[varunnrao]

This might be a contrarian view to the rest of this thread but I think this is a decisive move by Microsoft. AI-enabled OSes are a part of the future (for mainstream consumers at the very least). By sticking with Recall despite the initial backlash, I think Microsoft is showing they're a serious player.

MSFT would not risk their enterprise and government business with features like Recall if they weren't sure that it had a need and requirement at some level. Fundamentally, MSFT isn't a company that preempts the needs of their users and haven't been for the past 25 years. They've lagged behind mobile and then cloud because none of their main customers thought they were important. They face they're going on the front foot is indicative that they have a larger strategic play going on here.

Coming to the product itself there appear to be sufficient controls in place on Recall. It's opt-in even if it cannot be uninstalled. It's all on-device and allocates specific space on the PC. I can specify if I don't want it to take snapshots of certain apps and it doesn't take snapshots of private browsing by default. IT teams can manage Recall through policies AND users can have further fine grained control over their settings beyond that. It's great that MSFT have included these right from the start because if we're frank, not all other tech companies would have thought it through.

Personally, I wouldn't use Recall but I can see the appeal and usefulness -- for both consumers and IT teams. You ask your computer what you did on so-and-so date and it'll tell you? That's great and what computers should do -- take cognitive load off of our minds. Plus it's a great audit trail in the office.

My only gripe with it -- as with anything MSFT really -- is security. I'm not entirely sure MSFT would be able to stop people writing malware that explicitly steal Recall data. I hope they have safeguards but being closed source that's the best we can expect unfortunately.

I know HN users are more likely to be anti-MSFT and more tech savvy than the average consumer -- it's a bit like the tech enthusiasts buying smart products and the senior engineer living alone in a forest off-grid. But what we have to remember that we're the exception than the rule. Most people are tech-illiterate and have no inclination towards learning more or towards spending more time with their computers. Products like this are for them.