Friday, June 14th 2024
Microsoft Delays Controversial "Recall" Feature for Windows 11 24H2
Microsoft has made a last-minute decision to pull its much-debated "Recall" feature from the Windows 11 24H2 update set to launch on June 18th. Instead, the company will roll out Recall as a preview through the Windows Insider Program while it works to build user trust and address security concerns. Recall, one of the flagship features of 24H2, creates a searchable 30-day timeline of a user's activities including files, webpages, and screenshots. However, since its announcement on May 20th, Recall has faced heavy criticism over potential privacy risks from storing user data in unencrypted plain text files. Security researcher Kevin Beaumont labeled Recall a "security nightmare" after finding it logged activities to a SQLite database accessible by non-admin accounts. This raised alarms about the depths of user behavior tracked and stored locally on PCs.
Initially, Microsoft had planned for Recall to be enabled by default in 24H2. However, following the backlash, the company backtracked on June 7th, making it an opt-in feature requiring Windows Hello authentication and adding encryption. Those adjustments were still not enough to satisfy Microsoft. In a new blog post, the firm stated Recall did not yet meet its "own standards of quality and security" and that it "must be trustworthy, secure and robust" before a wider rollout. By moving Recall to the Insider Program for further testing and refinement, Microsoft is giving itself more time to get the technology right and rebuild user confidence. A future blog will provide instructions for Insiders to preview Recall on compatible Copilot+ PCs with added security protections.
Source:
Microsoft
Initially, Microsoft had planned for Recall to be enabled by default in 24H2. However, following the backlash, the company backtracked on June 7th, making it an opt-in feature requiring Windows Hello authentication and adding encryption. Those adjustments were still not enough to satisfy Microsoft. In a new blog post, the firm stated Recall did not yet meet its "own standards of quality and security" and that it "must be trustworthy, secure and robust" before a wider rollout. By moving Recall to the Insider Program for further testing and refinement, Microsoft is giving itself more time to get the technology right and rebuild user confidence. A future blog will provide instructions for Insiders to preview Recall on compatible Copilot+ PCs with added security protections.
81 Comments on Microsoft Delays Controversial "Recall" Feature for Windows 11 24H2
This is inexcusable from Microsoft. It's not like they are some wee little startup just dipping their toes in AI or PC operating systems. This is one of the largest corporations in the USA by market capitalization. THEY SHOULD KNOW BETTER.
It's just another half-assed effort from Microsoft. They didn't even consider basic fundamental security. Unencrypted search database? Sure, help yourself. The keys are in the ignition. Ahahahahahahaha!!!!
That's freakin' amateur hour. The problem with these sort of miscues is loss of trust. Fixing these basic problems doesn't recover the lost trust. Saying "Oops, we didn't think about that, thanks for reminding us" isn't a vote of confidence.
They are supposed to be leading the way, not tripping over their own feet. Contrast their CoPilot+ launch with that of Apple's WWDC a couple of weeks later. The Microsoft announcements were crushingly amateurish, like they were playing catch-up (all while Apple was accused of being late to the party).
If Microsoft doesn't shape up and get serious about this stuff, in five years Azure Engineering is just going to be OpenAI's IT staff,
pulling the oarsplugging NVIDIA AI accelerators into Dell rackmounts in some isolated datacenter in Boondocks County, USA. Having buried Windows Mobile, they have lost their consumer presence in now what is the primary computing modality for consumers in 2024: smartphones.Sadly, I am completely unsurprised by this delay. It was clearly half-baked at the announcement and a lot of the initial replies to security concerns lacked resolve.
Today Microsoft is just a clown parade.
Apple gets this right. You can turn off Siri, Facetime, Face ID/Touch ID, iCloud, Location Services, all of it. Want to set up macOS with an iCloud account? No problem. During the installation process it'll scan for nearby WiFi networks. There's always one option which I select "I Don't Have Internet".
When I set up a new Windows system, I spend 45-60 minutes disabling unnecessary stuff, deleting things, running bloatware removal scripts. There's so much I have a checklist (which grows by a couple of items each time I set up a new machine).
On a new Mac, there's about 5 minutes of stuff I do. Apple doesn't load up the base installation with a bunch of third-party skankware like Microsoft does.
And when I do a major upgrade of Windows, all of that crap reappears. On Mac, there's none of that stuff to begin with and nothing added when I go from Mojave to Big Sur to Ventura to Sonoma.
Oh yeah, and there are no ads in macOS. Nor iOS. Nor iPadOS. Yes, Apple has an ad network for third-party developers to include but Apple themselves don't pollute their user experience with this. And Apple doesn't charge separately for their operating systems.
On Windows, it's not a one-time cleanup. It's an ongoing battle against repeat tsunamis of crapware and telemetry. Thanks Microsoft. Really appreciate it.
Thankfully linux exists.
Do people really associate that with MS anymore?
When I bought a license @ 140 EUR I do mind.....
This whole episode is yet another example of how differently Microsoft and Apple see and treat their consumer customer base.
Maybe Nadella grew a third tit from this failureSure, MS defines its own standards of quality and security, that much is clear :)
"This is all you need right, to not be thirsty?"
They're not even wrong. Its just tasteless.
And it's not just about the ads, third-party junkware, system administration load, etc. that have been previously mentioned. Price of an Apple product also includes some hardware support. The Macs have an included office suite (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) that isn't preinstalled. There are also multimedia tools (Photos, iMovie, GarageBand) that also aren't preinstalled.
The Apple "tax" isn't just about ad removal.
What's the retail price of Windows 11 Professional (physical media version)? US$170? Retail price of standalone Microsoft Office Home & Student? US$150? That's $320 total and still doesn't include the multimedia tools (photo, video, music authoring). All of sudden, Macs don't look so expensive, do they?Within the past week, Microsoft and Apple have temporarily flip flopped #1 and #2 positions a few times midday. Apple and NVIDIA have traded the #2 and #3 spots.
As I look at Yahoo Finance right now: MSFT $3.29T, AAPL $3.26T, NVDR $3.24T. They all are right there. Remember that $30 billion is a market cap difference of less than one percent, easily recoverable in a day's trading. These stocks are all capable of climbing or dropping several hundred basis points on any given trading day.
AAPL actually exceeds MSFT in enterprise value which is a more comprehensive assessment of company value than market cap (which only addresses common equity).
Six months from now, NVDA will have blown past MSFT and AAPL in market capitalization.
Apple is actually the older publicly traded company (1980) compared to Microsoft (1986). But both have been around long enough to know how to properly launch technology like Recall.
Microsoft failed to do it the right way. Like I said before, they should know better...
I can't wait for the burst
The decision to lump together user data not guarded by post-quantum grade encryption throws a big monkey wrench in my argument.
AI isn't just about asking Copilot, Siri, Gemini about the score of your team's last game or what song is playing on the restaurant's speaker system. Airbus, Toyota, and Roche aren't using AI to make Genmoji or espressos in the company cafe.
It's about FedEx using AI to schedule delivery van routes to minimize left turns and reduce fuel costs. Or JPMorganChase to detect fraudulent activity. Or Walmart using it to predict inventory refreshes.
It's worth pointing out that AI accelerators aren't widgets on the store shelf. Purchase orders are placed months in advance. NVIDIA and Apple have gobbled up all of TSMC's prime production on their best node for the rest of 2024 and most of 2025.
At some point, yes, NVIDIA's 98% datacenter AI marketshare will deflate like leaky balloon. But it's not like all those server racks will be instantly filled with AMD or Intel AI gear.
And if the AI market crashed, it would send the whole technology sector into a recession which based on the market cap of the Magnificent Seven would also take out the rest of the world's economy for years. Most likely your retirement plan (whether it's state run or privately managed) is heavily tied to the fortunes of the Fortune 50, even if you don't live in the USA.
AI cannot work without huuge amounts of training data. By overhyping AI's abilities, AI developers lure users to volunteer their data, so developers can enhance their models and build stronger commercial offerings. It is this (over)hype that I expect to fade over time.
Lol, anyone here remember "wardriving" around 2002-03? How long did that go on? Any of you still do that?
We see this pretty frequently when shiny new technology is introduced to the world. "This helps us save money/time/improve productivity" is far more important long term than "check this out, this is cool".
Some people here want AI to die and things return to the way they were 10 years so they can buy a PC gaming videocard for $199. That's incredibly naive. It's not going to happen. Those people are disconnected from reality and AI will only separate them even farther from what is actually happening and their rainbow unicorn dreamworld.