Windows feature that screenshots everything labeled a security “disaster”

boem@lemmy.world to Technology@lemmy.world – 848 points –
Windows feature that screenshots everything labeled a security “disaster”
theverge.com
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Jesus Christ. All these requirements for something most people didn't ask for:

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

Sounds like the way around this is to make swap space take up the drive up to 24 GB. Then trim the swap space as you need it.

I know it says "to enable" but let's be real here. It's going to be a placebo switch.

Every update :

"Let's get Recall set up for you!!!!"

Microscopic "Maybe later" button in the USA...

Normal sized "No" button in Europe...

Europe keeps on proving that we can in fact regulate these companies, and it's fucking pathetic how the US and Canada don't.

If it's anything like the "sign into your Microsoft account to continue" bullshit, there will be no cancel button. You'll need to cast an archaic spell where you summon a spirit from the Netherworld, who then just gives you a 60 minute lecture on enshitification and why you should install Arch.

I'm pretty sure Windows doesn't have fixed-size swap. It uses pagefiles.

Edit: apparently pagefiles can be given a static size as well.

This can be specified manually to be static

Oh, neat! I had no idea. Still, the term "swap" would be incorrect.

A “swap” file is for holding pages of memory that have been swapped from RAM to disk.

That's a quite normal PC right? Not that I want it though lol good heavens.

When I think about it my daily only have 4 cores, oh no cant use it (I'm on Linux too, so sad ).

Or am I missing something with "copilot pc", does it have to have som special hardware? Asking out of morbid curiosity.

Yeah, it has to have certain specific types of CPU. They're making this a requirement for all Windows 11 machines if you want to keep receiving security updates. It's going to create a mountain of e-waste.

They're not amazing specs. All but the most budget of PCs sold in 2024 would have those specs.

It's notable as a required minimum though. There's an implication (not necessarily true) that at some times this feature may require a significant portion of those resources.

Like if your browser was burning away on 8 cores using 16g of RAM you'd notice.

Wait for them to find a way that everyone will run out and buy 1k+ laptops now. Disregarding privacy, most people only need Chromebooks nowadays.

I’ll just stick with my 4-core cpu then… Edit: is logical both core and threads?

Yes. A CPU has both physical cores and logical threads. These are both considered logical CPUs.

For example, if you ran cat /proc/cpuinfo on Linux you would see something like this (First processor is processor 0)

processor : 23

model name : AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12-Core Processor

So your 4 core CPU likely has hyperthreading and would meet the requirements for Microsoft recall