Microsoft declutters Windows 11 File Explorer in the name of Euro privacy

Microsoft had a Valentine's Day gift for Windows Insiders, firing another arrow into the heart of Cortana while also attempting to soothe European privacy concerns. The Windows 11 24H2 preview build, 26120.3281, was released to the Dev and Beta channels and included the removal of the Location History API. Announced as …

[Neil Barnes]

update to Recall will delete a user's existing snapshots

So... an update to something nobody wanted will delete snapshots nobody wanted stored in the first place? Should we be applauding?

Oh, wait, they're updating it. In the future there will be no way to delete the snapshots, perhaps?

Why do people put up with this bullshit?

[cyberdemon]

Re: update to Recall will delete a user's existing snapshots

The Recall Snapshot data was never for 'you' anyway..

[Anonymous Custard]

Wishful thinking...

And it warned that an imminent update to delete Recall will delete a user's existing snapshots - all of them. The company said: "This important update will improve your experience."

Well one can dream...

[M.V. Lipvig]

Re: Wishful thinking...

No, they're quite clear that the snapshots will be deleted for the user.

[Nematode]

Utility progress bar:

"Decluttering Windows 11 File Explorer

...Decluttering Windows 11 progress 0.00001%"

[Tubz]

0.00001% is a major consumer win and remember, somebody in Microsoft is being held accountable and in Satya Nadella basement, nobody can hear you scream, when Balmer is invited back to play.

[Locomotion69]

Definitely not!

It will fast forward to 100%, and remain there for hours. As usual.

[Empire of the Pussycat]

Now let me put the taskbar where I want it

Grrr

[that one in the corner]

Re: Now let me put the taskbar where I want it

One downvote (so far):

Somebody Hates Your (desire for) Freedom.

(You get an upvote from me, btw)

[Nematode]

Re: Now let me put the taskbar where I want it

Is there not a hack for this?

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StuckRects3

Whicn is discussed a fair way down https://helpdeskgeek.com/how-to-move-the-windows-11-taskbar-to-left-or-right-and-customize/

[Naich]

Re: Now let me put the taskbar where I want it

Doesn't work for me. When I restart explorer it sets the value back to 03 again. Bastard.

[Jedit]

"Is there not a hack for this?"

Not a hack exactly, but you can get free mods such as StartAllBack that will let you relocate the taskbar and restore it to pre-Win 11 configuration.

[Al fazed]

It still doesn't

make Windows 11 a "useful" Operating System. So sad, back in Win 1.11 days I actually thought they had a good thing going.

I guess that's gone........

a long time ago.

ALF

[Zippy´s Sausage Factory]

it warned that an imminent update to Recall will delete a user's existing snapshots - all of them. The company said: "This important update will improve your experience."

So, deleting the only thing that the feature actually does will improve the experience of using the feature? Sounds totally on brand for Micros~1, somehow

[cyberdemon]

If it's already served its purpose and the snapshot model has already been sent to the mothership, why keep the local copy? Can't have any power, however useless, left in the plebs proles mugs datacows user's hands, can we? Like I said, recall is not for you, it's for the real customer, BB.

The supposed utility to the end-user is just a figleaf for the real purpose of Recall, so why would they care if they break it from time to time?

[Lost in Cyberspace]

How about real decluttering?

I'd love to see an end to the desperate, needy OneDrive ads.

I've already had more new customers contact me about data loss because of OneDrive - than failed drives - this year.

Microsoft push their 'Start backup' nag screen, but Microsoft are not acting like a responsible backup company.

Instead, files get deleted off the hard drive, or locked behind Bitlocker once the user adds a Microsoft account. When the account becomes lost or stolen, Microsoft really aren't very helpful - even for users paying over £8/month. Consider those files lost for good, all because Microsoft really wanted more users to have a MSA, the users didn't even know the risk until it happened.

How on Earth MS are able to hold personal files to ransom and do nothing to help users when things go wrong - I really don't know.

[the Jim bloke]

Re: How about real decluttering?

I'd love to see an end to the desperate, needy OneDrive ads.

update that to copilot for me.

[Anonymous Coward]

GDPR

I know we've really messed ourselves up in the Untied Kingdom, but are Microshit forgetting that the GDPR applies in the UK as well, and not only within the current EEA. Even despite England's our self-inflicted harm, our Personal Data rights still apply here, too, and so the corresponding updates need to apply here as well.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: GDPR

It does apply, but any revisions and additions since we left the EU are not applied to our version of GDPR...our version of GDPR has diverged from the EU GDPR regulations.

Whilst we do maintain a level of "equivalency" it only applies to EU member data. A UK citizen under UK GDPR is not the same an EU citizen under EU GDPR or even UK GDPR for that matter...weirdly, equivalency seems to imply that EU citizens enjoy a greater level of protection under UK GDPR than a UK citizen does under UK GDPR.

https://www.gdpradvisor.co.uk/eu-gdpr-vs-uk-gdpr

Leaving the EU seems to have made us second class citizens in our own country as well as other countries.

[ICL1900-G3]

Sunlit uplands

I see one downvoter who still believes in the sunlit uplands that were promised. Quite sweet, really.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Sunlit uplands

Downvoted you because you're whining about downvotes.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: GDPR

> A UK citizen under UK GDPR is not the same an EU citizen under EU GDPR or even UK GDPR for that matter...weirdly, equivalency seems to imply that EU citizens enjoy a greater level of protection under UK GDPR than a UK citizen does under UK GDPR.

The GDPR, both (EU) GDPR and the UK GDPR are *not* about citizens, they are about individuals physically present in the EU/UK respectively. A search of the (EU) GDPR legal text finds zero use of the word "citizen" but lots of occurrences of "in the Union", likewise the UK GDPR refers to "data subjects who are in the United Kingdom" and not to citizens.

For example a USA citizen who is physically located within the EU, even if they're only visiting for a short time such as on holiday, is covered by the (EU) GDPR whilst they are in the EU:

"(24) The processing of personal data of data subjects who are in the Union by a controller or processor not established in the Union should also be subject to this Regulation when it is related to the monitoring of the behaviour of such data subjects in so far as their behaviour takes place within the Union."

Likewise for the UK.

> leaving the EU seems to have made us second class citizens in our own country as well as other countries.

Note that after Brexit people in Northern Ireland *retain* any (EU) GDPR rights that they had prior to Brexit even if the UK GDPR were to remove such rights - this is due to both the Good Friday Agreement and the Windsor Accord. To quote from a NI Human Rights Commission report:

"The NIHRC considers that the EU GDPR falls within the scope of Windsor Framework Article 2 and any legislative proposal that seeks to amend the data protection regime in Northern Ireland must comply with the principle of non-diminution under Windsor Framework Article 2"

Therefore people in Northern Ireland, unlike people in England, Scotland, and Wales, are less likely to be affected by changes to Data Protection law in the UK.

[vekkq]

I'm still waiting for US companies to be expelled from European markets for as long as the cloud act is applicable.

[Inkey]

Ftfy

And it warned that an imminent update to Recall will delete all Installs of m$- all of them. The company said: "This important update will improve your experience.

°↓° downvote if you must but those who know, know i'm right.

[StuartMcL]

Stability? LMAO

> However, it is essential to remember that there is no guarantee of stability, even in the Beta channel.

However, it is essential to remember that there is no guarantee of stability, even in the final Release.

There, FIFY

[tiago.pelicari]

Useless hypocrisy

So I have to lose my favorites while all SaaS vendors, social media and smartphone manufacturers keep track of all my activities. European politicians are mad.

[Roland6]

Re: Useless hypocrisy

It’s more the madness of Microsoft. Entra IDs are a business account thing, not a personal account and thus raises the question as to what personal information Microsoft are worried about potentially exposing.