Recall was supposed to be the flagship feature of Microsoft's new Copilot+ PCs — an offshoot of Windows 11 with exclusive Artificial Intelligence (AI) features available on a handful of machines, like the Surface Laptop 7 and Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge. Announced back in May and scheduled to launch the following month, Microsoft pulled the productivity feature following a storm of controversy.
It started with a scathing assessment from ex-Microsoft engineer Kevin Beaumont, who branded Recall a "disaster" and warned that "stealing everything you’ve ever typed or viewed on your own Windows PC is now possible with two lines of code." The security expert published a lengthy blog post lambasting the feature.
Following these concerns about the privacy of Recall, the UK data protection watchdog confirmed that it would begin "making inquiries" with Microsoftand billionaire SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has warned millions of followers on X to ditch the feature. Apple executives mocked the fallout of the flashy new AI feature.
Recall is the headline feature of this slate of Copilot+ PCs, which lets you scroll back through everything that has happened on your Windows 11 machine and jump back in time with a click. Everything is searchable as AI has trawled through the images and text on-device
MICROSOFT PRESS OFFICERecall works by taking screenshots — or "snapshots" as Microsoft refers to them — of what's happening on your screen. Microsoft uses on-device AI to transcribe the text from webpages, Word documents, PDFs, handwritten notes, and everything else displayed on-screen on your PC so that everything is instantly searchable.
For example, if you know you were looking at flights to Spain in the last month — you could search for the destination to find the exact webpage. With a single click, Windows 11 will summon the document, picture, video or webpage to pick up where you left off. You can also scroll back in time through the screenshots, which are captured hundreds of times every hour and can be stored for months at a time.
Responding to the controversy around Recall, Microsoft will now disable the feature and its "snapshots" by default for all Copilot+ PCs. During the set-up process, the feature will be thoroughly explained to users with the above pop-up, offering them the option to enable Recall
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Yusuf Mehdi, Chief Marketing Officer at Microsoft, described Recallas a "photographic memory" for your laptop. Mehdi wrote: "We set out to solve one of the most frustrating problems we encounter daily – finding something we know we have seen before on our PC.
"Today, we must remember what file folder it was stored in, what website it was on, or scroll through hundreds of emails trying to find it. Now with Recall, you can access virtually what you have seen or done on your PC in a way that feels like having photographic memory."
However, Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Windows and Devices, Pavan Davuluri responded to the backlash by stating: "Our team is driven by a relentless desire to empower people through the transformative potential of AI and we see great utility in Recall and the problem it can solve. We also know for people to get the full value out of experiences like Recall, they have to trust it."
Recall is still not available to Copilot+ PC owners and there's no word on a new release date. GB News has contacted Microsoft for additional information on the revised launch and we'll update this article as soon as we hear back.
Windows Insiders — the term used for those signed up to test the latest beta versions of the desktop operating system — are the only ones able to use Recall. Microsoft had planned to make an early preview version of Recall available anyone with a Copilot+ PC, but this plan was scaled back after the backlash.
"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," the Redmond-based firm has announced. But that's it. There's no indication of how long Windows users will need to wait to get their hands on Recall.
Some whispers suggest we won't see Recall until the next major update to Windows 11, which is scheduled for September or October 2024.
Dubbed Windows 11 24H2, this release will also include AI tools to generate images from a written prompt, prominent new shortcuts for copy, paste, and cut at the top of the right-click menu in File Explorer, and enhancements to pair an Android phone with your desktop operating system.
In a bid to stem fears about Recall, Microsoft has already confirmed the following changes will be made to its AI-powered functionality before it releases:
- Disable Recall by default — you'll now have to manually switch-on the functionality during the set-up process of your Copilot+ PC. This will "give people a clearer choice to opt-in to saving snapshots using Recall," Pavan Davuluri explains
- Before making any changes to Recall, you'll need to enrol with Windows Hello using a fingerprint scanner, PIN, or facial recognition on your PC. Not only that but "proof of presence is also required to view your timeline and search in Recall," Microsoft says
- Addressing concerns flagged by Kevin Beaumont's explosive blog post, “just in time” decryption will unlock your database of screenshots when your identity is checked with Windows Hello, "so Recall snapshots will only be decrypted and accessible when the user authenticates"
- The entire search index database will now be encrypted to keep users' data safe
Recall and a number of other AI features will be exclusive to Windows 11 running on so-called Copilot+ PCs, including the newly-announced Surface Laptop 7th Edition, pictured above MICROSOFT PRESS OFFICE Reassuring Windows 11 users ahead of an eventual launch for Recall — whenever that will come, Pavan Davuluri pledged to continue listening to feedback, writing in a blog post: "We will continue to listen to and learn from our customers, including consumers, developers and enterprises, to evolve our experiences in ways that are meaningful to them.
"We are excited for the upcoming launch of Copilot+ PCs on June 18 and for the innovative new features and benefits this entirely new category of PCs will bring.
"We will continue to build these new capabilities and experiences for our customers by prioritizing privacy, safety and security first. We remain grateful for the vibrant community of customers who continue to share their feedback with us," the blog post ends.
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With the introduction of Copilot+ PCs back in June, there are now two distinct types of Windows 11 devices — those with cutting-edge AI features and those with the standard bundle of features available on desktop PC, tablets and laptops that don't meet the Copilot+ PC certification. The latter is the version of Windows 11 that will be available to Windows 10 users who take advantage of the free upgrade.
Windows 10 will lose support next year, cutting out millions of users from critical bug fixes and new features — unless they pay an annual fee to Microsoft.