with SSL when its trying to clone the git repo. But I can run the clone command myself just fine. Honestly the devcontainer hasnt really worked out great for me in combination with jetbrains.

It might work better with vscode, but that editor makes me want to throw my device out the window. All the love to people who use it/enjoy it on a daily basis but it is just not for me.

Macaroni_ninja ,
@Macaroni_ninja@lemmy.world avatar

Thanks. I only had so far Linux experience with my Steam Deck, I will look into these distros.

sgtgig ,

A couple people recommended Fedora spins but I'd recommend just sticking with the big distros (that have up-to-date graphics drivers readily available - so not Debian.) A lot of the gaming-focused distros are only saving you a few terminal commands and increase your risk of running into issues; they're good, but they may not be as 100% stable as you'll find in major long-running distros like Fedora or Mint.

I have settled on Fedora with KDE Plasma. Here's basically everything I copy pasted for gaming:

# install steam, discord, nvidia drivers
sudo dnf install https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm -y
sudo dnf config-manager --enable fedora-cisco-openh264 -y
sudo dnf update -y
sudo dnf install steam discord akmod-nvidia xorg-x11-drv-nvidia-cuda

# install bluetooth Xbox driver
sudo dnf install git dkms
cd /tmp
git clone https://github.com/atar-axis/xpadneo.git && cd xpadneo
sudo ./install.sh

I also had to enable Legacy X11 App Support through the settings gui so that Discord could receive push to talk presses without having focus.

Macaroni_ninja ,
@Macaroni_ninja@lemmy.world avatar

Sweet, thanks. I want to start something straightforward and so far Mint looks very promising.

tomkatt ,

Just be sure to get the edge release if you care about gaming or have current (like newer than 2021) hardware. Mint's main release is on an old kernel, 5.15 I think. Mint edge release is running kernel 6.5, which is from earlier this year.

fartsparkles ,

Linux has lots of flavors; and just like ice cream, you can have a scoop, see if you like it, and try another one later.

I’ve been through so many Linux and Unix flavors over the years, it’s borderline absurd. But what was great is that I found a flavor just right for me and my needs, like finding your ideal car. Don’t worry about making the right decision on a flavor at the start, just dive in.

Ubuntu, Fedora, Mint, Pop! OS, Manjaro, elementary OS, Zorin etc are great starting points. You’ll hear people bigging up Arch, Nix, Gentoo, Slackware, Void, etc. There’s are all great in their own way and very well might be the right thing for you but don’t feel pressured to jump in the deep end (unless you love that thing, then be my guest - Arch was a lot of fun getting it up and running for the first time).

The best decision I can suggest is learning about mount points and having a drive dedicated to your files and simply mounting that drive inside your home directory. It means you can wipe and try another distro wherever you like without having to copy your files off and on over and over again.

sugar_in_your_tea ,

I 100% agree. I personally did this:

  1. Ubuntu
  2. Fedora
  3. Arch
  4. openSUSE Tumbleweed

I had a reason for each switch, and I'm pretty happy where I'm at. That said, I don't recommend openSUSE or Arch to new users even though I think they're fantastic, I just think a new user will get better support with something Debian or Fedora derived.

Weslee ,

Which distro did you end up on? I've been looking into them and after using steamos on my deck, I think I will go with Bazzite kde

fluckx ,

I ended up with nobara. I might give bazzite a go at one point, but more out of interest. Nobara is treating me just fine!

Bulletdust ,

Edit: and it hasn't really been bad either. The shader compilation after every gfx driver update is a bit annoying. That's about it.

If it's shader compilation under Steam, turn it off in settings. With advancements in graphics drivers and Proton, it really isn't needed anymore.

I disabled it about 12 months ago and haven't noticed any difference in performance whatsoever.

fluckx ,

Huh. Interesting. I'll give that a try too then :)

where_am_i ,

Some, maybe 1-2% of Windows users keep yelling "I'ma switch to Linux". They then try it for a few days and give up.

You didn't matter in the first place, but also you will most likely not make a successful transition anyways.

Weslee ,

Lol. Okay whatever you say.

Delonix ,

Crab

Dark_Dragon ,

Same here

Adderbox76 ,

I get that. And, playing the devil's advocate here....what happens in a couple of years when the time comes to purchase a new Laptop/desktop that comes pre-installed with Windows? Will your current ire and consternation hold up until then, meaning you'll take the effort...long after this current "trust crisis" is over...to install Linux once again. Or, with this current scandal a faint memory from a few years back, will you just kind of shrug and say "Hey...it's there, I might as well just go with it."

I mean no offense, and I by know means want to presume your answer here. But I'd be willing to bet 90% of the people who, in a pique of ire, replace their current windows with a linux distro, won't bother to do the same when they purchase a new laptop down the road.

lightnsfw ,

Installing Linux is a pretty trivial process at this point. Not much additional work beyond what already comes with setting up a new laptop. Especially of you've already done it before.

jaybone ,

Unless it’s arch lol.

Rivalarrival ,

Every machine I've purchased in the last 16 years has had a Linux liveCD or USB key before first power up. Windows has tried to boot a couple times, when I was too slow to figure out how to select a boot device, but none has actually completed the boot process. I take a sort of perverse pleasure in formatting pre-installed windows without it ever having run.

Adderbox76 ,

That's my strategy as well. I just don't know how many of us there are that are that committed vs the people who are "temporarily irate" and then go back with their next purchase because its "easier".

Weslee ,

I get your point, and you're probably right for most, but I haven't purchased a premade desktop in a looong time - my current desktop I purchased the parts individually and installed windows manually

kava ,

But I'd be willing to bet 90% of the people who, in a pique of ire, replace their current windows with a linux distro, won't bother to do the same when they purchase a new laptop down the road.

Linux is superior to Windows. Not only do I get more done and faster, I enjoy the process much more. For example, you know AHK? That useful application on Windows where you can make macros?

Well, on base Fedora you have an AHK built right into the system without any modification and you can use shell scripts- aka a real language instead of the wonky AHK language.

That's one example. I can list them off rapid fire but I'd just write a wall of text unnecessarily.

My point is just that Linux is better. I don't use Linux because it's cool or interesting or I'm a hobbyist or anything like that. I use it because it's the better option for the things I do on my computer.

That may be different for you. If you are a graphic designer or a music producer that may be different. But I'm usually in a terminal and Unix is the superior terminal. Windows terminal is such a joke they literally had to port in the Linux terminal through WSL

Kiernian ,

Thank you for your service to this thread.

IzzyScissor ,

the vast majority don’t care or they would have stopped using it a long time ago

It's a little disingenuous to claim people should've stopped using something that hasn't come to market yet. I was looking for other options when they started trying to force me to upgrade to Windows 11, but this absolutely is the last straw that I won't use Windows on my next computer.

helenslunch , (edited )
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

It's a little disingenuous to claim people should've stopped using something that hasn't come to market yet.

It is. Good thing I didn't do that.

I was looking for other options

Oh well I guess the global tide is shifting if you are personally looking for other options.

IzzyScissor ,

You said there was no evidence that anyone would change. I told you my personal story how this IS impacting me and how I'm going to change OS on my next computer, and you.. just sarcastically dismissed me?

Did you want to actually contribute to the conversation or just be upset?

helenslunch ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

You said there was no evidence that anyone would change.

No that is not what I said.

just sarcastically dismissed me?

Because your personal anecdote is not indicative of societal movement.

octopus_ink , (edited )

the vast majority don’t care or they would have stopped using it a long time ago

Try reading the sentence with this implied bit explicitly added. I'm pretty sure this is what was intended, and is why you are getting the response you are.

the vast majority don’t care (about Microsoft's continuous bullshit) or they would have stopped using it a long time ago

The bit I added is communicated by the context from the preceeding sentence in the original comment:

MS has been doing this kind of shit for decades and their market share has never changed significantly.

npz ,

I just read they decided to default it to off. They should remove it entirely imo, but with this move, it costs IT departments $0 and 0 hours of their time to worry about.

I think business + government + education usage is more important for them than personal, and as long as this costs them nothing, I doubt it makes a dent in anyone's plans. Could have been an apocalypse if defaulted to on though.

helenslunch ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

I just read they decided to default it to off.

From what I've seen they will be asking yes or no upon setup with no default.

JordanZ ,

If it’s anything like some of the other features they’ve crammed in they will ask that question over and over and over and over again until you choose the answer they want.

subtext ,

“Not now”

festus ,

I both agree and disagree. I agree that there isn't going to be a single 'straw', because everyone's thresholds are different. For me it was back when Microsoft auto-upgraded my PC to Win 8, which was also when they started putting in hard-to-disable telemetry and bad UI. It sounds like Recall is the threshold for some other people.

Also don't discount that MS' market share is dominated by a ton of corporate users (who lack a choice) and casual users (who don't care / are unaware), but at least anecdotally they've been losing the power users in my life, which if true in general which will have negative downstream effects for them moving forward (IT departments working to support alternatives, software developers refusing to build on Windows Server / MS software stack, etc.)

someacnt_ ,

If only there is a way to invest in linux usage

rottingleaf ,

For at least 3 decades. That's twice more than the time between Second Boer War and WWI. That's the time between the start of WWII and the initial versions of Unix. Or between the initial versions of Unix and Start Wars the Phantom Menace. More than between the original Star Wars and the Phantom Menace.

rtxn ,

My dad is now pissed at both Microsoft and Adobe, and curious about Linux. If I can find a Lightroom alternative, he might actually switch.

qjkxbmwvz ,

I've heard that RawTherapee is good, but not quite on the same level.

Axiochus ,

Also one of the dumbest names ever.

eestileib ,

Sounds like something from a kink brothel in Sedona.

PervServer ,

RawTherapee and The GIMP

dust_accelerator ,

they knew.

refurbishedrefurbisher ,

Like darktable?

apfelwoiSchoppen ,
@apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world avatar

I haven't found a suitable replacement yet. I know this is somewhat niche but nothing on Linux can do batch management of Keywords as well as Bridge or Lightroom. I wish I knew anything about C to contribute.

accideath ,

Fun fact: I’ve heard the Adobe suite works fairly well in Linux, if you find yourself a version without DRM

apfelwoiSchoppen ,
@apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world avatar

I tried to install some PlayOnLinux Wine shit but it didn't work.

accideath ,

Have you tried installing it via Lutris and using Proton-GE as runtime?

apfelwoiSchoppen ,
@apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world avatar

🫨

apfelwoiSchoppen ,
@apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world avatar

Did not work. :( TBF I am not very technically minded with Linux.

Avatar_of_Self ,

PlayOnLinux? When was this, 15 years ago?

refurbishedrefurbisher ,

I know of the GitHub script to install PhotoShop, but wasn't aware that the rest of the suite worked.

accideath ,

I also just read that they would. Never tested it myself. I only use Adobe on my work mac.

refurbishedrefurbisher ,

Ah. I don't use Adobe products, so not really willing to test myself.

couch1potato ,

I employed imagemagick recently to batch edit some pics via CLI but I'm not sure if it's a drop in replacement for bridge and lightroom.

neo ,

Aside from the security nightmare, I'm really curious what havoc the LLM can cause by hallucinating stuff, based on how suggestive a question is asked.

Wife on husband's account: "What dating sides did I visit this year?"
"Here are the 5 most popular dating sides you visited last year:..."

"When was the last time employee X watched porn and on what side?"
...

58008 ,
@58008@lemmy.world avatar

I wish Linux weren't completely fucking impenetrable for casual users.

Gormadt ,
@Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

It's gotten a lot better over the years

When I first tried it (back in 2010) it was pretty rough all around but after trying it again recently due to the whole TPM requirement for Windows 11 I've found it to be really straight forward

Linux Mint is really user friendly and is what I've even put on my grandma's pc

krashmo ,

Your grandma probably hates the fact that you did though. There's a small chance that's not the case but I'd be shocked if she hadn't complained about it many times to other people.

ParetoOptimalDev ,

People who don't understand what an OS is typically use linux mint fine because they just open chrome or Firefox.

zbb ,

Even the casual Zoom meeting is a breeze because of the Flatpak client.

Rolder ,

So you need a whole ass sandbox program just to run Zoom? Hm.

zbb ,

You actually don't need it.

If you trust Zoom enough, then you can install its official client from its webpage, without "a whole ass sandbox program" that restricts its access to important parts of your system.

But it's your call, I prefer the other way around.

Moorshou ,
@Moorshou@lemmy.zip avatar

Its a selling point for me privacy wise no? The program Doesn't need the access to everything like my graphene phone.

Rekorse ,

You keep making posts that made sense or were accurate 5-15 years ago, thats why you keep getting downvoted.

Pretend you know nothing about linux, and go and try something like Mint, and youll likely have an experience that mirrors the people downvoting you.

Rolder ,

You say that but at the same time there’s a linuxmemes post in my feed right now where people are joking about how broken drivers require an OS reinstall so you know

Rekorse ,

Well why dont you go into that thread and ask those people when the last time that happened was, or how often it happens.

You might just be taking a very old meme too seriously.

Rolder ,

Very old meme that was posted 5 hours ago as of the time of my original comment, hmm

Rekorse ,

Memes get reposted, that one is pretty old.

Also there are distros that are more volatile, but all of the most popular ones are extremely dummy proof and intuitive. See Pop_OS!, EndeavourOS, or Mint for example.

TachyonTele ,

That's the real concern. Can they go online, read email, and easily look at their photos?

dual_sport_dork ,
@dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world avatar

Your grandma would hate and complain about upgrading from Win10 to Win11 just the same, though. Everyone hates change itself. What the change is made to doesn't really matter.

krashmo ,

People do hate change. The bigger the change the more they hate it. That's exactly why Windows to Linux is much worse for them than Windows 10 to Windows 11.

pearsaltchocolatebar ,

Cinnamon desktop (Linux Mint) is actually pretty damn close to the windows desktop, so the change is mostly just cosmetic.

Gormadt ,
@Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

People in my family are straight forward and blunt with their opinions and how they feel about things. She did mention it was weird looking but she was willing to try it out because her system was going to be insecure before the end of next year.

She's had no complaints so far in the last few months.

Bezier , (edited )
@Bezier@suppo.fi avatar

I think it is pretty grandma-proof; less is more. Windows xp-like start menu with no web results or other nonsense there, just internet button, picture viewer, and solitaire. Updates can be automated and there's no easy way to break the ui, like accidentally removing the task bar.

Gormadt ,
@Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

Exactly what I was thinking when I installed it for her

I was even able to give her Space Cadet Pinball back (she was a big fan back in the day and still kills it)

Link to the Flatpak BTW

Bezier ,
@Bezier@suppo.fi avatar

Space Cadet Pinball

Man, your grandma is cool.

Gormadt ,
@Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

Only sometimes unfortunately

As long as anything political or related to religion is avoided she's mostly fine

MacNCheezus ,
@MacNCheezus@lemmy.today avatar

It's not that it hasn't gotten better, but that the entire infrastructure that's underpinning the GUI is simply completely different than what people are used to. And I'm not just talking CLI here, because the average Windows user likely doesn't use that to begin with – it's things like filesystem organization, software management, driver installation, configuration files, etc.

And it's not that these barriers are insurmountable either, but they DO require a significant amount of cognitive effort that not everyone is willing to put in.

areyouevenreal ,

It isn't impenetrable. ChromeOS and Android are Linux based after all. If you don't want to be prayed upon by Google you can use things like UBlue (inc. Aurora, Bazzite), PopOS, or Mint.

The advantage of PopOS and UBlue being you can download an image with Nvidia drives pre installed.

PopOS is a very mac like interface so you might not like it. Otherwise it's pretty much install and go, has good community support, and even comes pre installed on some high end machines.

In the case of UBlue they include images for specific manufacturers of laptops like ASUS, Framework, and Microsoft surface. You also get fully automatic atomic upgrades with rollback in case of failure, similar to Chrome OS. This means even if you do something very stupid like reboot in the middle of an OS update, it won't matter. It's engineered to be almost unbreakable even for new Linux users thanks to being partly immutable. You get a choice as well between varieties for normal users called Aurora, one of gamers called Bazzite, a development one called Bluefin, and a server version too. Being based on Fedora it's also reasonably up to date as well, but without sacrificing stability like Arch does.

Linux Mint is the classic easy to use Linux that runs on most computers made in the last 10 years and often older. It does sometimes struggle on newer machines with drivers though as it's not using an up to date kernel. What it's good for is that it pretty much just works when you have it installed and set up. It's popular so you should get plenty of community support. It's a quite similar interface to Windows while arguably looking better and definitely using less resources.

Metz ,

I don't think a casual user would in many cases even be able to tell the difference. I mean you have a desktop with some icons which most of people only use to start the browser which is absolutely identical in both systems.

You have a start menu with other programs and you have a task bar which shows the open programs and some status icons and a clock.

It is really not that different. Most people just start a browser and go on Facebook or eBay or whatever, use a simple word processor for the daily needs. I don't think they would be able to tell the difference.

pearsaltchocolatebar ,

My wife's 91 year old grandmother used Mint without any issues whatsoever. All she needed was solitaire and the internet.

But, a lot of people do look at something different and just throw up their hands and say, "I don't know how to use it," without ever trying.

refurbishedrefurbisher ,

The only real limiting factor is that most computers that you just walk into a store and buy (and are not made by Apple) come with Windows, and people just use whatever comes with their computers.

People rarely switch even default settings, let alone the entire OS.

I'm sure if computers came with Linux, there wouldn't be that many complaints from casual users after they got used to it.

The hardest people to switch over are the Windows power users in my experience.

ItsComplicated ,

Most are not sure how to safely and properly install a new OS. If a computer came with Linux already pre-installed instead of Windows, count me in!

twig ,

There are plenty of vendors that ship with Linux preinstalled. Even Dell does this with select models.

And just for the record, the tone of this is meant to be encouraging. I love hearing that people are open to other options.

refurbishedrefurbisher ,

There are vendors who sell laptops that come pre-installed with Linux. Only thing is that they're a bit more niche. Dell is probably the biggest name who sells computers with Linux as an optional OS on their website, but IIRC they brand it as "developer editions".

Otherwise, you get vendors like System76, Tuxedo, Purism, etc. (Maybe Framework, but IDR if they even install an OS)

I still don't think that you can walk into a store and buy any of the above.

Not that installing Linux is difficult; in fact, it's easier than installing Windows IMO. Most distros come with easy-to-use graphical installers with easy-to-understand language, even for newbies. They also come with a live environment that lets you try out the distro before installing it. Thing is, most people aren't even going to bother trying it.

ItsComplicated ,

Thing is, most people aren't even going to bother trying it.

Here is to that changing. Society needs better options regular users will be able to just purchase and go, imo.

TrickDacy ,

2002 called, they want their Linux attitude back

MajorHavoc ,

I've heard this a few times lately. It makes me curious how recent the impenetrable experience was.

I'm shocked at the idea that an average Windows user who tried this year's version of Debian Stable would find it even mildly confusing, much less impenetrable.

I switch between Windows 10 and Debian 12 Stable, daily.

I find that, on Debian, all the expected features are in the same spots, acting the same ways.

Disclaimer: I don't have an Nvidia graphics card to cause me headaches.

And I do understand that depending on hardware, installation can be tough. That's true with Windows, too, of course. At least installation doesn't have to be an issue for new purchases, since enough PCs can now ship with either pre-installed.

SpaceNoodle ,

I do have Nvidia graphics, and it just works.

henfredemars ,

Same. Never had a problem. I installed Linux Mint and it simply worked correctly without any modifications. Quite a bit of care is taken with the UX which is outstanding considering it’s a volunteer project.

MajorHavoc ,

Quite a bit of care is taken with the UX which is outstanding considering it’s a volunteer project.

Yeah. I am frequently delighted by excellent usability experiences on modern Linux!

Maybe I'm biased, since it's so much better than when I started. But I still have a Windows 10 PC for my work, and - while the usability on Windows 10 is no slouch - I honestly would have a hard time saying which is better, overall, now. (Ignoring, for the sake of discussion, really obvious anipatterns like the start menu ads in Windows.)

henfredemars ,

I’d say it’s really easy. The only requirement is making a choice to use something else, which most unfortunately is already asking too much for the vast majority of users.

andrew_bidlaw ,
@andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.works avatar

It's just a little different nowadays. Like the other user said, they just don't know they have a choice or what to choose and follow whatever they know...

And what was one of the early bolsheviks' regime strongest points? They created schools and made people literate en masse, and did it with their own curriculum. People became less suspective to ex elites and religious propaganda, and became their target audience.

Adobe, Google, MS give discounts and special programs for education because this way people get used to their products. Many local organizations that touch these casual users don't have a real IT department and just flow with what's given, they don't make an informed choice like corporations. And that's probably the place where this switch may even start to begin. A class of students who started with e.g. KDE Plasma would be used to it more than they used to Windows, same with other software. They can already do their homework and play most games. What else do they need?

The sharp corner is to find money to fund select schools to show others it's not scary and makes it even cheaper for them in the long run, maybe some special troubleshooting team to teach them the ropes. I've heard from some users there and on reddit that their computer classes with a geeky teacher who installed Linux is how they've rolled in without a problem.

Prior_Industry ,
@Prior_Industry@lemmy.world avatar

The average user is not even going to know this was a thing

Ghyste ,

They say this like anyone is going to do something...

ItsComplicated ,

Perhaps if I wish really, really hard they will. I just will not hold my breath!

PerogiBoi , (edited )
@PerogiBoi@lemmy.ca avatar

I figured on my gaming and VR rig that I’d begrudgingly upgrade it to W11 when W10 stopped receiving security updates and support but at this point the recall feature (which will be used to train LLMs regardless of what Microsoft promises or guarantees) has ensured that I never install that kind of spyware as an operating system.

I’d rather spend forever troubleshooting and getting my Valve Index to work with Ubuntu than deal with a giant backdoor.

skillissuer ,
@skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

better get W10 LTSC in VM and use it until EOL and beyond, it'll be more privacy friendly this way

pearsaltchocolatebar ,

Using an internet connected OS past EOL is definitely not privacy friendly.

KrapKake ,

He said until EOL. Windows LTSC, the IoT version in particular is supported until 2032.

pearsaltchocolatebar ,

No, he said EOL and beyond

areyouevenreal ,

I wouldn't go for Ubuntu. They are also run by a corporation that has done problematic things with the project. It also just doesn't work that well anymore. Better off going for something Debian or Fedora based, or even an Ubuntu derivative like Pop OS.

dual_sport_dork ,
@dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world avatar

Isn't Ubuntu Debian based? Or is that no longer the case? I haven't used it for about a decade.

wolf_2202 ,

It’s debian-based, but such an outlier from the rest of the linux ecosystem that it might as well be its own beast.

zbb ,

Yes, it is, although there are many differences between both.

Many suggest Linux Mint (one of the best regarded beginner distro) as well, which has two versions, one based on Ubuntu and the other on Debian.

So, the three are like Debian's most popular branch.

rtxn ,

It's Debian-based, but Canonical has been really Microsofty about its development. They now have Snap as a universal packaging format, and have mandated that all official Ubuntu flavors (so X/K/Lubuntu and others, but not derivatives like Mint) must include Snap, and must not include Flatpak in the default installation. They've also fucked with APT where installing certain packages, like Firefox, would first install Snap and then the application's Snap package, without even telling the user. They've had some controversy with Amazon ads in the search results, and advertising Ubuntu Pro in the fucking terminal. The default GNOME desktop also has a ton of issues.

I, and many others, recommend against Ubuntu. Linux Mint is the most commonly recommended "just works" distro. That being said, switching to Ubuntu, if able, is still preferable to staying on Windows.

TrickDacy ,

I agree most of this is fucked up, though I don't know what search results you mean. Also, I always find it funny that people refer to the Ubuntu pro thing as "ads". Yes it technically is, but it is a fuck ton less shitty than what we've come to know as ads in literally every other context. It's literally a couple lines of text about packages you can get premium updates and support for

kurcatovium ,
@kurcatovium@lemm.ee avatar

IIRC: about decade ago Ubuntu (still with its own Unity DE) processed system search in a way it shoveled amazon ads to users in first places. Or something lime that.

rtxn ,

The Unity desktop's search would display Amazon ads based on the query. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu#Conformity_with_European_data_privacy_law

It's like the "nazi bar" anecdote. It always starts small. You let in a bit of ads, a bit of self-promotion, then the revenue reaches a plateau. You let in a little more ads, maybe a pop-up saying that you could be more secure. Then a few years later you have a Recall situation. If you let one nazi drink at your bar, he'll bring his friends, and you'll be running a nazi bar.

I don't trust Canonical to act with integrity.

TrickDacy ,

Yes, always has been to my knowledge

TrickDacy ,

Pop os is fantastic

areyouevenreal ,

It varies. I struggle with its interface personally. I also had to force it to switch to Wayland to get some things working reliably. The hybrid graphics mode has issues too using the GPU when it doesn't need to. Other than that it works reasonably well out of the box, though you still occasionally have to deal with headaches from apt. A lot of the issues will hopefully be fixed when the cosmic desktop is ready. Some more can be fixed if they end up going immutable, which I believe they are working on right now. The Ubuntu version is also kinda old.

Personally I would rather be on NixOS or Fedora right now, or UBlue's Aurora. I am probably not a good candidate to be running something like Pop OS though. I am too experienced and my needs and wants are too complex for the poor thing.

TrickDacy ,

I am sure you're right about at least most of this but I will say my experience hasn't been very troublesome. Other than a driver issue I had after an update 2 years ago, I haven't had much trouble. Since I switched to an amd GPU especially, since gaming is much smoother. I had a lot worse issues when I used Elementary OS. Stuff broke a ton. For example, I had a weird graphical issue in Firefox for months.

areyouevenreal ,

Elementary OS probably isn't what I want either.

Are you talking about a desktop? I am on a laptop with Intel iGPU and Nvidia dGPU. The battery life in Windows isn't great, but it actually seems worse in Pop OS. I did actually catching it using the dGPU when it shouldn't be. Obviously Nvidia doesn't help things, and I am glad it works as well as it does. Still it's kind of sad. I might buy a second laptop just so I can have battery life that isn't horrible.

Cosmic desktop from my understanding will have a better implementation of the hybrid graphics mode to stop this nonsense.

TrickDacy ,

Yeah, desktops. I do think though that the Intel/Nvidia combo you have makes Linux in general a bit tougher than any setup more Linux friendly than that.

areyouevenreal ,

Very common setup sadly, actually the second laptop I have had like this. I can't imagine AMD + Nvidia is much better though, as Intel graphics has great support on Linux. KDE was probably a better bet, and I would have to change distro to get KDE 6.

PrivateNoob ,
@PrivateNoob@sopuli.xyz avatar

You could try win 10 iot ltsc 2021 out. It gets security support until 2032.

barsquid ,

I would also suggest not Ubuntu, and instead say you should give Bazzite a try. They are specifically interested in gaming with Steam (they even have a spin for running on Steam Deck). They might have already put in the work troubleshooting the distro with your VR gear.

gravitas_deficiency , (edited )

A lot of people here seem to be missing the nuance.

Sure, it’s problematic for their consumer market share, but you’re right that that’ll probably be forgotten by the mostly tech-illiterate populace over time. But that’s not the problem.

Step 0 of MS’s plan for this should have been “make sure there is an absolutely bulletproof and ironclad way to disable that stuff completely for enterprise customers”. And they didn’t do that. So now, enterprise IT writ large is going to… you know… just not buy any of these devices. Which is absolutely their right.

But the really frustrating bit is that MS may have significantly harmed the rollout of ARM-based laptops (as well as x86 chips with beefy NN-optimized tiles) with this, and additionally done real, massive harm to Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm by doing so. All three of those manufacturers have gone to ENORMOUS lengths to roll this tech out, largely at MS’s behest. They’re all going to take this on the chin if the rollout goes poorly. And the rollout is already going poorly.

But MS thought they could Apple-handwave away the details. And they can’t, because a lot of people who understand the absurd security implications of continuous capture and OCR and plaintext storage of the OCR output. It’s not something you can handwave away. It’s entirely a non-starter in the context of maintaining organizational security (as well as personal data security, but we’ve already talked about why that’s a bit of a moot point with the general public). But enterprise IT largely does try to take their job seriously, and they are collectively calling MS’s bluff.

The problem for the long term is that MS has pretty much proven to the IT industry with this stunt that they can’t be trusted to make software that conforms to their needs. That’s a stain that isn’t going to go away any time soon. It might even be the spark that finally triggers enterprise to move away from MS as a primary client OS. After all, Linux is WAY easier to manage from a security perspective.

TL;DR: the issue is that MS has significantly damaged their reputation with this stunt. And you can’t buy reputation.

Edit:

The article has an update:

Update noon ET June 7, 2024: Microsoft has released a statement noting it is making three significant changes to how Recal works including making it opt-in during setup, requiring Windows Hello to enable Recall, proof of presence is now required to view your timeline, and search in Recall, and adding additional layers of data protection including “just in time” decryption protected by Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security (ESS) so that snapshots will only be decrypted and accessible when the user authenticates.

It’s definitely a move in the right direction… but it also begs the question of why didn’t they do that in the first fucking place? Seriously, some heads are gonna roll over how badly this whole release was planned, and the very clear lack of due diligence.

homesweethomeMrL ,

For anyone for whom Micro$oft’s reputation wasn’t already cartoonish villainy, sure.

For those of us from the olde worlde, who marveled at dancing monkey boy on a grainy quicktime file, it’s absolutely par for the course. They can shutter everything but cloud tomorrow and still rake in 100 Billion a year for the foreseeable future. It was a monopoly thirty years ago (convicted 20 years ago) that has eaten and shat whatever and wherever it wanted for decades.

The judiciary and congress don’t understand shit, and if they did m$ bought them. Done.

MacNCheezus ,
@MacNCheezus@lemmy.today avatar

A lot of people here seem to be missing the nuance.

You don't say...

beaxingu ,
@beaxingu@kbin.run avatar

Microsoft should go further and further with this so that windows becomes worse so that less people use it.

naeap ,
@naeap@sopuli.xyz avatar

Microsoft has built a number of safety features into Windows Recall to ensure that the service can't run secretly in the background. When Windows Recall is enabled, it places a permanent visual indicator icon on the Taskbar to let the user know that Windows Recall is capturing data. This icon cannot be hidden or moved.

Oh my, that one is really cute

uriel238 , (edited )
@uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

Malware will disable that icon. Law enforcement will buy [that] malware.

phoneymouse ,

Well find out in 10 years that that wasn’t true and that it did capture data when the icon wasn’t present whoopsies.

wreckedcarzz ,
@wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world avatar
If chkCaptureData.checked then
   recall()
   bigNotify()
Else
   recall()
End
ParanoiaComplex ,

This icon cannot be hidden or moved.

Or what? Your computer will take out a club and beat you to death?

You can't convince me someone couldn't do it with a simple registry edit, or even just replace the icon with something else by swapping an icon file somewhere in Windows/

Shape4985 ,
@Shape4985@lemmy.ml avatar
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