This just in: Microsoft may not have been telling the whole truth when they said Recall would only be coming to “Copilot+” PCs. Fellow creator Chris Titus has shared his findings that not only is that not the case, but that it is allegedly a mandatory dependency for the Windows (File) Explorer.

Recall itself also appears to be a mandatory feature: the company’s own Brandon LeBlanc (Sr. Product Manager of Windows, Microsoft) confirmed that the uninstall option that appeared in the Insider previews is a bug.

With many issues yet to be properly addressed, Microsoft’s Recall feature appears to remain unpopular among cybersecurity experts and the Windows user base.

The post So, Maybe You Shouldn’t Use Windows 11 (24H2) appeared first on Slade Watkins.

“…the snapshots and strings of text that Windows Recall logs are safely encrypted on your PC using Device Encryption and Bitlocker. This means if your laptop is ever stolen, intruders can’t access the contents of your storage without an encryption key, and they won’t be able to gain access to any stored snapshots without being logged in to your account.”

While this may be true, encryption does not equal secure. (And a point I’m going to address in a second entirely calls into question the security of the feature at all.) Even so, if you’re actively looking at Recall information and you unknowingly have malware or a targeted virus on your computer, you’re screwed! Oh, and if you hit share on a Recall thing, all someone has to do is eyeball your “C:\Users[username]\AppData\Local\Temp” folder, and boom, they have that information.

Thankfully, Zac does agree that malware may be a problem. Which is good! That’s a main concern amongst pretty much everyone right now.

The entire Windows Recall experience is processed on device, which is partly why it requires a Copilot+ PC to function. Microsoft is offloading the resources required to process a feature like this onto the NPU, which is a secure chip that’s powerful enough to handle the processing of snapshots using AI with little power draw.

This means Windows Recall works 100% offline, and you don’t need an active internet connection to take advantage of it. It doesn’t even require a Microsoft Account, and as a result is missing some quality of life features such as cross-device syncing. None of that is possible here, because Windows Recall does not upload your data anywhere.

It was recently discovered that Recall works completely fine without any real issue on devices without NPUs, including systems with Intel/AMD processors (though a few dependencies are obviously missing on x86_64 systems.) So whilst the claim that it “requires” a Copilot+ PC to function correctly, that only really means “out of the box.” You can get it working on other PCs, and that’s the real concern.

Additionally, Recall is not discriminatory about what sort of information it’ll grab. Microsoft themselves have warned it will grab your passwords and banking info. The discrimination feature seems to be integrated fairly well into private browsing on many of the popular web browsers.

And let me raise you this question: who’s going to use that to check their bank statements or make a purchase every time? Or even use Edge at all, for that matter? Sure, Edge has gotten better since switching to Chromium, but it’s still a bloated piece of trash that hardly anyone trusts, so I’m not entirely convinced it’s a great substitute.

And yes, you can exclude certain apps and websites from showing up in Recall at all, but I don’t trust Microsoft to respect the damn settings. I mean, the company has shown they don’t respect your default browser (hell, they’ve probably stolen your data without you even knowing). They shove ads down your throat in an operating system you paid for.

The UK, by the way, is currently launching an investigation into this Recall feature. While it’s unclear why, it’s probably due to all of the concerns raised by users like me, as well as literal cybersecurity professionals. In an interview with SC Media, Patrick Tiquet, VP of Security & Architecture at Keeper Security said:

“Microsoft’s Recall feature raises a few alarms, including security risks of potentially capturing and store detailed and sensitive information, as well as concerns surrounding invasion of privacy. The potential of sensitive information being stored without proper security protocols, puts your cybersecurity and even your identity risk.”

Even the malware protection giant themselves, Malwarebytes, chimed in on Twitter with their own thing:

Encryption, even with the popular BitLocker tool, simply aren’t enough to quell people’s concerns. Even barring the concerns, this feature has some serious privacy and security implications. Can Microsoft, a company known for not caring about user choice (see: Edge forcing itself down your throat, Microsoft not letting you change default browsers easily or uninstall Edge at all, etc.), really be trusted to handle something like this?

For people like me, who are well-versed enough to know when to sound the alarm and jump ship: this is that time, and we are. I already have, I’m writing this on Pop!_OS, actually. I’ve returned home to Linux for the first time since switching to Windows in 2014 and macOS in 2016. (Though I still use macOS, of course!) I simply refuse to let Microsoft tell me how to use my computer, dictate what browser, search engine, and apps I use on my computer.

Freedom, privacy, and security matter. I will use 1Password, I will use Firefox, I will use whatever the hell default programs I feel like on my computer. Everyone should have that freedom. End of story.

I stand behind my claim that Windows 11 is just one of many nails in Microsoft’s coffin. It’s, in fact, a data-collection beast. It’s phoning home to Microsoft, even if you tell it not to. Microsoft is simply masquerading as a hardware/software giant, when it’s actually one of the most successful advertising powerhouses on the planet.

Why? Because we, the people, believed many of their past lies, and went along with it. Because Windows is “easier” to deal with than Linux (you have a point, but it’s getting easier with distributions like Pop!_OS.) Because games “just work” on Linux (Valve and the Steam Deck are changing this with Proton.)

So yeah, I can confidently say that Windows is spyware pretending to be “The best Windows yet.” And Microsoft? It’s 100% spyware, let’s just call it what it is. There’s no debate here to be had, either, I think it’s fairly well known that the telemetry is awful and only gets worse as the years go on.

That’s why I don’t trust Recall or anything that comes out of Microsoft anymore. That’s why you shouldn’t either. Be skeptical. And if you can (not everyone can), leave Windows behind. Go to a Mac, if you really don’t want to touch Linux. Just run away.

The post Windows Central Claims Recall Isn’t Privacy Nightmare You Think It Is. I Disagree. appeared first on Slade Watkins.

This decision from the company has already resulted in tangible performance hits in my workflow, to the point where my M2 MacBook Pro has become the better option to get things done. I’ve leaned more on a Linux VM inside of macOS than my Windows computer directly, or even the Windows VM I have. Granted, I have a bias due to growing up on Linux (thanks Papa) but it’s still rather depressing, considering I used Windows for years after I moved out of my grandfather’s house.

Now, I’m no stranger to having wanted this switch before. I linked that blog post there. But I decided to do this “last year” and never actually followed through due to various program compatibility issues. Now, at least according to some threads I’ve found on Reddit along with constant (and massive) improvements to Valve’s Proton compatibility layer, I think I actually have a real shot at making the leap. So I’m going to.

Today, my only big question mark will be games. But Proton has become so good that I think I can (probably) find a way to make it work for me. I’m really bummed that it has come to this. Uprooting and returning to Linux isn’t something I thought I’d be able to do. Linux and games have never been synonymous.

To make everything easier, I’ll be adopting Pop!_OS by System76 across the board. I grew up on Ubuntu, so its base is familiar, and the out-of-box support for hybrid graphics is something I need for a couple PCs around here. Plus, it’s made by a company whose mission I firmly believe in, with staff who truly care about the open-source community, AND their users.

I’ll keep you posted!

The post Goodbye Windows, For Real This Time appeared first on Slade Watkins.

The biggest reason is that developers are going to stop trusting them soon enough. Frankly, Apple is becoming the very thing they sought to destroy almost forty some-odd years ago. The fact that they’re becoming more and more litigious is enough evidence, to be honest.

The company is simply on a power trip, fueled by a hunger for control and dominance over every industry in which they take part, even if that means costing themselves a significant amount of goodwill among their vast community of developers and enthusiasts. At least Microsoft’s former CEO Steve Ballmer understood that developers mean everything to a thriving platform. That said, Ballmer was controversial as a CEO, and most of that reputation is his own fault.

Every move the company has made, from RCS support and beyond (especially recently), has been done in a way that is nothing short of malicious compliance. Developers from across the industry, including several third-party developer alums, have come together and spoken out against these moves. Whether it’s independently, or through the Coalition for App Fairness, or through some other alliance.

Spotify, for example, is a member of the Coalition whose CEO was incredibly vocal against the proposed DMA rules set forth by Apple. They released another letter to the European Commission on Apple’s “lack of DMA compliance” just last week. Apple responded, with an incredibly anger-filled press release on Monday:

“Today, Spotify has a 56 percent share of Europe’s music streaming market — more than double their closest competitor’s — and pays Apple nothing for the services that have helped make them one of the most recognizable brands in the world. A large part of their success is due to the App Store, along with all the tools and technology that Spotify uses to build, update, and share their app with Apple users around the world.”

Keep in mind, the EU recently fined them €1.84 billion EURO ($2 billion USD) as a result of the anti-trust litigation between them, Spotify, and this is just a result of their distaste in their loss. The fact of the matter is–the Apple beast has become too powerful. We, the consumers, have given them this power–and we’re the only ones who can seize it once more.

Google isn’t exactly a saint either, to be clear. They’ve had their own myriad of bullshit and muddy bodies of antitrust and litigation of all sorts that would take ages to wade through. However–Android has, and will continue to be, an open platform in both source and user choice for as long as the Android Open Source Project exists and smartphone manufacturers (who aren’t Apple) continue making phones.

For Apple to succeed in interfacing with developers in the long-term–beyond their evangelists and most dedicated users who have zero understanding of how Android, Windows, or Linux works–they must stop alienating them and being so disrespectful when given constructive feedback. I’m not sure why their knee-jerk reaction is to play the victim card so much, especially when I’m sure they have a million other cards to play, but they continue to choose it.

For sympathy? Probably.

I believe it’s time for us iOS users to rebel in the only way Apple has given us the ability to do: take our business elsewhere. The grass is certainly greener on the other side of the wall. Even DHH, a well-known lover AND critic of Apple (being an Apple evangelist for a long ass time–perhaps 99% of my life–will do that), has switched to Android and Windows and has no reason to leave for a while.

Wild that we’ve gotten here. I’m doing the same thing, too–plotting my course out of the “ecosystem.” Perhaps it is that time. If Apple has a sincere change of heart, sure, but I don’t think developers are going to stick around for long with their attitude lately. Without developers, a platform is nothing. Without COMPETITION, a developer is nothing. If Apple truly is seeking to destroy both, iOS may as well be deemed irrelevant now.

Unless you want to eventually be stuck without any third-party apps in the future… I’d start looking at your options and plotting your exit plan. Samsung Galaxy S is probably the closest choice, but Google Pixel has a great line, too. That’s my take.

The post It Might Be Time For Us to Break Free from Apple’s “Ecosystem” appeared first on Slade Watkins.

“Dear Blizzard,

Though my official first day with you all is February 5, I want to let you know immediately that it is an honor to join you next week in this new capacity. I do so humbly and in awe of all that Blizzard has stood for and delivered to the world for over thirty years. Today also brings some mixed emotions. The loss of talented teammates in recent days is hard to hold side-by-side with the immense excitement I feel about joining Blizzard – and building on the momentum you’ve created for Blizzard’s next chapter.”

The “introduction” Faries mentions in her message was handled by Matt Booty, President of Xbox Content and Studios. You can read his email here.

The post Johanna Faries Named Next President of Blizzard Entertainment, Starts February 5th appeared first on Slade Watkins.

Sarah Bond writes on Twitter:

“We believe constructive conversations drive change and progress towards open platforms and greater competition. Apple’s new policy is a step in the wrong direction. We hope they listen to feedback on their proposed plan and work towards a more inclusive future for all.”

This Tweet was in a response to Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify, stating in part “While Apple has behaved badly for years, what they did yesterday represents a new low, even for them.” Microsoft and Spotify have long been vocal of Apple’s restrictive rules, and this time is no exception.

The post Xbox’s Sarah Bond on Twitter: Apple’s Policies “Step in The Wrong Direction”, Calling on Company to Listen to Feedback appeared first on Slade Watkins.