this post was submitted on 08 Jun 2024

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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 (www.windowscentral.com)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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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.

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[–] [email protected] 106 points 5 months ago (4 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 56 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (3 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 5 months ago (4 children)

Im in similar scenario. Which distro you decided on?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (2 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

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

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

I 100% agree. I personally did this:

Ubuntu
Fedora
Arch
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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

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!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

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

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago

Same here

[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 months ago (4 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

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".

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

Unless it’s arch lol.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

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

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

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