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.

  • dinckel@lemmy.world
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    27 days ago

    Yet another reminder that alternatives, where your privacy is not for sale, and your hardware belongs to you, actually exist in 2024

      • Boozilla@lemmy.world
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        27 days ago

        I wish they would do a much better job of distinguishing corporate workstation versions of Windows and Home versions of Windows. Put all this MS ecosystem garbage on the workstation version, and make the Home version a stripped down to the essentials OS. Which is what most of us try to do with tools like ShutUp10, anyway.

        • dinckel@lemmy.world
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          27 days ago

          Ironically, in reality it’s the exact opposite. The home version is pumped to the brim with this dogshit, while the Enterprise version is stripped to the bare necessities. They likely know that other corporations have the balls to sue them for all kinds of reasons

        • mesamune@lemmy.world
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          27 days ago

          I get ads on my workstation. Its fun. I cant remove them without getting permission from the IT department. Meanwhile my home computers have no ads at all.

        • solsangraal@lemmy.zip
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          27 days ago

          i’ll do you one better: all PCs at my job are running win10 LTSC, which was meant for specific use cases like running neon signs and shit

      • SzethFriendOfNimi@lemmy.world
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        27 days ago

        How long before there’s a discovery request for all recall data for a time period and companies start screaming about the risks with recall?

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          26 days ago

          companies start screaming about the risks with recall?

          this comment veers pretty close to implying that upper and middle management know a single goddamn thing about tech or cybersecurity OR that they listen to their IT guys

      • GenXLiberal@lemmy.world
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        27 days ago

        Agreed - if I were evil, I would use this data to look for long periods of static/unchanging desktop screenshots to look for inactivity and employees lying about being there or away.

        Honestly this is just an arms race. If the above happens (and if I can come up with that use case think about what will come up when someone actually smart thinks about it.)

        The response? I’d make a tool that presses alt-tab every 15 seconds a random number of times - to both keep the computer alive and change the desktop view, maybe move the windows around a bit for variety. A usb rubber ducky would be perfect for this.

        • PlexSheep@infosec.pub
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          25 days ago

          Agreed. But if big brother really wants, they can detect a weird program running, a weird hardware being on it, or just that someone is tabbing around without actually doing something.

      • 𝕸𝖔𝖘𝖘@infosec.pub
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        26 days ago

        That’s a really good summary of the degradation of software throughout time and the path to recreate software for the people. Thanks for sharing.

        • octopus_ink@lemmy.ml
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          26 days ago

          Thanks - I love that video and I share it all the time. It gets across the whole idea of why Free (libre) software is important without preaching, and (as you point out) with a reminder that it wasn’t always this way.

        • Blaster M@lemmy.world
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          26 days ago

          With the slightly massive caveat that you can’t upgrade to newer versions without a nuke and pave.

      • Billiam@lemmy.world
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        27 days ago

        Zorin is a Ubuntu-derived distro that has multiple desktop managers built in, including one that mimics macOS.

      • areyouevenreal@lemm.ee
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        27 days ago

        A lot of the laptops made by Huawei and Xiaomi are MacBook-like in design at least. Framework is much more repairable though as are business laptops from HP or Dell. Dell in particular has made some quite long battery life laptops in the past like the Latitude 7410 and 7400, though those aren’t particularly new they are at least cheap when bought second hand.

        In terms of OS you got to go with some Linux flavor as they offer various DEs some of which are mac like. Obviously macOS and Linux terminals are somewhat similar anyway. PopOS is a great option.

        • dinckel@lemmy.world
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          27 days ago

          I would not, in good conscience, ever recommend a Dell machine to anyone anymore. Not only the design and build quality have gone down catastrophically, but Dell would take literally every opportunity they have to fuck you over.

          XPS machines in particular have a solid history of being good on paper, but a nightmare, once you ever need to contact them about issues

          • areyouevenreal@lemm.ee
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            26 days ago

            XPS aren’t business machines, just premium consumer machines. They aren’t built to the same standard, as would honestly be expected given they cost less. I’ve had my own bad experiences with an XPS laptop and wouldn’t buy one again. Too many compromises in the name of being thin and lightweight.

            To be honest I was more suggesting second hand machines where warranty from the OEM isn’t really a consideration.

            I think you will find most OEMs don’t really care about customer support unless you are a business. HP, Asus, and friends all have their own horror stories. There are only a few companies like Framework I actually trust.

          • kurcatovium@lemm.ee
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            27 days ago

            We’re about to buy a few new laptops at work. My boss is hardcore Dell fan, I need to prove him it’s no better than anything else on the market.

            I’m suggesting either Thinkbook (cheap option, comparable specs cost 2/3 of Dell) or Probook/Elitebook which are still considerably cheaper than Dell in my country.

    • StopJoiningWars@discuss.online
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      26 days ago

      Not until Linux comes pre-deployed on gaming laptops for sale. That’s my market.

      Before you ask, I don’t have the know-how to boot into Linux, and I need the portability of a laptop. As well as enjoying gaming to an extent. Pretty niche.

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    27 days ago

    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.

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      27 days ago

      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.

      • conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works
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        27 days ago

        It’s less bad for sure. And I can understand, theoretically, the value of “that one think I saw that one time”. I’ve definitely spent way longer than I’d want looking for some random reference I’d seen in the past, and I’m in the process of trying to catalogue all the references in my past nonfiction reading after the fact, and it’s definitely a lot of work.

        But man, other users on your PC could trivially see everything you did on your system unless you used the dumpster fire that’s edge in private browsing mode, and the people on the project thought that was OK. There’s no way people with that level of lack of awareness managed to adapt the project to not be a sieve.

  • zalgotext@sh.itjust.works
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    26 days ago

    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

      • aodhsishaj@lemmy.world
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        26 days ago

        Also data retention and security it’s a nightmare for Title IX and FERPA as well.

        Another thing is Microsoft hasn’t been talking about compression either, how large are these files? What does it do with networked drives? How do we know metadata collection isn’t being expanded?

    • M0oP0o@mander.xyz
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      26 days ago

      The crazy part to me is a local solution (shadow copy) has been around for ever. Why this is even a thing at all is just insane to me.

      • GreyBeard@lemmy.one
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        26 days ago

        Shadow copy is a completely different thing. Shadow copy creates snapshots(used for version history, among other uses) of files. Recall is a screen recording software, that includes OCR and maybe some AI stuff. At this time, at least, it too is all local. It just isn’t secure in the least.

        • M0oP0o@mander.xyz
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          26 days ago

          And functionaly pointless other then spying on users (and there is also software for that).

          My point is, like a lot of things today, this is a solution looking for a problem.

          • GreyBeard@lemmy.one
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            25 days ago

            I’m not diagreeing with that. Although it could be useful, I often forget where I saved things, and something that let’s my search my worn history would be rad, but there’s zero chance this won’t be abused by a large list of people, including but not limited to Microsoft, spouses, bosses, malware, governments, every random application, Facebook, and Microsoft.

  • ulkesh@lemmy.world
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    27 days ago

    They never said they were doing away with it. It’s a feature literally no one asked for, it’s insecure, it’s invasive, a privacy nightmare any way you look at it.

    And people who willingly use it will deserve all the shit that it is. And meanwhile, I’ll be enjoying my privacy-respecting Linux operating system.

    • PhreakyByNature@feddit.uk
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      27 days ago

      I am keeping Win 10 until I can’t safely anymore then Linux may be my next stop. Been looking at CachyOS for gaming.

        • PhreakyByNature@feddit.uk
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          26 days ago

          Just some performance I’ve seen people get from it and the nvidia bits. Still need to research before I decide though.

          • Blisterexe@lemmy.zip
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            26 days ago

            Thing with cachy is that it doesnt do anything better than other distros when it comes to nvidia drivers, its entire focus is giving you like maybe 5% better performance at the cost of worse stability, so i really would not recommend it to new users.

            I’d say use something like bazzite or pop_os! instead.

            Feel free to dm me if you want help.

            • PhreakyByNature@feddit.uk
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              26 days ago

              Thanks! My cousin used pop and was a fan tbf. I do like stability but also hoping, as I don’t work on my personal PC, that some instability would revitalise my enjoyment of tinkering. I have become used to the comforts of stability as I’ve aged. Haven’t really played with Linux since the Red Hat 7 days…! I used to use Unix back then for FORTRAN but yeah of late just forgotten everything.

            • Waffelson@lemmy.world
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              26 days ago

              How does using avx instructions reduce stability?

              source? or did you mean arch is unstable?

              • Blisterexe@lemmy.zip
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                26 days ago

                Well, i just meant that all the changes cachy does (on top of being arch based) means it just isnt as stable as some other options

                • Waffelson@lemmy.world
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                  26 days ago

                  In this case, PopOS and Bazzite are also less stable because they add things on top of Ubuntu and Fedora

        • fluckx@lemmy.world
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          26 days ago

          I’m guessing maybe the scheduler? Its the only real difference I see versus the other gaming distros.

    • Lee Duna@lemmy.nz
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      26 days ago

      M$ is like a boyfriend - you tell him “No, don’t touch me there!”

      and an hour later his hands are wandering the same direction again…

  • Clbull@lemmy.world
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    26 days ago

    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.

  • Abdoanmes@lemmy.world
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    26 days ago

    <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>

    • Zeoic@lemmy.world
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      26 days ago

      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.

      • ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml
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        26 days ago

        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

    • pyre@lemmy.world
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      26 days ago

      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.

      • simple@lemm.ee
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        26 days ago

        Even more annoying is how many people in the Linux community often recommend distros that are terrible for beginners. People who constantly try to tell newbies to download base debian or arch should be removed from the conversation instantly.

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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        26 days ago

        That’s a lot more prevalent online than in-person.

        If you ask a Linux user in-person about Linux, they’ll likely oversimplify, but if you ask 2-3 Linux users at the same time, you’ll quickly get into jargon. That’s not a Linux problem, that’s a problem with pretty much every niche interest, people really like to one-up each other in whatever that is. Just try it sometime. Ask someone about their favorite board game, what camera to buy, etc, and you’ll get a simple answer. Then repeat, but with a group of people who all like that thing, and you’ll get a much more complicated answer.

        As with any hobby, there’s always another level of depth you can go. The trick is to corner one nerd, and only one nerd.

        • DefederateLemmyMl@feddit.nl
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          26 days ago

          What is the problem with “jargon” anyway? You can’t discuss technical things without using technical language.

          If you take a bunch of Windows nerds (yes they exist), and get them talking about group policies and registry edits and powershell cmdlets, you get the same thing.

          • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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            26 days ago

            Exactly. And that’s not helpful for your average Windows user. If your average Windows user calls tech support, they’ll get a simple answer. If they instead walk into a tech support room, they’ll get multiple answers, with the techs trying to one-up each other because that’s how they work.

            So if you’re a novice in an area, talk one-on-one, don’t ask a crowd.

            • DefederateLemmyMl@feddit.nl
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              26 days ago

              If your average Windows user calls tech support, they’ll get a simple answer

              They’ll get a simple answer alright. In fact, they’ll be lucky if they get any answer at all that is not reboot, retry, reinstall or some other cargo cult nonsense from some on-paper “MCSA” in a third world country.

              And sorry for going on a rant here, but Windows tech support forums are truly the shit tier of all tech support forums, because very few people actually have the skill to properly diagnose problems in Windows when something outside of the realm of expected behavior occurs. It’s all learned behaviorisms instead of understanding: reinstall your drivers! defrag your hard drive! run ipconfig /renew! clean your cache folder! delete your cookies! Never: “look in the system eventlog for an error event coming from this source, and tell me what the error code says”

              • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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                26 days ago

                they’ll be lucky if they get any answer at all that is not reboot, retry, reinstall or some other

                And 90% of the time, that’ll solve the problem.

                The other 10% of the time, hopefully you have a decent IT dept at your work or school. I worked at one, and we occasionally had a weird one where we needed to actually check the event logs and figure out what was going on (usually it’s faulty HW).

                If I was bored, I’d even look at people’s personal equipment, provided they asked nicely and they were okay with my upfront “no guarantees” spiel. At that point, I had already switched to Linux 100% on my personal devices (and my work machine was Linux w/ Windows in a VM), though my job was Windows tech support. However, when anyone came in, there would always be a host of “did you try X?” and whatnot, where X is some relatively obscure cli-only tool (e.g. flushing the DNS cache) or some BIOS setting. Nerds love a puzzle, and a visitor bringing a problem is a much more exciting puzzle than whatever is in the ticket queue, and they want to impress the guest with their knowledge (but more often than not, the guest just ignores everything they say).

                That lone person will give you a simple answer. It may not be the best answer, but it’ll probably solve the problem, though it may cost you more (e.g. you may need to buy some new hardware or spend time reinstalling). But it’ll be simpler and probably not overwhelming.

        • Emmie@lemmings.world
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          26 days ago

          Corner the nerd and grab them by the throat until they explain Linux in sufficiently simple terms. This is what I learned from this thread.

        • pyre@lemmy.world
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          26 days ago

          dude where do you think I’m hanging out that I’m gonna find people who use Linux in person

          • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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            We’re not some rare breed, you’ll find us at grocery stores, bars, on the bus, etc. We’re pretty good at hiding though, and we get startled when approached.

            If you want to attract a Linux nerd, put a Tux sticker somewhere. Don’t do anything distro-specific like an Ubuntu or Fedora sticker, because that’ll attract the wrong kind of attention, just a cute Tux sticker. It may take a few days for us to sense it’s not a trap, but you’ll eventually get someone asking about the sticker, and it’ll be a bit quicker if you happen to be a girl (but if you’re really cute, it’ll take longer).

      • Piece_Maker@feddit.uk
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        You’re 100% right. Linux itself is perfectly capable for a lot of users (note I didn’t say all users, or even most users, before people start coming at me with their weird edge case that requires Windows) but the community of both users and devs do absolutely nothing good to get people on board.

      • sarmale@lemmy.zip
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        26 days ago

        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

        • ZeroHora@lemmy.ml
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          26 days ago

          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

      • ZeroHora@lemmy.ml
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        26 days ago

        It’s not like people need the Linux community to install Linux, they didn’t need a “windows community” to use windows.

        • pyre@lemmy.world
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          26 days ago

          that’s because windows is beginner friendly. too much for my taste, but that’s how you get people to come aboard. by making it easy for a dumbass to use. simple terms, familiar words, relatable metaphors, graphic interface, installers that do the work for you…

          you don’t need a windows community to figure things out on windows. i was like 6 when I started using windows 3.x and i did fine because it was either intuitive or it taught me how to do things.

          with Linux you do need to refer to communities to even know where to start, and even then the community is fucking indecipherable. nerds don’t know how to speak human.

          • ZeroHora@lemmy.ml
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            26 days ago

            If you started using Linux with 6, or mac for that matter you’ll probably find that more intuitive than windows.

            Sorry but the graphic interface of windows is jack shit, you have different types of system configuration and legacy menus all over the place, for anything more serious editing the Registry is not what I call intuitive.

            I’ve a friend that had constantly BSOD while playing certain games and he only found the solution in a russian forum suggesting to rename a .dll file in system, that was in 2015-2016. That’s not intuitive. The biggest difference is the amount of time that people need to do that in windows vs in linux, in any case people without more knowledge in PCs are completely lost and need assistance.

            • pyre@lemmy.world
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              25 days ago

              sounds like you’re having trouble understanding the difference between troubleshooting for specific cases vs entry to the OS.

      • DefederateLemmyMl@feddit.nl
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        26 days ago

        people not knowing shit about tech is not their fault

        I don’t agree with much else of what you are saying, but you are quite right here. We should indeed not throw people under the bus because they’re not tech savvy and only know how to use Windows. They need to be defended from all those horrible anti-human and privacy invading practices by Microsoft and other Big Tech companies as well, and we should keep fighting and pushing back on those companies pushing their anti-human features, regardless of whether an alternative exists.

        BUT, ultimately Linux is the answer, and people are not wrong for pointing that out. It’s the only viable alternative that is user respecting by design. It’s the only way to free yourself from the abusive relationship between you and Microsoft, because much like an abusive partner, Microsoft will never change. So if you’re tech savvy, and you would be able to switch to Linux but for some reason you don’t, I have little sympathy for your Windows problems.

        • BURN@lemmy.world
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          26 days ago

          Linux is still not viable for creative work, office work or competitive gaming, 3 of the most important uses of computers.

          I’d love to see Linux be more widespread, but until I can play any game, use my required abobe products and run Microsoft office it’s pretty much a useless operating system. Open source alternatives don’t exist for many uses, or if they do they’re a significantly worse experience

      • ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml
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        26 days ago

        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.

        The thing is, I agree with you, and unfortunately it’s actually a common misconception how difficult Linux is to use. You can easily install a beginner-friendly distro like Ubuntu/Mint/PopOS and get started that way, it doesn’t have to be daunting. It’s free to try out and you have nothing to lose by giving it a try, you could always go back to Windows.

        • flerp@lemm.ee
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          26 days ago

          It’s free? Like you can put it on your current computer simultaneously with windows for free for free, or you have to buy a new computer to put it on but it itself is free for free? Because if it’s the first one I should give it a shot. Problem is I’m already learning so many new things currently I’m already a bit overwhelmed as it is but one of these days I absolutely have to because I’m getting so sick of windows’s BS.

          • ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml
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            26 days ago

            You can generally install Linux on any computer you want, entirely for free. You don’t need to buy a new computer, you just install it like any other operating system.

            Also there’s often live USB environments where you can boot from the USB but try it out before dedicating to installing it on your SSD/hard drive. You could technically even dual boot but that can have its own problems.

            As always, back up your data when trying out things.

            For basic things like web browsing, watching videos, and reading emails, Linux is excellent. It’s when you start getting into more power-user type stuff where you have to learn more about how things work on Linux.

            • flerp@lemm.ee
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              26 days ago

              Hmm thanks for the info. I really do need to tackle it eventually. Problem is I do a lot of art stuff, modelling, animating, music production, painting, etc. I know a few of the programs I need are probably fairly easy to get working but there is just so much in my workflow that the thought of having to work through each and every one of those programs trying to get them set up while also under the stress of the actual work I need to be doing with them is nightmare fuel. I wish microsoft would just stop being wankers but I know that is never going to happen.

      • mfbatz@lemmy.world
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        26 days ago

        This. But not just for gaming in my case. I’m a freelance video editor and rely heavily on both Davinci Resolve and Premiere Pro for various clients.

        I have Linux Mint on my old XPS 13 and love it, but I’m not going through hoops just to get my workflow in a “functional state.” I have no interest in going the Apple route, and it just works flawlessly on Windows.

        If I didn’t need it for my livelihood, I’d likely use Mint full time.

        So it goes.

        • pyre@lemmy.world
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          26 days ago

          proving my point. Linux users are worse than Mac users in this aspect. but keep wondering why Linux barely finding 4% market share is big news.

          • aodhsishaj@lemmy.world
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            26 days ago

            Nobody cares what OS anybody runs except for people that are selling OS’s.

            Linux is nice and private and as complicated as you’d like to make it.

            Linux is also the main operating system of “the cloud”

            Thus that’s the thrust of my joke.

            But yeah, rah rah Big Corp important to my personal identity! I am EXACTLY the strawman you need for your argument. Tell me more about my motivations and concerns.

      • blackn1ght@feddit.uk
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        26 days ago

        Windows is for people who’s life or personality doesn’t reolve around their computer. It’s just a tool to get things done and that’s it.

        • DefederateLemmyMl@feddit.nl
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          26 days ago

          But people whose life or personality doesn’t revolve around their computer should also be protected from user hostile and privacy invading practices.

          • blackn1ght@feddit.uk
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            26 days ago

            They won’t care or won’t even notice these things. They’ll open their laptop, book a holday or find some new car insurance or write a report of whatever and not even think about what the OS does. Unless they’re someone who is already extremely sensitive over privacy of their data, you’re not going to convice the average Windows user to switch to Linux.

            When I was younger I used to use Ubuntu as my main OS for years, tried Arch for a bit - then went back to Windows. I haven’t got the time or energy to be fucking about with things like that anymore.

  • Boozilla@lemmy.world
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    27 days ago

    MS: Here’s a cool new feature!
    Users: That is spyware bullshit, fuck off!
    MS: But muh ecosystem!
    Users: Nobody fucking wants any of that. Now STFU and run my games, grandpa.
    MS: sniffs This isn’t over, you little shits.

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    26 days ago

    This tool stinks of management requesting a better way to spy the employees. It has little to no benefits for the user.

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      26 days ago

      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.

    • Sarothazrom@lemmy.world
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      26 days ago

      Is there anything you’d recommend as a migration tutorial from someone who’s used windows their whole life?

      • DontRedditMyLemmy@lemmy.world
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        26 days ago

        I love the other guys response, but seriously I’ve heard enough recommendations and plan to try Mint after Windows. Sounds easiest for people that aren’t Linux snobs.

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        26 days ago

        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)

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        26 days ago

        @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.

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        26 days ago

        Most important part would be talking about it as often as possible, a la CrossFit or veganism.

    • sheogorath@lemmy.world
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      26 days ago

      I’m currently dual booting and still uses Windows for gaming since I tried gaming on Linux and I basically got around half the FPS that I usually got on Windows (I have Nvidia GPU). I think I’ll fully migrate when I upgrade to an AMD GPU sometime in the future.

    • spacecadet@lemm.ee
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      26 days ago

      I’m dual booting Debian and Windows, is there an easy way to fully remove the windows partition and add it to Debian to fully be rid of windows?

      • ichbinjasokreativ@lemmy.world
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        26 days ago

        You could use GUI partitioning tools to just remove the windows partition and expand your debian installation. Did you install an extra bootloader for linux?

        • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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          Be careful expanding the Linux partition, depending on how you’ve set things up, you may need to reinstall the bootloader after doing it. So keep a live USB around in case things don’t boot so you can do that.

        • spacecadet@lemm.ee
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          26 days ago

          Yes i installed and changed the boot order to do Debian first, disabled secure and fast boot also. I heard that could cause som issues

          • ichbinjasokreativ@lemmy.world
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            26 days ago

            It can, but that’s not what I meant. When booting linux, do you see the blue windows menu where you can decide between debian and windows or does linux just start? If it just starts, you can just delete the windows partition (make sure to check that all important data has been copied to linux or you will loose it!). If unsure which partition it is, it’s the one with ntfs as the file system.

            • spacecadet@lemm.ee
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              26 days ago

              It’s not a blue window, it says Debian and lets me choose between Debian as the first option and windows as like the third one

              • ichbinjasokreativ@lemmy.world
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                26 days ago

                Good, but as pointed out by another user, you might need to reconfigure grub after deleting the windows partition. Or save your files on an external media and reinstall debian over the entire disk if you don’t want to mess around.

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    27 days ago

    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?

    • Noble Shift@lemmy.world
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      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.

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        26 days ago

        From: douchenozzle@bigcorpo.com
        Subject: [ACTION REQUIRED] Work Policy Violation

        Dear 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

        • TexasDrunk@lemmy.world
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          26 days ago

          My boss didn’t need Recall to do that to me a decade ago. He called me out for going offline in our messenger app for an hour after lunch while I was helping another tech sort an emergency for a client from their machine.

          I told him that’s fine, I’ll just let everyone know that I won’t be assisting and will show them that email every time anyone asks. He backed off, but not everyone is going to get that lucky to have a complete moron who is going to put dumb shit threats in writing without running it by anyone in legal, HR, or their own boss.

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    27 days ago

    The tendency of the rate of profit to fall is here again. They really do need to squeeze those dollars out

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      26 days ago

      Honestly this might be useful to the home user but everyone is right to be skeptical. The bigger value for the software is corporate surveillance. They will be able to see exactly how much time WFH workers are actually working and will probably want it for exfiltration prevention. The target user might not be able to avoid using it no matter what.

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        26 days ago

        It’s 1000%going to be used for corporate surveillance.

        Features to do this from other vendors are already in use.