A Windows 11 bug which is seriously slowing down processors has been discovered in test versions of the OS – although Microsoft has said it’s on the case, so it should be fixed soon enough, with any luck.

The bug is present in preview builds of Windows 11 24H2 – the next big update for the operating system – and it’s caused by the Cross-Device Experience Host going wrong somewhere.

Neowin spotted that a number of users have said their CPU performance has been impacted – substantially in some cases – by the process. As the name suggests, the Cross-Device Experience Host (CDEH) is the functionality that links your smartphone and Windows PC to make it easier to achieve tasks like sharing photos from your phone to the desktop. (This runs alongside the existing Phone Link app, by the way).

There are reports of the bug in various places, including Microsoft’s own Feedback Hub and its Answers.com support forum. The slowdown reported varies, mind, with some folks saying that the CDEH process is eating something like 5% to 10% of their CPU – still pretty bad – but others are claiming 15% to 20% slowdowns, or even 25% in one case.

For the CPU to be losing that level of resources to a misfiring process running in the background of Windows 11 is a pretty dire situation, frankly.

Microsoft’s Jen Gentleman, who’s on the Windows testing team, has confirmed that there is an issue here, and that work is underway to resolve it.

Gentleman replied on the Feedback Hub: “Appreciate your patience, we’ve identified the cause and are working on a fix.”

Analysis: bad timing

So, the good news is that a fix is inbound – and remember, you won’t be affected by this bug yet, not unless you’re a tester. The CDEH functionality is still in preview (in the unreleased 24H2 update) and not rolled out to all Windows 11 users yet, but it will be later this year, of course.

We’re also not 100% sure if the CPU draining glitch might be present with Copilot+ PCs, but it won’t be as far as we’re aware. Those AI PCs launch today, June 18, with a 24H2 build on board – but not the finished one. There are still a good deal of features missing from the version of 24H2 that debuts with Copilot+ PCs, and the full suite of features won’t debut until later this year when the 24H2 update rolls out to all Windows 11 devices – and this is when CDEH comes into play, we assume.

At any rate, the only concern for Windows 11 users broadly is that Microsoft gets a fix in place, which it surely will by the time the 24H2 update is rumored to land (around September 2024). Our worry would be if the fix isn’t implemented properly, and there are still some issues left around this CDEH slowdown – but hopefully that won’t happen. If it did, it wouldn’t be the first time a bug fix applied by Microsoft didn’t fully work, mind – and this would be a particularly bad one to slip through the net.

On an overall level, the timing of this revelation isn’t great. As mentioned, the launch of Copilot+ PCs – Microsoft’s new era of AI-supercharged computing – is happening right now, and Microsoft has just pulled its kingpin AI feature – Recall – from that launch following a whirlwind of controversy, and now we have a bug in Windows 11 which is causing some CPUs to run like treacle (well, not quite, but markedly sluggishly in some cases).

The future of computing suddenly looks a bit chaotic, going by the past week – and Microsoft will need to get its act together sharpish.

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Windows 11 just got some useful new tweaks for the Start menu, albeit they are still in testing for the moment.

These came as part of the preview build (version 22635) that was released in the Beta channel late last week, which Microsoft added to over the weekend.

There are two main tweaks here for the Windows 11 interface, both of which apply to the Start menu and bolster it with useful functionality.

First off, Microsoft has added jump lists for apps which support them, meaning that when you right click on such an app in the Start menu, you’ll see a list of context-sensitive actions that you might want to take.

Think of these as handy shortcuts, so as in Microsoft’s example in its blog post for the preview, when you right click on the PowerPoint app, you’ll see options to immediately open files that you recently worked with in the program. Or for the Snipping Tool, you’ll be presented with options to immediately take a screenshot (or a delayed grab).

The second tweak Microsoft has made for Windows 11 testers, the one more recently added to this preview build, is the ability to drag and drop apps in the Start menu directly to the taskbar, or the desktop, in order to pin them.

Away from the Start menu, as regular leaker Albacore shared on X (hat tip to Windows Latest), there’s also been a change for the taskbar, although this isn’t in the Beta channel, but the Canary channel, an earlier testing avenue.

As noted, there’s a setting that turns off the notifications bell on the taskbar, giving you a bit more space, and a lack of nagging, if you’re not a fan of that feature. Right now, it doesn’t work though – and as ever with anything in this earliest testing channel, it might not make the cut for inclusion in Windows 11.

Analysis: Better late than never

There are some small but useful changes here, and hopefully with the Start menu tweaks, we should see these coming through soon enough (possibly in the Windows 11 24H2 update, which is rumored to be set for launch in September 2024).

Mind you, the change for dragging and dropping an app from the Start menu to the desktop (or taskbar) should really have been in Windows 11 in the first place. This is another example of a seemingly basic piece of interface functionality that was left out of Microsoft’s newest OS for no apparent reason – drag and drop in the File Explorer address bar is another example of this.

These represent odd decisions by Microsoft which are constraining in terms of the interface and your workflow when you come over from Windows 10 (where these abilities are available). At any rate, at least these pieces of the interface puzzle are now in place, if only in testing right now.

Via Windows Latest [1, 2]

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Microsoft has made Windows 11 version 24H2 available – but right now, it’s for Copilot+ PCs only, at least officially.

This means that to begin with, the 24H2 update is only being released for those specific devices, which means to begin with, Windows on Arm laptops with the new Snapdragon X (Arm-based) chips – and no other PCs.

As Windows Latest spotted, Microsoft states in its release notes: “Windows 11, version 24H2 is only available for Copilot+ PCs devices.”

However, there’s a twist in that what Microsoft means here is that 24H2 is only available in its finished version for Copilot+ PCs. These devices go on sale tomorrow (June 18), and when you fire up your Copilot+ laptop, it’ll be running 24H2 and will immediately apply KB5039239 (it’s the cumulative update for June).

Those who don’t have a Copilot+ PC can actually download and run KB5039239, but only as a Windows Insider. In other words, 24H2 is only available as a test build (26100.863) which is in the Release Preview channel.

As Windows Latest points out, though, if you do run this preview on a standard (non-Copilot+) system you may experience a rough ride in terms of bugs, more so than a normal test build (certainly one in Release Preview which is, as the name suggests, the final step before release).

Analysis: Missing out? Not really

If you're afraid that you’re missing out by not getting Windows 11 24H2, we wouldn’t worry about that. As we already noted, yes, this is only for Arm-based Copilot+ PCs, and while you can technically put the preview spin on a PC running an AMD or Intel CPU, there isn’t much in the way of new features anyway. (And the one huge feature for Copilot+ PCs, Recall, was pulled as you may remember, and put into testing for the foreseeable).

Indeed, for now, all the initial 24H2 release does is apply some bug fixes – including one to ensure games with BattlEye anti-cheat work with Windows on Arm – and security tweaks.

There is one sizable change with Copilot, though, which will become an ‘app experience’ so the desktop assistant can be treated like any app within Windows 11. In other words, you can move the Copilot window, snap or resize it and so forth – rather than having it locked to a side panel – but even that’s something you can likely wait for.

When the full release of the 24H2 update comes, likely in September if rumors are right – though it could slide until later in 2024 – there will be a lot more features on-board (though some of them will be for Copilot+ PCs only, like Recall).

So for now, you’re not really missing out on anything, and indeed this preview build returning to testing is a good sign for everyone in terms of the release timeframe of the full Windows 11 24H2 update. If you recall, the rollout and testing of the preview was paused due to various nasty bugs, and we were worried there might even be a delay to 24H2 – but with the build having its rollout resumed in the Release Preview channel, that’s a good sign that things remain on track regarding the launch schedule.

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Microsoft recently announced that it’s resurrecting the Beta channel for Windows 10 in order to test new features - which means, yes, the OS is officially being actively worked on - and the very first preview build has arrived in this channel.

The not-so-exciting news is that build 19045 (aka KB5039299) for Windows 10 22H2 doesn’t actually contain any new features, and is all about making tweaks and minor adjustments, as well as the usual clutch of bug fixes.

Microsoft lists the various bits of work carried out in this new preview build in the usual blog post, and one of the notable changes for Windows 10 is to bolster the stability of the search box in the taskbar when you’re looking for apps. In other words, a search for a particular app should no longer produce wonky results (or at least fewer of these incidents should occur).

There are also improvements to the Windows Backup app such as now being able to store your device’s Activity History and Printer Device Settings preferences. The Windows Backup improvements mean that it'll be easier to restore all your previous hardware settings when you set up a new PC - as long as they're backed up and tied to your Microsoft account.

As well as the above changes, Microsoft also resolved a problem whereby backups would fail when desktop and lock screen backgrounds were backed up twice.

Bug squashing aplenty

That’s the main thrust of this preview build, but as we mentioned there are also bug fixes here. They include the cure for an issue whereby the PC fails to come back from hibernation after BitLocker has been turned on, and a folder management glitch in File Explorer, along with many more fixes.

So, as we said, there’s not a huge amount going on here to get excited about - but this release does at least mean that the Beta channel for Windows 10 is now active. Clearly, we will get new features coming to Microsoft’s older OS soon enough, and the software giant must have allocated some fresh resources towards Windows 10 development to facilitate that.

However, don’t go thinking this means there are any changes coming regarding the End of Life date for the crowd-favorite operating system, as Windows 10 is still scheduled to have support dropped in October 2025, and Microsoft has made it clear that won’t change.

Via Windows Latest

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Windows 11’s Recall feature has been causing controversy recently, so much so that Microsoft has actually halted the feature in its tracks (for now) - but a new discovery won’t fan any of those particular flames. In fact, it could well prove useful for those who eventually take the plunge with the now-delayed AI-powered functionality.

As discovered in the new preview build 26236 for Windows 11 (in the Canary channel) by regular leaker @PhantomofEarth on X, the new addition to Recall - which is still hidden in testing - is a ‘Search the web’ option.

To recap, Recall is an AI feature specifically designed for Copilot+ PCs which regularly takes screenshots of the activity on your PC, files them in a library, and makes this searchable via Microsoft’s Copilot AI in Windows.

The new ‘Search the web’ facility allows the user to right-click on any text detected in a screenshot taken by Recall, and it’ll fire up a search on that selected text (in the user’s default search engine, presumably - though we don’t get to see the feature in action).

The ‘Search the web’ option is present in Recall’s right-click menu (in a snapshot) alongside the ‘Copy’ and ‘Open with’ options.

New AI settings in Windows 11

X user @alex290292 commented on @PhantomofEarth’s post with another interesting observation that there are also new AI-related settings in this Windows 11 preview build.

These are in the Settings app, under ‘Privacy & Security’ where there’s a ‘Generative AI’ panel that allows for the fine-tuning of which apps are allowed to use generative AI capabilities. Apparently, you’ll also be able to review the last seven days of activity to see which apps requested to use generative AI.

To be able to see all of this for yourself, you’ll have to install the preview build and use a Windows configuration tool (ViVeTool) to enable ‘hidden’ Windows 11 features - not something we’d recommend for anyone but a keen enthusiast who’s comfortable with tinkering around in test builds.

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In a very surprising move – albeit the right one, in our books – Microsoft has pulled the rug on its big Recall feature, so it now won’t launch as planned with Copliot+ PCs.

Microsoft just issued an update on Recall (hat tip to Tom’s Hardware) as follows: “Recall will now shift from a preview experience broadly available for Copilot+ PCs on June 18, 2024, to a preview available first in the Windows Insider Program (WIP) in the coming weeks.

“Following receiving feedback on Recall from our Windows Insider Community, as we typically do, we plan to make Recall (preview) available for all Copilot+ PCs coming soon.”

To recap briefly, Recall is the feature which constantly takes screenshots of the activity on the host PC, allowing the user to search these leveraging AI (Copilot), offering an undoubtedly powerfully ramped up search experience.

But there have been issues aplenty raised around Recall before its (now canceled) launch, and much controversy stirred by those who have fudged their Windows 11 installation to enable and test the feature.

So, as noted in Microsoft’s statement, the expectation was very much that Recall would be live next week, when Copilot+ PCs finally emerge blinking in the sunlight, but that will no longer be the case.

Instead, Microsoft is going to have the Recall preview made available to testers in early builds of Windows 11 in the “coming weeks,” and there’s the second major admission here. That makes it sound like testers won’t be getting the feature to play with next week, let alone buyers of Copilot+ PCs, and it may be some weeks before it arrives in whatever preview channel Microsoft deploys Recall.

In short, Microsoft isn’t sure whether Recall will even be ready for testing any time soon.

Analysis: A major setback, but still the right decision

This has all been a bit of a fiasco, frankly. Microsoft announced Recall with a big fanfare for Copilot+ PCs, then proceeded to batten down the hatches as flak and doubts were fired at the feature left, right, and center. Defensiveness and evasion gave way to big changes being implemented for Recall to shore up security in the light of all the negative feedback, and also ensuring it’s turned off by default (something we argued strongly for).

Now, even after that, it’s been canned for the time being, at least for Copilot+ PCs. It’s not a good look, is it? It feels like Microsoft has been taken aback by all the salvoes fired at Recall by security researchers, rushed to implement some hefty changes, realized that there isn’t time to do all this properly – Copilot+ PCs are almost upon us – so put the full launch on ice to go back to testing.

There’s no doubting that this will be damaging to Copilot+ PCs to some extent. These are AI PCs, after all, and Windows 11’s key feature for them was Recall – there is other AI functionality for these devices, but nothing on the same scale. Just look at Dell’s Copilot+ PC web page, and how it’s built around Recall – it’s the key piece of the AI puzzle, and now it’s missing.

However, we’re glad Microsoft has taken the PR hit here, as it were, and pulled Recall, rather than putting its head down and trying to forge through with the feature. That would have proved even more damaging, most likely, so we understand, and approve of this move in the end.

Honestly, though, we don’t think Recall – given that it’s a sensitive and tricky piece of AI functionality with all those privacy and security aspects – should be pushed out to finished versions of Windows as a ‘preview’ at all. This should be done, dusted, tight and secure, before leaving testing – shouldn’t it?

Speaking of tight and secure, this is especially bad timing for Microsoft, given that Apple Intelligence was just unveiled, with the rival AI offering looking super-sharp on the privacy front, while Copilot appears to be stumbling about from blunder to blunder for the moment. Again, it’s not a good look, made much worse by Apple’s confident and professional revelation of its AI rival for Macs and iDevices (though we should note, we need to see Apple’s promises in action, not just words, before we get carried away with any comparisons).

Still, awkward days for Microsoft, but we’re hoping the company can now take the time to get things right with Recall. In fact, we’d argue it must take the time to do so, or risk blemishes on the Copilot brand that’ll quite probably cause lasting damage in terms of public perception.

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Windows 11 just received a new update and there’s some good news for those who were experiencing weird and buggy behavior with their taskbar.

Namely that the frustrating taskbar bug - where it can vanish, before reappearing - is now fixed with the cumulative update for June 2024, as Microsoft makes clear in the support document relating to the upgrade.

Microsoft notes: “This update addresses a known issue that affects the taskbar. It might briefly glitch or not respond. It might also disappear and reappear.”

To rewind a bit, this glitchy behavior was actually introduced by the optional update Microsoft ushered in at the end of May 2024 (and we've seen a similar issue in recent times, too).

When the problem became known, Microsoft was swift to act, and fired up a rollback for devices that had installed this preview update for May. This was implemented via a ‘Known Issue Rollback’ meaning Windows 11 users didn’t have to take any action installing another patch - the fix was put in place automatically (as Neowin spotted).

So, those who were worried about this bug carrying over to the June update - after all, May’s optional update is June’s cumulative update, but in testing - well, you needn’t fret. The problem is now fully resolved (or at least Microsoft says it is).

Useful new features are also part of the June update

What else is present in the new June update for Windows 11? It also delivers the long-awaited drag-and-drop functionality for File Explorer’s address bar, changes to Account Manager in the Start Menu, a refreshed Linked Devices page in the Settings app, built-in QR code generation for links, and many security-related tweaks. 

We would always recommend that you make sure that you have Microsoft’s latest Patch Tuesday update installed, as these patches address the latest security risks and known exploitable vulnerabilities.

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Windows 11 and 10 users, you can breathe a sigh of relief for a moment, as there’s news that’s not about sticking more AI into the heart of Windows 11, or about Windows 10’s seemingly unavoidable end - although I don’t know if this development will be a cause for joy. Microsoft is fully rolling out MSN lock screen widgets after testing the feature for the past four months. 

Apparently, the feature is still in the process of being rolled out, so you may not see it quite yet, but these widgets should appear on your lock screen very soon (if they don’t already). Microsoft is implementing this change for Windows 11 and 10 via a server-side update, so the widgets will just suddenly appear - and so far, Windows Latest observes that users aren’t receiving them warmly.

Part of the problem is that the lock screen widgets displayed are pre-set by Microsoft, and they can’t be adjusted or modified to your preferences. The widgets appear if you switch them on, or already have the ‘Weather or more’ option turned on, in the Settings app. 

To be precise, you’ll find this option in the following location: 

Settings > Personalization > Lock Screen  

An all or nothing proposition - at least for now

The pre-configured MSN widgets include Microsoft Money, Sports, and Weather, but you can’t currently pick and choose which of these you’d like to keep and which to leave out. I imagine this is where a lot of the dissatisfaction with the feature comes from, as it feels that if you’d like widgets on your lock screen, but not all of them - well, it’s a case of tough luck. You’re forced to have them all, or none of them (if you switch them off).

Why can’t you adjust these widgets individually, turning off the ones you don’t like, as you can with other individual widgets such as Mail or Calendar? Well, the good news is that you’ll be able to do that before long, as Microsoft has promised this ability is inbound for Windows 11 and 10 users.

We don’t know when this important change is set to arrive, but hopefully, we’ll see this coming in sooner rather than later, as we can’t imagine it’s a huge task for Microsoft.

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Windows 11 has a new preview version out, and it introduces a batch of settings relating to user profile pictures, complete with fresh AI tricks to try out. These settings are included in the latest Windows 11 preview in the Canary channel for testers, albeit they are hidden away in Build 26231.

This development was spotted and shared on X by @PhantomOfEarth, who is a keen Windows Insider. As you can see in the screenshot provided by @PhantomOfEarth, the profile picture options are located in a new section of the Accounts page (in Settings) called ‘Your info,’ and they allow you to apply effects and filters to your profile picture.

As noted, they are hidden away in the preview build, and you’ll need to use ViVeTool (a Windows configuration tool) to get them to appear.

As Windows Latest observes, the new customization options and AI effects include the ability to blur your profile picture’s background, add portrait lighting, and upscale the resolution of the image.

There are also filters you can use to give your picture a distinctive appearance, similar to those you might benefit from on apps like Instagram. Windows Latest reports that there are currently six different filters you can try out. As well as those filters, you can also transform your profile picture by rotating it clockwise or anticlockwise, or zooming in closer. 

If you do enable these hidden options in Build 26231, keep in mind that there could still be bugs, as this is all still in testing (and early testing for that matter). We expect that issues will be ironed out when it comes to the final version of the feature, naturally. 

A solid but unexciting addition to Windows 11

This seems a solid enough feature on the face of it, but I can’t say it particularly excites me as a Windows 11 user. Furthermore, I can foresee some people possibly getting annoyed that Microsoft is pushing AI into yet another corner of Windows 11 where it’s not necessarily improving things. It’s a neat enough demonstration of AI-assisted capabilities, but a niche thing really, and I don’t see how it improves Windows 11’s quality-of-life experience for users at its core. 

Other changes that have arrived in this preview build include a new Copy button in Windows Share that lets you copy files to the clipboard more easily, along with the auto-saving of captured recordings in the Windows 11 Snipping Tool. As you’d expect, there are a bunch of bug fixes for existing issues here, too.

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Windows 11 24H2 has apparently been pulled back from testing for the time being, with Microsoft hitting the pause button presumably due to issues with the major update due to land later this year.

If you recall, the 24H2 update was sent out to the Release Preview channel back on May 22, but Windows Latest noticed that on a PC in that testing channel, the update was no longer being offered.

After further investigation into why that might be, the tech site stumbled across an update (from the end of last week) to the original blog post introducing the preview build, where Microsoft states: “We are temporarily pausing the rollout of Windows 11, version 24H2 to the Release Preview Channel. We will resume the rollout in the coming weeks.”

That’s all Microsoft has said on the matter, leaving the question of why the update has been yanked open to debate. Well, we say that, but there’s a fairly obvious reason you can discern from examining the posts in Microsoft’s Feedback Hub about the 24H2 update, and it’s seemingly had quite a few problems.

Windows Latest observes that there’s a notable bug with a ‘RunDLL’ error box that keeps popping up annoying testers, and much more in terms of general stability issues, with apps and games freezing, stuttering, or crashing. Nasty.

Analysis: Time to fret about a delay? We don’t think so

This all sounds a bit worrying, and might make you wonder whether the Windows 11 24H2 update might even be delayed – if there are gremlins crawling around the inner workings serious enough to get the upgrade pulled from testing for the time being. Microsoft’s timeframe of the “coming weeks” for the return of the final test version (Release Preview) of 24H2 doesn’t sound too comforting either – hinting at a lengthier pause, perhaps.

Then again, we shouldn’t read too much into that statement – it’s standard language commonly used in these kinds of situations. Also, remember that the 24H2 update is still a good way off. It’s not expected to arrive until September 2024 or October, or thereabouts, so there’s still a lot of time to iron out any issues.

Rather than expecting that things are delayed, what’s more likely the case here is Microsoft was a bit too early in deploying Windows 11 24H2 to Release Preview. After all, we were a bit surprised when it emerged last month, and Microsoft did note that it was a very limited rollout initially (in an update to the blog post at the end of May). In other words, the company was being cautious here, and we can see why now.

Granted, there is a slight concern due to the issues present sounding pretty bad here, but for now, this feels like a misstep with an early release, rather than the alarm bells sounding for Windows 11 24H2 not being ready for its roughly rumored launch timeframe later this year.

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Microsoft might be eager to move users along to Windows 11, and from there, whatever the next iteration of its desktop operating system may be, but it looks like Windows 10 isn’t completely shelved just yet.

In fact, quite the opposite, as Microsoft has recently published a blog post announcing that it’s reopening the Windows 10 Beta channel.

The Beta channel is the penultimate testing avenue of the Windows Insider Program, ahead of the final Release Preview channel. Users sign up to test the newest features for Windows 10, which are eventually released to all users of the OS.

Bearing in mind that Windows 10 support is scheduled to end in October 2025, which is not all that far off now, it’s a bit surprising that Microsoft has made this move. It certainly shows that we can expect new features down the line, ones that need to be tested - although to be fair, Microsoft has made a number of additions to Windows 10 in recent times. (After briefly declaring the OS would only get security updates, and nothing else).

So, Microsoft isn’t totally finished with Windows 10 yet, and this is perhaps a kind of acknowledgment that it’s still the most popular Windows OS (by quite some margin over Windows 11).

So, what does this mean for Windows 10 users?

I wouldn’t blame people for being a little confused by this move. It might seem strange that Microsoft is still dedicating resources to continue developing Windows 10, even though it’s due to stop receiving support next year.

Windows Latest probed Microsoft on whether this reactivation of the Beta channel could even be a hint that Windows 10 support might just be extended beyond October 2025, but that is not the case. All updates will still be ceased when that month rolls around next year.

Microsoft has indicated that it will offer a consumer version of its Extended Security Updates program, but the subscription price has yet to be announced. This will grant users the ability to continue receiving security updates past Windows 10’s end-of-life date, but again, only for a limited time and at a cost.

We recently saw Microsoft bring Windows 11’s ‘Mobile Devices’ page to Windows 10, allowing users to access, view, and edit photos from their Android device on their PC instantly. It’s unknown what other features Windows 10 will receive going forward, but I imagine these will be existing Windows 11 features as they’re already developed.

Overall, I think Windows 10 users will welcome this news and we’ll have to see how Microsoft fares when the big end-of-life date comes around. 

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Windows 11’s Recall feature – set to be a cornerstone ability for Copilot+ PCs, allowing for a supercharged AI-powered search of the activity history of the system – continues to stir controversy, and Microsoft’s recent defense of the functionality won’t likely soothe the nerves of anyone.

Or at least that’s our feeling following The Register picking up on comments that came from Jaime Teevan, chief scientist and technical fellow at Microsoft Research, in an interview at an AI conference with Erik Brynjolfsson, director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab.

Brynjolfsson observed that after Recall was revealed by Microsoft, there was a “backlash against all the privacy challenges around that.”

To recap briefly, in case you missed the concerns flying around about this feature, it sits in Windows 11 and takes regular screenshots of everything you’re doing. Those grabs can be searched by AI at a later date, so you can find out all manner of useful info – and there’s no doubting it’s useful.

The worry is that Recall represents a double-edged sword, with the convenience of a super-powerful search of all your PC usage history on one side, and the specter of all that data falling into the hands of a hacker on the other. To say there are lots of security and privacy concerns with how the AI feature is implemented would be a massive understatement.

Brynjolfsson then encouraged Teevan to address these issues, saying: “So, talk about both the pluses and minuses of using all that data and some of the risks that creates and also some of the opportunities.”

A balanced question, but Teevan elected to ignore the ‘minuses’ part of the equation entirely, and talk only in vague and evasive terms. She said: “Yeah, and so it’s a great question, Erik. This has come up throughout the morning as well – the importance of data. And this AI revolution that we’re in right now is really changing the way we understand data.”

She moved on to talk about businesses using data, before addressing the consumer angle as follows: “And as individuals too, we have important data, the data that we interact with all the time, and there’s an opportunity to start thinking about how to do that and to start thinking about what it means to be able to capture and use that. But of course we are rethinking what data means and how we use it, how we value it, how it gets used.”

A waffly and not very helpful response, frankly.

Undeterred, Brynjolfsson tried a specific angle to try and draw Microsoft Research’s chief scientist to actually comment meaningfully on all the concerns raised around Recall.

He asked: “Is it stored locally? [meaning the Recall data] So suppose I activate Recall, and I don’t know if I can, but when you have something like that available, I would be worried about all my personal files going up into the cloud, Microsoft, or whatever. Do you have it kept locally?”

It’s an easy reply in this case, though, as Microsoft has already made it clear that the data is only stored locally.

Teevan indicated that’s the case again: “Yeah, yeah, so this is a foundational thing that we as a company care a lot about is actually the protection of data. So Recall is a feature which captures information. It’s a local Windows functionality, nothing goes into the cloud, everything’s stored locally.”

Analysis: Never mind thinking, we need some action

Obviously, that’s good to hear, but as noted, we’ve heard it before. And sadly, that was your lot. Tougher questions weren’t raised, and Teevan certainly didn’t take any opportunity to proactively tackle some of the flak fired at Recall in recent times.

The message, vague as it was, consisted of ‘thinking’ about how we capture and use data, but with Recall about to launch in Copilot+ PCs later this month, it’s a bit late to still be thinking. Isn’t it? These devices are on the cusp of release, and Recall will be used in a very real way across some (or many) of these new machines, with some of the mentioned worries around how it could go wrong also being very real.

As The Register points out, some folks are fretting about legal implications – that lawyers could leverage Recall data on a PC against someone (possibly accessing all kinds of past messaging, even those that are of the auto-delete-after-reading variety). A privacy watchdog is already investigating the feature before its release. And security experts are throwing red flags left, right and center frankly, with some major worrying underway about how Recall could make it a breeze for hackers to steal a ton of sensitive data, apparently very easily and quickly, if your PC is unfortunately compromised.

Aside from all this, our main beef is with the setup of a Copilot+ PC and how it falls short with Recall. The method of running the feature past a Windows 11 user during setup feels clunky, and like it’s crafted to allow for people to leave it on by default, more than likely (if they don’t understand what’s being asked of them, which may be the case with less tech-savvy users).

There are lots of questions here, and Microsoft is failing to address them as far as we’ve seen. ‘It’s all kept local and everything will be fine’ is glossing over myriad issues here.

While at this point, it seems unlikely that the Recall data tanker can change course meaningfully – we’re that close to launch – we can hope that at the very least, Microsoft deals with the issues around setup. This needs to be far more transparent, and Recall needs to be off in our opinion, by default, unless a Copilot+ PC user makes a fully informed decision to turn it on.

The way the feature’s setup is dealt with right now just isn’t good enough, and that’s a failing underpinning all the other concerns here – a root problem that needs to be tackled, and hopefully will be. Fingers firmly crossed. We've contacted Microsoft for a comment.

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