• BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    I’m sure for Windows Pro this isn’t accurate. There’s no way a business could legally permit this, it’s a massive risk.

    It’s probably just with Windows Home, and I’m sure O&O Shutup already handles it.

    A Pro license is worth it just for Group Policy, which provides control over such things.

        • MrQuallzin@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          I’m in healthcare, and it would be such a huge HIPAA risk if this was rolled out to our users. I’m interested to see what the company will do with this new information. We’re Enterprise edition so I’d assume they have ultimate control over it being on our computers.

        • Warl0k3@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          I can confirm that the west coast state governments are being extremely explicit about how, if this can’t be removed from LTSC/Enterprise, M$ will open themselves up for so many lawsuits that the sun will be blotted out.

      • MrRedstoner@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Going by the phrasing I’d say educated guess. I for one agree, it sounds like a massive liability when you have e.g. data protection laws to think about

    • cm0002@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      A Pro license is worth it just for Group Policy, which provides control over such things.

      I’m currently able to buy Pro Win 11 licenses at a very expensive $7 LMAO

      I used to say just pirate windows, but being cheaper than lunch meh. On top of that these licenses are just resold volume licenses so MS doesn’t even get the money directly from me so ehhhh

      • UnpledgedCatnapTipper
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        2 months ago

        Where are you getting them for $7? I’ve seen them for like $30 but I haven’t seen sub $25 in years.

      • ramble81@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        You must not know a lot of businesses then. My company is on Win11 and most admin friends I’ve talked fo their company is on Win11

  • egonallanon@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    Man I’d really like to keep a windows machine around for just for easy gaming but at this point it’s too much of a liability.

      • Pantrygheist@programming.dev
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        2 months ago

        Say you’re entering your cc info for an in-game item or a store. Does recall have a way to identify that as sensitive data?

        • SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Good point. The Epic store does fuck up often enough that I keep having to reenter my credit card info.

          • Crozekiel@lemmy.zip
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            2 months ago

            For now… But they like to just turn shit on willy nilly… They’ve done it with onedrive before (and promptly deleted the local copies of files). Even when they don’t force it on during an update, they have a ton of ridiculous pop-ups telling you that you should turn it on and people click them by accident. I know I don’t trust them to keep it turned off.

            • pivot_root@lemmy.world
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              2 months ago

              Internet Explorer blocked global key hooks when browsing HTTPS pages. So, safe from not only Microsoft malware, but anything that deviates from Microsoft’s overall vision of what Windows should be :)

  • cm0002@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    They said the same shit about Edge, I’m still able to rip edge out kicking and screaming and SURPRISE nothing of value is ever lost lol

  • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
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    2 months ago

    If you need Windows do yourself a favor and during the installation process choose a European country when it asks what language pack your want to use. I always used English (UK) even though I don’t live in the UK and never had to deal with the bullshit people keep talking about.

  • Xtallll
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    2 months ago

    I’ll take HIPPA violations for 1000.

    • Kbobabob@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Lol, most hospitals I go into are still on Windows 7 with some stuff still running XP.

      Also, most workstations are thin clients

      • iamjackflack@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        I highly doubt that. Hospitals are required to be on a supported os at this point. Running xp or 7 is literally a HIPPA violation and would cost them millions or more.

        • Kbobabob@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          You’re not wrong about the requirements but that’s not what’s actually happening.

  • lud@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    It’s crazy that no one actually research this at all before getting outraged.

    Recall has always been exclusive to “Copilot+ PCs” which are ARM computers with a Snapdragon X series processor.

    This won’t affect normal computers at all.

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/retrace-your-steps-with-recall-aa03f8a0-a78b-4b3e-b0a1-2eb8ac48701c

    System requirements for Recall

    Your PC needs the following minimum system requirements for Recall:

    A Copilot+ PC
    
    16 GB RAM
    
    8 logical processors
    
    256 GB storage capacity
    
        To enable Recall, you’ll need at least 50 GB of storage space free
    
        Saving screenshots automatically pauses once the device has less than 25 GB of storage space
    
    • wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      2 months ago

      Beyond that, this is all speculation based off a single bugfix where they got rid of the ability to uninstall Copilot from the Features menu.

      Huge assumptions that it won’t be able to be disabled in plenty of other ways. Legally they cannot force this enabled on all devices due to the wide variety of information protection laws the world over.

    • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Ah so it’s totally okay for them to spy on people with particular types of computers. So obvious!

      • lud@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        I never said that.

        I don’t like it anymore that anyone else. But people in this thread are acting like recall will be forced upon absolutely everyone. When in reality it’s just a very specific type of rare computer that it’s available for.

        • absGeekNZ@lemmy.nz
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          2 months ago

          For now.

          This is a long play, in 5 - 10 years just about all computers will have it by default.

          The only computers without this “feature” will be running the pro / business versions.

          • lud@lemm.ee
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            2 months ago

            Maybe, but there is nothing actually indicating that will happen so stop acting like it’s happening tomorrow.

        • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Doesn’t matter if it’s only forced on one user. It’s still a fucked up feature that shouldn’t be allowed. Interesting to know it’s limited in scope though

          • lud@lemm.ee
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            2 months ago

            Of course it matters when everyone here is seemingly freaked out that all Win 11 PCs will be forced too us recall, when that is very very far from the case.

            It’s obvious that it’s a fucked up feature but that’s not my point.

            • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
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              2 months ago

              Why would they stop at the first step? This is a great indication that switching to Linux ASAP is a good move. Be mad about it I guess

      • lud@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        That’s possible but how is that relevant?

        I never said that recall isn’t possible without “AI hardware”, just that Microsoft doesn’t support it. I.E. If you have a normal PC and don’t actively go out of your way to enable it, it won’t be enabled.

  • Fleppensteyn@feddit.nl
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    2 months ago

    Incidentally I just installed a new laptop that came with windows yesterday and damn, windows 11 sucks.

    First you have to find a workaround to install without a MS account, then the default Bing search tells you to install Opera when you search for Firefox, I can’t find any settings (everything is a regedit hack now) and then I found a debloat script that claims it disabled Recall. So yeah it can be disabled (for now).

    • lenuup@reddthat.com
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      2 months ago

      And on top of all this the UI feels sluggish. I still have Win11 on my laptop, as it came installed with it and I just partitioned some of the drive for linux. Was sometimes easier do do stuff on Win for Uni, esp. with very specialized software. Everytime I logged in to Win I wanted to kill the UI.

  • Got_Bent@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    What are the chances that I, a not particularly tech savvy person, go to download mint and end up bricking my computer?

    Honestly, my computer is an absolute bottom of the barrel $200 Dell laptop right now, so it wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but I’d hate to fuck it up, get a better computer, and fuck that up too.

    • skulblaka@sh.itjust.works
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      2 months ago

      If you’re capable of booting from a flash drive you’re capable of installing Mint.

      If you want to keep your Windows environment around for emergencies, you might need to learn a little bit about how to partition a disk, which is about 15 minutes of learning and 5 minutes of doing. Or if you have a second hard drive installed that you want to devote to Linux you don’t even need to do the partitioning.

    • kinkles@sh.itjust.works
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      2 months ago

      Everyone here is saying it’s easy but nobody is mention that if you have any sort of unforeseen problem it can be a huge headache to fix. For example, let’s say your touchpad doesn’t work correctly. Resolving driver issues with Linux can very easily overwhelm anyone who isn’t tech-savvy and now you’ve put yourself in a situation where you want to reinstall Windows and have to figure that out next.

      Definitely look into using Rufus to create a flash drive with Mint, let your laptop boot from it, and then just demo it for a few weeks. It’ll run slower than actually installing it to your computer but at least you’ll get a sense for if you actually want to pull the trigger or not (and if you don’t, unplug the drive and you’re back to booting your Windows environment with no harm done.)

    • True@lemy.lolOP
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      2 months ago

      Also on a quick note(I am saying that because that is what a lot of people hate on linux), download and try libre office before you change to see what you lose if you switch to libre office and if libre office did not work out for you, try only office and WPS office(both are available on linux) to see what is the best for you before you switch.

      I personally use WPS office on linux with internet access turned off for it.

    • Dharma Curious (he/him)@slrpnk.net
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      2 months ago

      Fellow non-techy here. I’ve been on Linux for years, only leaving Windows for one specific program (that I finally found a way of using on Linux). It’s easy. Obviously the techy people can explain any risks better, but if you want to dual boot, or even nuke windows, it’s super easy. Etch it to a flash drive, there are a million YouTube videos on how, and boot from the USB. There’s a GUI wizard that walks you through everything. Mint is great, and the UI is familiar to windows users. I prefer Fedora, because I wanted a change from Windows, and it’s fun and intuitive to use GNOME for me. The Linux of today isn’t difficult to use. In fact, unless you go with something like Gentoo, you’ll probably never have to open terminal if all you do is web based stuff. It’s pretty freaking sweet. If you go with anything that uses GNOME as the DE look up extensions. They make it better and more customizable.

      Biggest thing, just back everything up you might want to keep. I got nextcloud through hertzner. 15 bucks a month for 5 TB of storage. Backed up both laptops, my phone, my tablet, and have my brother, my mom, my sister in law and my friend on there, too. It’s worth doing if you’re concerned about losing important documents or photos

    • Username@feddit.org
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      2 months ago

      You already got some good replies, but I still have something to add:

      It is extremely unlikely you will permanently brick your laptop. The realistically worst thing to happen is that you end up without any working OS, be it Windows or Linux. If you can get help you will be able to install Windows again (not that hard though to do by yourself).

      Second thing is that Linux installers usually come with a live environment. That means that your windows installation is absolutely safe while Mint runs from your USB. You can then do some browsing or play around with Mint before deciding to install it permanently.

    • Olgratin_Magmatoe@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      I’d recommend keeping all your important files on a separate disk/partition. It makes it easier and quicker for back ups and system restoration.

      So even if you fuck up bad (which IMO is pretty hard to do), you can just nuke the OS and your personal files are fine.

    • Crozekiel@lemmy.zip
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      2 months ago

      Its very unlikely you would brick the computer in the sense of not being repairable. Most likely mistake would be accidentally wiping everything that’s on the laptop currently. As always, backup your important files to an external device first just in case.

    • ordellrb@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Not very large, download it, put it on usb with rufus(choose the right Disk, not you C:, ) Start from USB and test without making changes, if the laptop is super New stuff may not work yet on Mint

    • True@lemy.lolOP
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      2 months ago

      For the best outcome, buy 2 USB sticks and then burn windows enterprise iot From massgrave on one of them and linux mint on the other( I recommend Opensuse tumbleweed instead, but you are free to choose), this way even if your linux installation got fucked up, you could still install windows again and resume your work.

    • Micromot@lemmy.zip
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      2 months ago

      There isn’t that big of a risk that it breaks completely. If the installation isn’t to your liking you can still go and reinstall windows

    • Naich@lemmings.world
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      2 months ago

      It’s pretty unlikely these days. You can try it on a bootable usb stick first, to make sure the hardware is ok with it. Ubuntu has more support for things like non-free drivers and such.

    • drcobaltjedi@programming.dev
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      2 months ago

      Techy person, you’d really have to fuck up that install bad to brick your computer. Like, I think the worst you could do might just be breaking your install drive and that would probaby just be regular hardware failure.

  • jjjalljs@ttrpg.network
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    2 months ago

    I switched to Linux (mint). It kind of sucked getting it set up but at least I don’t have to deal with Microsoft much anymore.

    • Katana314@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      I’ll probably be doing the same. I expect a clean computer to work moderately well, but I’m dreading setting up a dual boot so I can spend some time transitioning, especially trying to keep track of where games are installed.

      • jjjalljs@ttrpg.network
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        2 months ago

        If you use mint and it won’t boot from the live USB stick a second time, you may have to rename a file on the USB drive.

        If it hangs on the last step of the installer, I don’t know how to fix that but the previous LTS version of mint worked fine.

        Those were the two biggest hurdles I faced. Good luck.

      • Gaspar@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 months ago

        Speaking as someone who has recently gone through this headache: if you’re fortunate enough to have your games on their own partition, you will probably want to migrate said partition over to a Linux filesystem (ext4, btrfs, etc.) sooner rather than later. Particularly for Steam games - it’s possible to mount NTFS partitions on Linux and you might even be able to get the partition to mount as read/write somewhat reliably, but getting Steam on Linux to parse those directories and read the installed games is… … well, it isn’t worth it, frankly. Easier to just bite the bullet and be done with it.

        That was the most difficult part of transitioning to Linux for me, though. Most everything else either worked out of the box or was a breeze to set up. Even the printer - go figure. Anyway. You got this!

        • Avatar_of_Self@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          I had brought in a disk from another old PC of mine that was an NTFS formatted drive but no Windows on it. It worked OK for games. It seemed to work a lot better than what people complained about. I wonder if it was because there was no boot partition or any oddness with how NTFS works with hibernation on system partitions.

          Permissions weren’t an issue because I just mounted the NTFS partitions with the user option.

          I did eventually copy it over to a btrfs partition though for dedupe and snapshots like everything else.

  • nick@midwest.social
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    2 months ago

    I use the N version of windows, which is what they sell in the eu. I doubt copilot will ever be forcefully installed on my pc.

  • Clanket@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Surely there’s GDPR and other issues here. How are they allowed do this with very sensitive, private data on machines.

    • MaxHardwood@lemmy.ca
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      2 months ago

      The data never leaves the computer. Also this only applies to Copilot+ PCs which only the Snapdragon Elite is. No word if it will come to x86