Windows 11 received support for Wi-Fi 7 in the recent 24H2 update, but Microsoft is working to extend functionality with wireless connections further in allowing users to establish 6GHz Wi-Fi hotspots.
Currently, Windows 11 lets you set up a hotspot – to allow other devices to connect to your PC on the Wi-Fi network, and use its internet connection – on the 5GHz or 2.4GHz bands.
But as spotted by leaker PhantomOfEarth on X, there’s now the ability to set up such a hotspot over 6GHz – as brought in with Wi-Fi 6E – albeit this isn’t live in testing yet, not for everyone.
To enable support for 6 GHz mobile hotspot connections on devices with the right hardware and drivers in the latest Dev CUs (started rolling out in .1912), run:vivetool /enable /id:40466470 pic.twitter.com/K5A5bmElA2October 7, 2024
The feature is currently rolling out in the most recent preview builds in the Dev channel, so some testers may have it, and others may not. In the latter case, Windows 11 testers can enable 6GHz support using a Windows configuration utility (ViVeTool), as the leaker mentions.
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
Support is required across the board with your hardware
Note that to use this feature when it arrives in Windows 11, you will of course need a PC that supports Wi-Fi 6E, and a router that supports the standard too – plus your connecting devices will need 6GHz support.
The 6GHz band offers benefits above the traditional 5GHz and 2.4GHz bands (in Wi-Fi 6) including faster Wi-Fi speeds and more bandwidth, with less potential for interference in crowded environments (like apartment blocks).
We wouldn’t recommend diving in to install a test build of Windows 11 just to see this feature, mind. While 6GHz support might still be in the early stages of preview, given that not all testers in the Dev channel even have it yet, hopefully it won’t be too long before support debuts in the full version of Windows 11.
Windows Latest reports that it faced the odd problem after installing the 24H2 update on an HP Spectre PC, and some others have reported the bug too – although admittedly it doesn’t seem to be that widespread.
As the tech site observed, the mouse pointer disappeared when they clicked in text fields in certain apps, notably Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Slack, and Spotify.
The common theme here? These are pieces of software that leverage Chromium (it’s the web engine that Chrome is actually built on, and Edge too, as well as some of the other best web browsers out there).
No, it’s not the worst bug in the world – and it’ll hardly bring your PC to its knees – but it’s a rather off-putting quirk if you’re affected.
As noted, though, it doesn’t seem to have hit that many folks, at least not yet. Part of the reason why could be the limited number of those upgrading to the 24H2 update so far (which is still in the early stages of its phased rollout).
Windows Latest points out that there are some folks posting about the bug on Microsoft’s Feedback forum, and Answers.com support website. We’ve also seen the occasional affected Windows 11 user on Reddit too.
(Image credit: Future)
Analysis: There is an unofficial fix of sorts
Microsoft is yet to acknowledge the problem, sadly, perhaps because it isn’t making big enough waves in the Windows 11 community to be fully on the radar for the software giant.
Windows Latest made some valiant attempts to cure the bug including reinstalling mouse drivers, and trying a different mouse, none of which worked, but they eventually stumbled on a fudge of a fix – resetting the mouse pointer to use the default icon.
To do this, Windows Latest explains that in the taskbar search box, you should search for ‘main.cpl’ and click it to bring up the legacy Mouse Properties panel. Head to the Pointers tab, and in the ‘Customize’ panel, find and click on Text select and then click on the Browse button. Now scroll through the list and choose ‘beam_r.cur’ (the default pointer) and click Open, then click OK.
The caveat is, of course, that while this worked on the tech site’s HP computer, it may not work on yours – who knows. Hopefully this is a bug Microsoft is now looking into, and we may hear about it soon enough if that’s the case. Either that, or the next Windows 11 update could find the issue magically cured without any fanfare (that has certainly happened before).
We’ve experienced the cursor disappearing at times on our PC, in Microsoft Word notably. Usually simply closing the app, and reopening it, fixes things, but this is a much trickier beast of a bug to deal with, clearly.
The Microsoft Windows 11 24H2 update dropped on October 1, 2024, and with it came the need for another workaround to address persistent hardware upgrade issues.
Since Windows 11 was originally released in 2021, Microsoft has required users to run its latest OS on a machine with Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0, and with a sufficiently new 64-bit CPU supporting Secure Boot. Microsoft must be aware that users are unhappy with Windows 11’s strict hardware requirements, but the company has only become more inflexible.
Users have already been using creative solutions to run Windows 11 on their machines. One popular method involves the 'Rufus' utility software, which can be used to make bootable OS disks. Rufus circumvents Microsoft’s checks by the simple expedient of replacing the code used to do them – contained in the file appraiserres.dll – with an empty file.
It’s this particular method that no longer works, resulting in users running Windows 11 on older machines being left unable to install the 24H2 update.
Thankfully, Rufus developer Pete Bard dug deep into his hacker’s toolbox and pulled out a new solution. If you want to update right now, you can head to GitHub and follow the instructions, which involve a set of registry fixes. Future versions of Rufus will contain code to do this automatically.
Rufus to the rescue?
This is all great if tinkering with Windows 11's innards is your thing, but the average user is probably not feeling too great about how difficult and inconvenient that is for them.
At least the official method for upgrading systems appears untouched. If your PC is using Secure Boot, UEFI, and has a TPM 2.0, upgrading to Windows 11 should be relatively pain-free. Additionally, if you already have Windows 11 on your PC there’s no need for any new compatibility upgrades, so your system should continue to receive updates with no problems.
Microsoft seems hell-bent on making a huge chunk of its users miserable, because introducing such strict hardware checks, especially for TPM is just making things unnecessarily hard for many of its users. Sure, TPM and secure boot add more security, but perfectly functioning older hardware shouldn’t have to be excluded from receiving the most basic Windows updates.
The fact that Microsoft seems so hellbent on forcing users to buy new hardware when they have perfectly working older systems is another example of how Microsoft seems to prove again and again that it is not customer-focused enough and wants to dictate what its users can or can’t do with their own systems. Add the growing mountain of e-waste that we'll have to deal with eventually, and you've got a perfect storm of upset Windows users.
Windows 11 adoption has been way slower than Microsoft would like, no doubt, and part of the reason for that is that some PCs (particularly older models) can’t upgrade due to system requirements – and if you fall into that boat, the software giant has some simple advice for you: buy a new PC.
Neowin noticed that Microsoft has updated a help document about what it means if you’re using an unsupported version of Windows (spoiler alert: if you’re online at all, it’s a huge security risk), which currently means PCs running Windows 8.1 (or 8) and Windows 7, or earlier.
It’s worth noting, however, that this will also be the case for Windows 10 devices in a year’s time if their owners don’t take any action, as the end of support rolls around for that OS in October 2025.
Microsoft’s article takes the form of a short discussion followed by a FAQ, and the main update applied to the document pertains to the options for staying supported with Windows, with a new choice added here: ‘Recommended: New PC with Windows 11.’
So, this is Microsoft’s primary recommendation if your unsupported PC isn’t up to scratch, hardware-wise, for Windows 11 – get a new computer.
Microsoft elaborates: “Windows 11 is the most current version of Windows. If you have an older PC, we recommend you move to Windows 11 by buying a new PC. Hardware and software have improved a lot, and today’s computers are faster, more powerful, and more secure.”
Then there’s a link to ‘view Windows 11 PCs’ which takes you to Microsoft’s hub which showcases new devices from itself and partners.
(Image credit: Shutterstock/fizkes)
Analysis: That enormous landfill blot looming on the horizon
That first (‘recommended’) choice of buying a new PC is not the only option covered in the FAQ, of course. Microsoft also lists a couple of other possibilities, including upgrading your old computer to Windows 11 – maybe via Windows 10 first – but this may not be possible with older PCs. Indeed, a PC running Windows 8 (from pre-2015, when Windows 10 started arriving on new hardware) will very likely not meet the needed system specs for Windows 11 (the CPU will probably be too old, and TPM security requirement may not be met either).
And, in fairness to Microsoft, an upgrade of such an ailing PC to Windows 11 may indeed be relatively impractical (as you’ll likely have to replace a bunch of components – the CPU, the motherboard to get a socket that fits the new CPU, and probably memory too, and maybe more besides). By the time you reach the end of the component shopping list, you may as well be buying a new PC (with a new warranty to boot), and of course some PC owners won’t want to take on such an upgrade, or have the technical knowhow to do so.
So, in this case, Microsoft’s foremost recommendation to get a new PC makes at least some sense – to those with rapidly aging PCs, as frankly, in some scenarios they might not have much choice, particularly if they’re not tech-savvy, or they have a laptop (or all-in-one PC) which can’t be got inside and upgraded anyway.
However, it’s equally true that some folks (perhaps quite a few) could upgrade to Windows 10 (with its lighter system requirements) if not Windows 11, a possibility Microsoft touches on – while simultaneously observing that support runs out in a year for Windows 10, a fairly sizeable caveat. And indeed, therein lies the rub – we must bear in mind that this article’s advice will apply to Windows 10 PC owners next year, when they find themselves in the unsupported boat.
Given that, it’d be nice to see Microsoft working towards a solution in respect of somewhat newer PCs, which goes somewhere down the path of tackling some of the alarming stats we’ve heard about the number of Windows 10 machines heading to landfill in the future. This is a potential environmental disaster that could see hundreds of millions of PCs lumped unceremoniously on the scrapheap.
And ever since those concerns have been raised, we haven’t heard anything from Microsoft as to how they might be mitigated. What Windows 10 users (who can’t, or won’t, upgrade) can do is pay for extended support beyond October 2025 – but that could turn out to be an expensive way to go, particularly beyond the first year if Microsoft’s previous pricing in these schemes is anything to go by.
Logically, then, Microsoft needs to be looking at a way of keeping Windows 10 alive – for those totally blocked by Windows 11’s more demanding requirements on the security front and elsewhere – which works out to be way more cost-friendly for users, in an effort to save what might be a much heavier price to pay for the planet. In short, ‘buy a new PC’ will soon not be the answer we need frontloaded here, and pushing folks to make a purchase of a new computer is already a very dubious first port of call given what we’re facing down the road.
Windows 11 24H2 is not long out and already there’s trouble brewing in the bug department, with some PC gamers finding themselves affected by frustrating issues.
So far, the 24H2 update has had a limited rollout (to Windows 11 PCs, that is – Copilot+ PCs ran 24H2 from the get-go, though not with all of its features, we should add, plus a bunch of new AI abilities are now inbound). Still, that cautious deployment hasn’t stopped some problems with 24H2 from rearing their heads, predictably enough, and a couple of these are hitting PC gamers specifically.
According to the Windows release health status dashboard, there’s an issue with Asphalt 8, and a bigger potential problem with some games running Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC). That includes some very popular games such as Fortnite and Apex Legends, for example.
As Microsoft explains: “Some devices using Easy Anti-Cheat stop responding and receive a blue screen.”
Note that not every EAC game is affected, and only those titles running an older version of the anti-cheating tool aren’t playing nice with Windows 11 24H2. Tom’s Hardware reports that versions of EAC that date back before April 2024 will get a ‘Memory Management’ Blue Screen of Death (a complete lock-up, in other words).
Also note that AMD Ryzen processors are not affected, just PCs with Intel CPUs (and not older chips either – only Alder Lake processors or newer from Team Blue).
The Asphalt 8 bug is more straightforward in that it could, from time to time, freeze up and stop responding.
As a result, compatibility holds have been put on PCs that have Asphalt 8 installed, or an out-of-date version of Easy Anti-Cheat, to prevent them from running into trouble.
If you fall into those categories, you won’t get Windows 11 24H2 – and won’t be able to see it in Windows Update – until Microsoft irons out these incompatibility flaws.
(Image credit: Gameloft)
Analysis: Sugar on the asphalt
There’s not much you can do about Asphalt 8, except remove the game if you’re desperate for Windows 11’s 24H2 update (though you may still have to wait for it, anyway, given the phased rollout).
In the case of Easy Anti-Cheat, you can try installing the latest patch for any given game that uses this tool – in the hope that the utility is updated within that patch. In that scenario, with a more recent Easy Anti-Cheat version, you’ll hopefully no longer suffer from the glitch.
To be fair to Microsoft, in this case, you’d hope that any developer would have bundled the latest version of Easy Anti-Cheat with their game’s most recent update, and games shouldn’t be running an EAC version from six months ago (or older). If the dev hasn’t pushed a recent EAC build with game updates, that isn’t Microsoft’s fault.
Elsewhere there are some non-gaming problems Microsoft has flagged up with Windows 11 24H2. That includes fingerprint sensors becoming erratic, apps that customize wallpapers causing chaos, and other compatibility issues with PCs that have the Intel Smart Sound Technology (SST) driver.
There are no real showstoppers in evidence right off the bat, though, which is obviously something of a relief, though it’s still early days for the 24H2 update. As noted, only a limited number of Windows 11 users have 24H2 thus far.
Microsoft has released a major announcement outlining all the new experiences coming to its new Copilot+ PCs and Windows 11, hoping to convince people to see the practical benefits of its AI-powered efforts. We’ll have to see how these developments play out when they’re more widespread and in the hands of everyday users, but Microsoft still seems to be going full steam ahead to make AI tools and features commonplace (and to be one of the first to do it).
Microsoft wants to use AI to assist you with everyday tasks like tracking down files and images, making them faster and easier. The idea is that you won’t even have to remember exact file and app names, but be able to describe the content in your own words and your device will be able to locate it.
Copilot+ PCs are designed to have AI integrated, and Microsoft claims that it’s seeing substantial customer demand and interest. You can get Copilot+ PCs running Windows 11 from manufacturers like Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, and from Microsoft itsel;f through its Surface line, with processors from manufacturers including Qualcomm, Intel, and AMD.
Microsoft also that these new features will be made available to its Windows Insider community for user testing and feedback ahead of a general rollout in phases starting in October and November 2024.
Total Recall
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The first feature Microsoft will be previewing is Recall, which has so far seen a lot of criticism, specifically with respect to its possible security ramifications, ever since it was announced. Microsoft’s vision for Recall is to help you instantly find things you’ve already seen on your PC, like a website or file, by taking screenshots of your device activity, keeping a record, and making it searchable. It will be an opt-in feature and only accessible with Windows Hello, Microsoft’s alternative login feature that allows you to use sign in with facial recognition, your fingerprint, or a PIN.
Microsoft hopes that added security measures will make people feel confident enough to trust Recall, requiring login by Windows Hello and applying filter over sensitive information like payment details.
Other AI tools coming with the latest update
There are other shiny new feature like ‘Click to do,’ designed to suggest ways you can finish tasks using various features and apps. This feature will appear over images or text, suggesting possible actions for you to consider like erasing the background of a photo or finding out more information on the web. Another is super resolution in the Photos app, explained as being able to enhance lower-resolution and older photos to better quality, making them clearer and sharper.
One that’s not a new feature but instead enhancing an existing one is Windows Search, which will now use AI to fetch just the file you’re looking for after putting in a description of the file in your own words. Microsoft adds that you won’t need to be connected to the internet to use this capability, and it will become available in File Explorer first, followed by Windows Search itself and the Setting apps in the months following.
Joining an improved Windows Search, Microsoft is also giving the Paint app a boost, adding generative fill and generative erase capabilities. You’ll also be able to use the Cocreator image generation tool right in the app by describing your ideas in a prompt, maybe even adding some brush swipes, and having it create an image. Additionally, you can also remove parts or add elements to your existing images, and you’ll be able to use it without a subscription.
As Microsoft puts it, the number of these kinds apps and ‘emulated experiences’ will grow as more Copilot+ PCs hit the market this year and next.
Will Windows users embrace Microsoft’s vision?
Microsoft has released the main Windows 11 feature upgrade for this year, 24H2, and it brings AI capability to Copilot+ PCs to enable the features above when they arrive, as well as features and changes for all PCs running Windows 11. These include the new Energy Saver mode, improved Hearing Aid support, Wi-Fi 7 compatibility, HDR background support, and interface-related improvements.
Microsoft finishes off its announcement with its broader vision and what it wants you to see next. It appears to acknowledge that you might have feelings about Windows 11, but we’ll have to see what it ultimately delivers in the coming year.
Microsoft says it wants you to feel the difference as a positive new direction for Windows 11, which has definitely had its ups and downs since its release. Either way, this is a big next step, so we’ll have to see how these new features are received.
Earlier this week, we reported on issues being caused by the recent optional update KB5043145 for Windows 11, and Microsoft’s efforts to provide a solution to those affected. Luckily, Microsoft has now seemingly provided a fix in the form of a Known Issue Rollback (KIR), a feature that lets Microsoft swiftly undo problematic changes caused by a Windows update without removing the whole update.
Even better, it’s automatically applied through Windows Update, resolving the issue being targeted without you having to intervene. This KIR has only just been issued and it might take up to 24 hours to be applied to your PC; The Register writes that restarting your PC could help speed up the process.
KB5043145 was supposed to be the September 2024 non-security preview, showing some of the changes coming soon to the OS. Unfortunately, it appeared that some users had run into issues, which was made more alarming by the fact that the next major yearly feature update for Windows 11, 24H2, is due to be released very soon.
What happened with KB5043145 for some users?
Some users experienced serious issues like random repeated restarts, system crashes prompting the feared blue (or green) screen of death, and starting the Windows Automatic Repair tool or even BitLocker. Some people also had problems with connecting to USB drives or their Wi-Fi, as well as issues for users who work with Linux on their Windows devices.
The problems were fortunately not fatal for anyone’s PC, and Microsoft’s Windows 11 releases are historically known to sometimes cause more issues than they remedy. While it can be inconvenient - and counters the intention of updates like KB5043145 which was meant to bring OS improvements - Microsoft is pretty good about recognizing issues and issuing fixes.
It looks like Microsoft hasn’t paused the update (and I would add that it’s not wreaking havoc for everyone who tries to install it) but it might be best to wait for the next mandatory update rather than installing this optional one right now. I expect the useful improvements that this update includes will be rolled into a bigger monthly update or even into a version of 24H2, which will hopefully be stable when it's finally installed on users’ machines.
Windows 11 has never been more popular – and, well, that’s not saying all that much, but in fairness, it seems the operating system may finally be reaching a turning point where adoption could speed up meaningfully.
The question is: why might this be happening? We’ll come back to discuss that, but first off let’s dive into the actual statistics for Windows market share (of all versions of Microsoft’s OS) as put together by Statcounter.
The figures for September show that Windows 11 is on 33.37%, which is still a good way behind Windows 10 at 62.79%.
Recently, then, Windows 11 has been seeing considerably bigger gains going by Statcounter’s figures – bearing in mind that it took 16 months to gain 10% when going from 20% adoption to 30%, sluggish progress of about 0.6% per month, compared to double that rate of progress now.
As for the third-place operating system in Microsoft’s desktop ecosystem, that is, of course, Windows 7, which is keeping a persistent user base of around 3% throughout this year (it’s currently on 2.85%).
(Image credit: Gorodenkoff / Shutterstock)
Analysis: Finally forced into the BIOS to locate that TPM setting
So, back to that key question: why is Windows 11 suddenly gaining more favor, and does this represent the operating system turning a corner in terms of building meaningful adoption going forward?
The most obvious reason for these recent gains must be the fact that Windows 10 is coming to its End of Life slowly, but very surely. Support for Windows 10 draws to a close in October 2025, which is only a year away now, and perhaps that timeline is feeling more urgent as a result, so holdouts are looking more seriously at upgrading to Windows 11.
We envisage folks that have been putting off enabling TPM (it may be off by default on their PC) diving into their BIOS to find the setting, finally, and prep the ground for their big Windows 11 upgrade (TPM is a requirement for Windows 11’s better security). They are facing the cold, hard reality that it’s about time to take action if they want to keep an operating system that has updates (as opposed to paying for Windows 10 updates after October 2025, which will be the only other option – aside from switching OS entirely that is, to maybe one of the best Linux distros, but that’s a whole other ballgame).
We should also bear in mind that Windows 11 has got a fair few features that it didn’t have at release by now – some basic functionality in many cases – and that could help its cause, too. After all, Windows 11 is three years old now, and it has expanded a good deal since the OS was launched back in October 2021.
Might Copilot+ PCs figure in the equation here? It’s probably too early for that, and the other factors we’ve mentioned – primarily the end of support for Windows 10 – are going to be the biggest contributing factors to Windows 11’s growth here.
That said, the new AI-powered laptops could be responsible for a small amount of Windows 11 adoption, as massive things are predicted for Copilot+ laptops going forward – we mean huge sales. So that’s definitely something on the horizon, possibly, but take the idea with some seasoning. And also, by the time we get there, Windows 12 – or whatever next-gen Windows will be called – is likely to be imminent, or indeed to have arrived (complete with next-gen nag screens to upgrade, no doubt).
As for the Windows 7 user base that remains, what’s going on there? This is most likely a small core of business users who have old PCs running even older software, and they can’t be upgraded due to thorny problems with those legacy apps. Such firms will need to be working towards a solution, but in some cases, migrating complex systems could be a seriously difficult and highly fraught task, which is bound to be progressing slowly.
Of course, it’s also worth bearing in mind that there are probably quite a few Windows 7 PCs out there that aren’t connected to the internet at all – to keep them secure – and as such, won’t show up for stats crunching firms to count.
Last week, Microsoft released an optional update for Windows 11, and unfortunately it has been causing some serious trouble in some cases.
This is an optional update (KB5043145) for Windows 11 23H2 which was supposed to bring some minor quality-of-life improvements, but turned out to pack some unexpected bugs.
In the support document for the update, Microsoft has acknowledged some known issues, with nasty problems including some users being prompted to restart their devices, sometimes multiple times, while others are witnessing their PC locking up with either blue or green screen errors.
Furthermore, some devices open the Windows Automatic Repair tool after multiple restarts, and even BitLocker recovery can pop up in some cases. BitLocker is a Windows security tool that can protect your device’s data by encrypting it, but it’s only available to users of Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions. So, if you’re not using those - and most folks reading this will be on Windows 11 Home - you won’t be affected by that particular bug.
We saw BitLocker-related update problems and repeated unprompted restarts earlier in the year, and so these issues seem to be continuing, sadly.
(Image credit: Future)
Investigation is underway - standby for further info
In the support document, Microsoft says that it’s currently investigating these issues and that more information will be provided when available. So for now, we can sit tight and wait for feedback from the software giant.
Remember, though, that this is an optional update - you don’t have to install it and can just steer well clear. I would recommend doing just that with this preview update, especially as we currently aren’t aware of any workarounds for these bugs.
However, if you have already taken the plunge with KB5043145 and have encountered any of these gremlins, you can send Microsoft a message via the Feedback Hub app and describe your experience. This information could help Microsoft understand the problem and find a solution more quickly.
Alternatively, Neowin, which spotted this development, suggests that you can visit the Feedback Hub and search for ‘KB5043145.’ This should return the most relevant posts on the forum regarding the patch, and if you see any complaints that echo your issues and concerns, you can upvote those to increase their visibility.
Overall, in terms of bugs cropping up over and over, it’s not a pretty picture that’s being painted of Windows 11 these days. It feels like there are more issues with the newest OS than with its predecessor, Windows 10, which still enjoys widespread popularity - and maybe that’s one of the reasons why.
After an apparent back and forth on the issue, it looks like Microsoft will allow Copilot+ PC owners to uninstall the controversial Recall feature from their Windows 11 devices.
Confusingly, it turns out that this wasn’t a mistake after all, and that as part of Microsoft’s announcement about Recall coming to Copilot+ PCs in November, the company noted that as well as the feature being strictly opt-in (rather than being on by default), it will also be fully removable.
Microsoft wrote that: “Users can also remove Recall entirely by using the optional features settings in Windows.”
Windows Central reports that Microsoft clarified that the option to remove Recall being a bug only referred to it mistakenly being included in the specific preview build it was spotted in - and that the company did not mean upcoming builds wouldn’t have the uninstall Recall choice. (Although for what it’s worth, Microsoft’s wording at the time hardly suggested this).
(Image credit: Microsoft)
Recall removal - how to banish the AI-powered search for good
How do you remove Recall, then? Well, for those who have a Copilot+ PC - which are the only devices Recall will be on (at least initially) - you’ll find the option present in the ‘Turn Windows features on and off’ menu (locate that via the taskbar search box). And yes, that’s exactly where it was seen in testing.
Once you locate the ‘Recall’ ability in that menu you can uncheck it and click OK - your system will prompt for a reboot, after which Recall and all processes relating to it will be removed from your PC. That’ll go a long way towards pleasing those who are particularly paranoid about privacy, and don’t even want Recall on their system at all, even if it’s disabled.
Windows Recall, for those not familiar with it, is an upcoming AI-powered Windows 11 feature that takes regular snapshots (screenshots) of your device activity and makes these searchable.
When first revealed, Recall wasn’t received well at all, with both Windows 11 users and security experts alike quite rightly raising some major security and privacy concerns. That led to Microsoft putting the deployment of Recall on hold, and it’s only just recently revealed that the feature will be put back into testing next month - following a rollout to Copilot+ PCs in November, as mentioned (or that’s the current plan).
Microsoft has promised that it’s made some big changes to Recall, and outlined a host of various security and encryption-related improvements, which collectively represent a big stride forward to be fair to the company.
All in all, Microsoft appears to be giving users total control over Recall in terms of not just disabling it, but totally stripping the feature out of Windows 11. Especially given the frosty reception Recall has received so far, Microsoft has a lot to prove when it comes to how useful and helpful it is, and how secure Recall is when it comes to keeping user data safe.
Microsoft has provided an update on Windows 11’s Recall feature – which has been on ice for some time now, since its revelation caused a massive stir due to security and privacy worries – and when it plans to forge ahead with the feature and bring it to Copilot+ PCs.
As the BBC reports, Microsoft said in a statement that the plan is to launch Recall on CoPilot+ laptops in November, with a bunch of measures being implemented to ensure the feature is secure enough detailed in a separate blog post.
So, what are these measures designed to placate the critics of Recall – a capability which is a supercharged AI-powered search in Windows 11 that leverages regular screenshots (‘snapshots’ as Microsoft calls them) of the activity on your PC – as it was originally envisioned?
Microsoft notes: “During the set-up experience for Copilot+ PCs, users are given a clear option whether to opt-in to saving snapshots using Recall. If a user doesn’t proactively choose to turn it on, it will be off, and snapshots will not be taken or saved.”
(Image credit: Microsoft)
Also, as Microsoft previously told us, snapshots – and other Recall-related data – will be fully encrypted, and Windows Hello authentication will be a requirement to use the feature. In other words, you’ll need to sign in via Hello to ensure that it’s you actually using Recall (and not someone else on your PC).
Furthermore, Recall will use a secure environment called a Virtualization-based Security Enclave, or VBS Enclave, which is a fully secure virtual machine isolated from the Windows 11 system, that only the user can access with a decryption key (provided with that Windows Hello sign-in).
David Weston, who wrote Microsoft’s blog post and is VP of Enterprise and OS Security, explained to Windows Central: “All of the sensitive Recall processes, so screenshots, screenshot processing, vector database, are now in a VBS Enclave. We basically took Recall and put it in a virtual machine [VM], so even administrative users are not able to interact in that VM or run any code or see any data.”
For that matter, Microsoft can’t get in to look at your Recall data, either. And as the software giant has made clear before, all this data is kept locally on your machine – none of it is sent to the cloud (that could be a big security worry if it was). This is why Recall is a Copilot+ PC exclusive, by the way – because it needs a powerful NPU for acceleration and local processing for Recall to work responsively enough (as the cloud can’t be leveraged to speed up the AI grunt work).
Finally, Microsoft combats a previous concern about Recall taking screenshots of, for example, your online banking site and perhaps sensitive financial info – the feature now filters out things like passwords, credit card numbers and so on.
Other privacy tightening measures include the ability to exclude specific apps or websites from ever having snapshots taken by Recall (and we should note that private browsing sessions, such as Chrome’s Incognito mode, are never subject to being screenshotted – at least in supported web browsers).
An icon will appear in the taskbar when a Recall snapshot is being saved, incidentally, and it’ll be easy to pause these screenshots from there if you wish to do so.
(Image credit: Microsoft)
Analysis: Recalled from the bench - but with a lot to prove
Microsoft has basically taken Recall back to the drawing board on the security and privacy fronts over the past few months, and in broad terms, the results deserve a thumbs-up. (Although let’s be honest, elements like the tight encryption should have been in place to begin with – and it’s a bit frightening that they weren’t).
If you’re still concerned about Recall despite these measures, you simply don’t have to enable it. And with it being off by default in a clear manner now, there’s no danger of less tech-savvy folks ending up using the feature by accident, without realizing what it is.
The path Recall is on now is that it’s returning to testing in October, so very soon, and with the release coming to Copilot+ PCs in November, it’s on something of a fast track to arrive with the computing public – well, those who’ve invested in a Copilot+ laptop anyway. We’re sure that for those folks, Recall will still be marked as in ‘preview’ and it’s debatable whether you should be taking the plunge with an ability like this when it’s not quite fully finished.
Of course, we’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves here – the next step is for Recall to arrive in Windows 11 test builds, and see what Windows Insiders make of it. If problems crop up in those preview builds, we may yet see Recall delayed for release to Copilot+ PCs.
Microsoft is talking a much bigger security game for Recall here, without a doubt, and let’s hope there are no setbacks or mistakes in terms of actually implementing all of this. Given how the initial incarnation of Recall was put together – with a worrying lack of attention to detail – it’s easy to be cynical here, but presumably Microsoft is not going to fall into this trap again.
With macOS Sequoia, Apple introduced a feature whereby users are asked to regularly approve access for apps to be allowed to record their screen - which has not gone down too well with some folks, although there’s now a solution (albeit a third-party one).
From Apple’s perspective, this move was made to improve security in apps like Zoom where you might share your screen (or indeed screenshot utilities). The recurring permission requests for such apps first started appearing early in beta testing macOS 15, and they were introduced on a weekly basis initially, but later (following many complaints) Apple revised that to monthly prompts.
And to be fair, I could still see these pop-ups being bothersome, even on a monthly basis, and you might prefer not to see them at all (or just the once, rather, when you first use the app). Luckily, there’s now a workaround that MacRumors spotted in the form of an app called Amnesia.
Once installed, Amnesia can be used to stop the monthly screen recording permission requests on an app-by-app basis. The software is pay-what-you-want, so you can give the developer whatever you feel is an appropriate payment for the convenience of the app.
(Image credit: Future)
There's another potential workaround - but will Apple do something itself?
The original version of Amnesia was for macOS 15 only, but since that release, support for macOS 15.1 (beta) has been introduced. You can check out Amnesia’s changelog (a record of updates made to the app) to see all the recent additions and adjustments for the software.
Alternatively, if you’re a little more of a techie, as MacRumors points out, you can also achieve the same result as Amnesia via the Terminal app by following instructions provided by tech blogger Jeff Johnson. Just as with Amnesia, this workaround makes it so that the screen recording reminders are turned off on an app-by-app basis.
I hope Apple considers revising this repetitive request for permissions. I’m not saying that the company has to get rid of it entirely, but maybe give macOS 15 users the option to switch to quarterly or biannual requests instead. I understand that Apple is trying to cover itself and its customers from a security perspective, but I think there’s more give here in terms of striking a balance that satisfies keeping macOS a safe environment, while annoying users less.
