Redmond Has Been Quite Busy Over The Weekend
There is a bunch of news from Microsoft, some of it bad but most of it relatively good. The news includes Windows update, Microsoft Recall and even some Copilot changes; we can’t go a day without AI news now. The first tidbit is a warning for those that like to live dangerously and test Windows updates before they are released to the general public. KB5043145 is something best avoided for now! It’s causing issues ranging from reboot loops that trigger BitLocker and the automatic repair tool, through to your Bluetooth and USB devices refusing to connect. If you happen to have tried it out, there is an official rollback process you can follow to get yourself back up and running until the fix is in.
Speaking of Windows updates, today you might just see Windows 11 24H2 appear on your list of updates, assuming you toggled the option to see the latest and greatest from Microsoft. It is mostly Copilot focused but there are some other changes you will notice and have to decide if you like them or not. For instance Battery Saver has been replaced Energy Saver, not that it has much impact, and the right click menu gets the text labels for copy, paste and other functions back. There are some more interesting contents however, such as official support for Wi-Fi 7, proper 80Gbps USB4 Version 2.0 compatibility and as is traditional it should contain a number of the updates you currently have to install one at a time on new machines. Ars Technica delves into the world of Win11 24H2 here.
The Copilot focus of 24H2 brings with it some changes, thankfully the most invasive of which is only available to Copilot Pro subscribers. Copilot Vision will let the AI assistant “analyze web content in Microsoft Edge and answer queries about on-screen information.” Microsoft pinkie swears the data it analyses is deleted from their servers immediately and is not used as training material. We shall no doubt find out the accuracy of that claim in the future. You will also be able to talk to Copilot and have it answer you back, much to the relief of Scotty.
Last, and least loved by many, is the return of Microsoft Recall. Redmond has realized that a huge number of users were upset by the automatic enabling of all of Recall’s capturing options and have, after much delay, tweaked Recall and released it again. Firstly, you need to opt in to be infected by get Recall, it will not be enabled on your machine unless you so chose and it will use Windows Hello to ensure it is you in front of the machine before starting to capture any of your usage. In addition, the new version will not collect anything unless you manually enable it, by default everything is turned off! You will also be able to remove it once installed, should you so chose.
The security of Recall has also been tweaked, now requiring Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security to access any stored screenshots. As well Private browsing is not captured nor is anything from programs you have not allowed Recall to snoop around in. The Register goes into more details here, let’s hope that Microsoft has done a good job with the implementation.