That’s a Big Nope, Nope, Nope

I opined about Winders 11 the other day. Mostly that it’s minimum specs are above my 3 year old tower. Also because they are going to a subscription, no doubt, and I can’t stand subscriptions for base functionality.

Well….Looky here:

It was also, apparently, an instruction manual for product developers at Microsoft. Windows 11 now includes a feature called “Recall” that tracks and records your history. Screenshots. Records. Logs. Activities. If it’s on your PC, it gets recorded. It has “exclusions” and “privacy controls” and “security,” of course, but it’s a data logger for your entire online life. You can search through that history, replay it over time, etc. It’s a harrowing idea, and immediately raises my hackles.

Even if one makes the poor assumptions that the “exclusions” are honored and that “privacy controls” and “security” work – and that Microsoft will be honest about it and any potential vulnerabilities or back doors – it’s a stupendously invasive idea. It’s optional (so Microsoft says), at least for now, but I wouldn’t bet on it staying that way. A big data, AI-driven, automatically analyzed in-depth profile on their customers will be too appetizing to pass up. Add in Silicon Valley’s penchant to walk up to and over the “Creepy Line,” general amorality and towering arrogance, and such creations are doubly appealing, consequences be damned. I strongly suspect this “feature” will be a psychological nightmare and a privacy and liability nightmare, not that such things matter to the masters of the universe.

I have no idea where I got that. ZeroHedge I think.

I deeply resent OneDrive hijacking my files as I try to save them. I hate the popups that tell me my OneDrive memories. I hate the bullshit AOL portal features like news and advertising feeds on my taskbar and desktop.

Yeah, Yeah, I can turn it off I suppose. But I have to go look to find how to do that. But this is over the top. I don’t need this. Don’t want this. I have backup running, as well as cloud storage. Apparently you can turn it off in system settings.

Fine.

It also appears that it comes with a hardware penalty. Of course it does.

More MS Bloatware.

Don’t need it. Don’t want it. My computers are tools. I’m a pro. I know how to use them. If you use this, or even Windows 11, your data isn’t safe. I say that because of how hard you have to work to secure it.

I have two Linux laptops. One running Mint, the other Kali. Both are older machines that outperform my X1 Carbon ThinkPad I use for work, because bloat. That machine was a monster when I got it and was a dream to use until our company got assimilated by a massive, woke monster.

I will start using them more and more as the year progresses and more than likely, I’ll buy another Mac. I don’t trust Apple all that much either, but more so than all the others.