Windows Recall failed the moose test, and nobody will ever forget it
Ars Technica took a look at how the current version of Windows Recall works, including the improvements Microsoft made since the initial security nightmare of a rollout, and concludes: Recall continues to demand an extraordinary level of trust that Microsoft hasn’t earned. However secure and private it is—and, again, the version people will actually get is much better than the version that caused … ⌘ Read more
Getting Forked by Microsoft • Philip Laine 👈 Yet another pretty sad story of a megacorp (Microsoft) being total assholes 😢
↳
In-reply-to
»
@prologic John who?
⤋ Read More
@movq@www.uninformativ.de Haha 🤣 Figures 🤦♂️ Also no need to be concerned with that here, I’ve personally blocked the ASN(s) of Microsoft, OpenAI, Claude and Google 😂
↳
In-reply-to
»
i feel so powerful i wrote a 3 line script that takes an inputted markdown filename from the current working directory and then spits out a nicely formatted html page. pandoc does all the work i did nothing
⤋ Read More
@kat@yarn.girlonthemoon.xyz pandoc is a joy! I haven’t used any Microsoft word processing tools since forever. They want a Word document? Pandoc to the rescue!
ActiveX disabled by default in Microsoft 365
ActiveX is a powerful technology that enables rich interactions within Microsoft 365 applications, but its deep access to system resources also increases security risks. Starting this month, the Windows versions of Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Microsoft Visio will have a new default configuration for ActiveX controls: Disable all controls without notification. ↫ Zaeem Patel at the Microsoft 365 Insider Blog Be ho … ⌘ Read more
Windows Hotpatch comes to client version of Windows
Good news for Windows users, and for once there’s not a hint of sarcasm here: Microsoft has started rolling out Windows Hotpatch to the client versions of Windows. This feature, which comes from the server versions of Windows, allows the operating system to install patches to in-memory processes, removing the need for a number of restarts. Obviously, this is hugely beneficial for users, as they won’t have to deal with constant r … ⌘ Read more
Microsoft’s 50th anniversary celebrations tainted by the company’s role in the genocide in Gaza
Microsoft is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and in honour of this milestone, Bill Gates has published a blog post about the first code the company ever wrote. In 1975, Paul Allen and I created Microsoft because we believed in our vision of a computer on every desk and in every home. Five decades later, Microsoft continues to innovate new way … ⌘ Read more
I got some assembly for you: https://images.gatesnotes.com/12514eb8-7b51-008e-41a9-512542cf683b/34d561c8-cf5c-4e69-af47-3782ea11482e/Original-Microsoft-Source-Code.pdf
Markdown and the Slow Fade of the Formatting Fetish - a nice article about Markdown VS proprietary formatting. With quotes like “Microsoft Office works in an office where you pretend to work until you can finally go home.” 😄
FreeDOS: history, legacy, and a valuable resource for old machines
FreeDOS is a free and open‐source operating system designed to be compatible with MS‑DOS. Developed to keep the DOS experience alive even after Microsoft ended support for MS‑DOS, FreeDOS has grown into a complete environment that not only preserves classic DOS functionality but also introduces modern enhancements. Its simplicity and low resource requirements have made it a cherished resource for retro … ⌘ Read more
Microsoft makes it even harder to use a local account on Windows 11
Do you want to install Windows 11 without internet access or without an online Microsoft Account? It seems Microsoft really doesn’t want you to, as it has removed a very common and popular way of bypassing this requirement. In the release notes for the latest builds from the Dev and Beta channels, the company notes: We’re removing the bypassnro.cmd script from the build to enhance security and use … ⌘ Read more
Microsoft releases Windows 11 roadmap tool to help make sense of Windows 11’s development
I’ve complained about the utter inscrutability of the Windows release process for a long time, with Microsoft seemingly using channels, build numbers, code names, date-based version numbers, and so on interchangeably, making it incredibly hard to keep track of what is being released when. It turns out even Microsoft itself started losing track, because it … ⌘ Read more
Microsoft accidentally cares about its users, releases update that unintentionally deletes Copilot from Windows
It’s rare in this day and age that proprietary operating system vendors like Microsoft and Apple release updates you’re more than happy to install, but considering even a broken clock is right twice a day, we’ve got one for you today. Microsoft released KB5053598 (OS Build 26100.3476) which “addresses security i … ⌘ Read more
Microsoft discovers massive malvertising campaign on GitHub
Like the other Chrome skins, Microsoft Edge is also moving to disable Manifest v2 extensions, restricting the effectiveness of ad blockers like uBlock Origin. As an advertising company, Microsoft was obviously never going to do the work to keep Manifest v2 support around in Chrome, so this was inevitable. Blocking ads might be a necessary security practice, but why cry over spilled user data, am I right? Anyway, … ⌘ Read more
Microsoft Publisher will no longer be supported after October 2026
In October 2026, Microsoft Publisher will reach its end of life. After that time, it will no longer be included in Microsoft 365 and existing on-premises suites will no longer be supported. Microsoft 365 subscribers will no longer be able to open or edit Publisher files in Publisher. Until then, support for Publisher will continue and users can expect the same experience as today. ↫ Microsoft’s Supp … ⌘ Read more
Microsoft is not ending Windows 11 support for Intel’s 8th, 9th, and 10th Gen processors
About two weeks ago, there was a bit of confusion about the system requirements for Windows 11 24H2, because Intel’s 8th Gen, 9th Gen, and 10th Gen processors had disappeared from the list of supported hardware. This seemed rather drastic, even by Windows 11 standards. I skipped posting about it on OSNews because I kind of assumed it must’ve been an error ins … ⌘ Read more
Microsoft improves Windows 11’s Start menu somewhat
Microsoft seems to be addressing some of the oddities with the Windows 11 Start menu, finally adding basic views that should’ve been in Windows 11 since the very start. We’re introducing two new views to the “All” page in the Start menu: grid and category view. Grid and list view shows your apps in alphabetical order and category view groups all your apps into categories, ordered by usage. This change is gradually rolling out so … ⌘ Read more
Microsoft is paywalling features in Notepad and Paint
There’s some bad news for Windows users who want to use all of the built-in features of the operating system and its integrated apps. Going forward, Microsoft is restricting features in two iconic apps, which you’ll need to unlock with a paid subscription. The two apps in question? Notepad and Paint. Windows Insiders were previously able to use these app features free of charge. However, Microsoft is now making it necessary … ⌘ Read more
Microsoft unveils experimental quantum chip using new state of matter + 1 more story
Microsoft unveils a new chip that accelerates quantum computing; Nvidia launches Evo 2, largest AI system for genetic research ⌘ Read more
On my hit list of assholes tech giants that break the rules and are bad web citizens:
Microsoft
Google
Alibaba
Open AI
more to come…
It would appear that Google’s web crawlers are ignoring the robots.txt that I have on https://git.mills.io/robots.txt with content:
User-agent: *
Disallow: /
Evidence attached (see screenshots):
– I think its the the Small Web community band together and file a class action suit(s) against Microsoft.com Google.com and any other assholes out there (OpenAI?) that violate our rights and ignore requests to be “polite” on the web. Thoughts? 💭The dumb reason why flag emojis aren’t working on your site in Chrome on Windows
After doing more digging than I feel like I should have needed to, I found my answer: it appears that due to concerns about the fact that acknowledging the existence of certain countries can be perceived as a nominally political stance, Microsoft has opted to just avoid the issue altogether by not including country flag emojis in Windows’ system font. Problem solved! Can y … ⌘ Read more
OpenAI Says It Has Evidence DeepSeek Used Its Model To Train Competitor
OpenAI says it has evidence suggesting Chinese AI startup DeepSeek used its proprietary models to train a competing open-source system through “distillation,” a technique where smaller models learn from larger ones’ outputs.
The San Francisco-based company, along with partner Microsoft, blocked suspected DeepSeek accounts from accessing … ⌘ Read more
Microsoft reveals MatterGen AI model to transform material discovery + 2 more stories
Microsoft launches MatterGen AI model for advanced material design; OpenAI partners with Retro to extend human life; Scientists explore ocean’s oxygen production implications. ⌘ Read more
Hardening Microsoft Windows 10 and Windows 11 https://www.cyber.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-07/PROTECT%20-%20Hardening%20Microsoft%20Windows%2010%20and%20Windows%2011%20Workstations%20%28July%202024%29.pdf
Not sure that I really like where Microsoft is taking VSCode - it looks like soon it will be just another frontend for them to sell Github Copilot subscriptions.
Windows Endpoint Forensics Readiness Booster https://profero.io/blog/microsoft-windows-endpoint-forensics-readiness-booster
Found this in an old copyright notice from 1993:
These images are not for use with the Microsoft Windows environment. Using these patterns in a Windows environment consitutes a copyright violation.
Someone clearly didn’t like Windows.
Microsoft Outage Hits Users Worldwide, Leading To Canceled Flights
Microsoft grappled with a major service outage, leaving users across the world unable to access its cloud computing platforms and causing airlines to cancel flights. From a report: Thousands of users across the world reported problems with Microsoft 365 apps and services to Downdetector.com, a website that tracks service disruptions. “We’re inve … ⌘ Read more
Speaking of “AI” … I guess I gotta find out soon how to disable/sabotage Microsoft’s “Recall”, before this garbage takes over the family computers. 😩
(There’s no way the people in question will switch operating systems. I’ve tried, countless times.)
↳
In-reply-to
»
@movq it is an interesting thing to do. I mean, he found a way to fool Defender, but why? A disabled Defender is worthless, and that's what he is doing. If I were to use Microsoft Windows, I would want the Defender to be bonafide active.
⤋ Read More
@bender@twtxt.net well… reading through This I can but wonder if it is defending anything at all…
↳
In-reply-to
»
Lol, somebody reverse-engineered the secret API to tell Windows that some snake oil is installed: https://github.com/es3n1n/no-defender
⤋ Read More
@movq@www.uninformativ.de it is an interesting thing to do. I mean, he found a way to fool Defender, but why? A disabled Defender is worthless, and that’s what he is doing. If I were to use Microsoft Windows, I would want the Defender to be bonafide active.
Microsoft Ending Support For Windows 10 Could Send 240 Million PCs To Landfills, Study Finds
According to Canalys Research, Microsoft’s plan to end support for Windows 10 could result in about 240 million computers being sent to landfills. “The electronic waste from these PCs could weigh an estimated 480 million kilograms, equivalent to 320,000 cars,” adds Reuters. From the report: W … ⌘ Read more
wtf is going on with Microsoft and OpenAI of late?! LIke Microsoft bought into OpenAI for some shocking $10bn USD, then Sam Altman gor fired, now he’s been hired by Microsoft to run up a new “AI” division. wtf/! seriously?! 🤔 #Microsoft #OpenAI #Scandal
GitHub and OpenAI fail to wriggle out of Copilot lawsuit • The Register
Lawsuits alleging GitHub Copilot breached licenses can move forward. Will be interesting to see how these cases are decided.
This is a fucked up detail:
The judge meanwhile rejected the defense argument that the plaintiffs should not be allowed to continue their claim pseudonymously based on death threats sent to the plaintiffs’ counsel.
Who is sending death threats to the lawyers of people trying to sue GitHub/Microsoft/OpenAI, and why? Something’s fishy there.
There is a “right” way to make something like GitHub CoPilot, but Microsoft did not choose that way. They chose one of the most exploitative options available to them. For that reason, I hope they face significant consequences, though I doubt they will in the current climate. I also hope that CoPilot is shut down, though I’m pretty certain it will not be.
Other than access to the data behind it, Microsoft has nothing special that allows it to create something like CoPilot. The technology behind it has been around for at least a decade. There could be a “public” version of this same tool made by a cooperating group of people volunteering, “leasing”, or selling their source code into it. There could likewise be an ethically-created corporate version. Such a thing would give individual developers or organizations the choice to include their code in the tool, possibly for a fee if that’s something they want or require. The creators of the tool would have to acknowledge that they have suppliers–the people who create the code that makes their tool possible–instead of simply stealing what they need and pretending that’s fine.
This era we’re living through, with large companies stomping over all laws and regulations, blatantly stealing other people’s work for their own profit, cannot come to an end soon enough. It is destroying innovation, and we all suffer for that. Having one nifty tool like CoPilot that gives a bit of convenience is nowhere near worth the tremendous loss that Microsoft’s actions in this instace are creating for everyone.
↳
In-reply-to
»
I was listening to an O’Reilly hosted event where they had the CEO of GitHub, Thomas Dohmke, talking about CoPilot. I asked about biased systems and copyright problems. He, Thomas Dohmke, said, that in the next iteration they will show name, repo and licence information next to the code snippets you see in CoPilot. This should give a bit more transparency. The developer still has to decide to adhere to the licence. On the other hand, I have to say he is right about the fact, that probably every one of us has used a code snippet from stack overflow (where 99% no licence or copyright is mentioned) or GitHub repos or some tutorial website without mentioning where the code came from. Of course, CoPilot has trained with a lot of code from public repos. It is a more or less a much faster and better search engine that the existing tools have been because how much code has been used from public GitHub repos without adding the source to code you pasted it into?
⤋ Read More
@carsten@yarn.zn80.net That’s a dissembling answer from him. Github is owned by Microsoft, and CoPilot is a for-pay product. It would have no value, and no one would pay for it, were it not filled with code snippets that no one consented to giving to Microsoft for this purpose. Microsoft will pay $0 to the people who wrote the code that makes CoPilot valuable to them.
In short, it’s a gigantic resource-grab. They’re greedy assholes taking advantage of the hard work of millions of people without giving a single cent back to any of them. I hope they’re sued so often that this product is destroyed.