Microsoft May Soon Allow IT Admins To Uninstall Copilot (bleepingcomputer.com) 41
Microsoft is testing a new Windows policy that lets IT administrators uninstall Microsoft Copilot from managed devices. The change rolls out via Windows Insider builds and works through standard management tools like Intune and SCCM. BleepingComputer reports: The new policy will apply to devices where the Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Copilot are both installed, the Microsoft Copilot app was not installed by the user, and the Microsoft Copilot app was not launched in the last 28 days. "Admins can now uninstall Microsoft Copilot for a user in a targeted way by enabling a new policy titled RemoveMicrosoftCopilotApp," the Windows Insider team said.
"If this policy is enabled, the Microsoft Copilot app will be uninstalled, once. Users can still re-install if they choose to. This policy is available on Enterprise, Pro, and EDU SKUs. To enable this policy, open the Group policy editor and go to: User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows AI -> Remove Microsoft Copilot App."
"If this policy is enabled, the Microsoft Copilot app will be uninstalled, once. Users can still re-install if they choose to. This policy is available on Enterprise, Pro, and EDU SKUs. To enable this policy, open the Group policy editor and go to: User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows AI -> Remove Microsoft Copilot App."
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(aka using their de facto monopoly in one product to force consumers to use or pay for unrelated products, which damages the global market in those unrelated products and reduces consumer choice)
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They were right, there is little to no chance they will be held accountable for it anywhere anytime soon.
Maybe eventually enough nations will take digital sovereignty seriously enough to ditch them, and then the EU will do something like they will against Apple or Google. But right now they fear reprisal. TBF they're right to fear, and they brought it on themselves by choosing the worst option, but it's not an irredeemable situation and there's never been a better time to switch.
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Yesterday, I was trying something that should be reasonably simple - and previously was on Paint: merging 3 images into 1, to make a new wallpaper. Somehow, I couldn't do it this time w/ Paint, so I put the question to Copilot, and it had no idea. Also, one of those images needed to be created out of a pdf, and there too, when I asked, Copilot fell flat on its face
I then posed that question to Gemini, and they suggested that I use either Adobe or Canva. I managed to create the image out of the pdf in C
Users can reinstall? (Score:4, Informative)
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The whole point of Group Policy is for administrators to set policies which can't be overridden by the user. So it really begs the point of why they're bothering if they can't adhere to their own design principles.
So close (Score:2)
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Remember, Microsoft is the king of bullshit.
LTSC? (Score:1)
Microsoft almost seems to be getting it...
Guessing the LTSC variants are still based on Win10, but I'm wondering how much freedom Microsoft has provided with those specific Enterprise versions.
I personally enjoyed working with them because you were allowed considerable freedom to strip them down and remove a lot of the unwanted bloat.
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The only way 'forward' may be MS forcibly downgrading Win 10 LTSC into Win 11 Pro: That will force small businesses to buy US HIPPA compliant add-ons to stop Microsoft's literal data theft.
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That will force small businesses to buy US HIPPA compliant add-ons to stop Microsoft's literal data theft.
That would generally be known as a firewall. Blocking *.source.telemetry would certainly be the way I would approach an Enterprise-wide infection of malware if I was fully aware of the source/cause.
HIPAA isn't the only compliance problem Microsoft faces. LTSC is relied on heavily in the offline (classified) world of the US Military and defense contractors because it can be stripped down for offline use. Guess we'll see how that AI battle goes in a few years.
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All we did was image them and verify that they booted, the uninstall the old equipment and verify that the new system booted properly after installation then we were done, we didn't have CACs to log in. We even did SCIFs, but
OR ... (Score:5, Insightful)
"Users can still re-install if they choose to." - OR ... when Windows performs an update. If you are still using Windows 11 and not looking into alternatives then you need to wake up.
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For my next computer, I'm looking at a Xeon workstation, maxed out w/ maybe 128GB RAM and 2TB storage. Then have ESXi on it, and then on top of that, have various OS VMs - FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Kali Linux, OS-X, KolibriOS, OS/2, ArcaOS, Minix (maybe), Qubes, ChromeOS Flex and finally Windows 7 and maybe 10. Not all of them will be connected to the Internet. If I decide to have a router VM, might go w/ pFsense
That way, nobody - not Microsoft, not Google, not Apple, not Linux Foundation, not Gnome, not Mozil
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I said you need to wake up, not down a complete bottle of no-doze! LOL
who actually uses copilot - anyone? (Score:2)
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Microsoft still does not understand the concept of consent, implied or explicit.
This should not be an opt-out, but an opt-in.
They FULLY AND COMPLETELY understand the concept of consent. They simply refuse to acknowledge it as a moral imperative, never mind being bound by it.
Profit, domination, privacy invasion, and data-mining are their only guiding forces. In their view morality, ethics, fair play, and empathy are for suckers. And the more people they can coerce into being suckers, the better they like it.
Microsoft needs to be broken up (Score:3)
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Office is now Copilot. "The Microsoft 365 Copilot App" (https://www.office.com/) Sure, it is a bunch of marketing BS that only piles onto the already confusing Copilot product/app/service.
Yeah it is a.... (Score:3)
Yeah it is a definite maybe from Microsoft.
--JoshK.
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Oh, I'm sure that they'll let you "uninstall" it, knowing that they're just going to reinstall it along with OneDrive and some unwanted Edge updates in the next Windows 11 feature release.
Microsoft has been playing this game for awhile now, giving end users the illusion of choice while cramming their shovelware in your face at every opportunity.
I don't care - I switched to linux (Score:2)
It's time for everyone to migrate away from windows. It's time to make Microsoft an irrelevance. I found it surprisingly easy to switch though I am just a humble retired embedded C software engineer and have never been an IT guru.
Reclaim your PC. It's time to remind yourself that PC stands for Personal Computer, and the idea of being dependent on a non-local login and some cloud out there is just fundamentally the wrong IT values.
Computers used to be fun! Do you remember those days! They can be yours again!
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At home, sure, been on Linux since 1995. The problem is we get forced to use it at work, on the work supplied computer. The trick now is to install WSL and then live in that as much as possible and not use Windows for anything (except IT generally forces you to use Outlook).
Re:I don't care - I switched to linux (Score:4, Insightful)
I dual boot Windows still, but I strictly have games installed on the Windows disk. Everything else is on a Linux disk that is encrypted (so Microsoft can't read it) and backed up (so Microsoft can't delete it).
Ideally I would run Windows in a VM with GPU passthrough, but configuring it and trying to license Windows sounds like a bigger pain.
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You clearly need to give Steam + Proton a try.
Diablo 4 @ 60 FPS is awesome, so is most game that don't try to install stupid privacy invasive kernel anti-cheat (because the game creators can't figure out cheaters from their server side or by analyzing datasets with the help of AI, so they need to add security from the client side, like if that ever worked well on the internet.... to do security on the client side... anyway)
We just need to stop paying attention to the big bully in the room, and let Microsoft
Why want Windows at all? (Score:2)
Linux supports gaming yet the craving remains.
Pretending to be a cartoon character is covered thanks to Valve.
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You forgot a bunch of footnote markers and asterisks after "Linux supports gaming". :)
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Would Windows actually mount Linux formatted partitions? Can it nowadays?
If so, why not actually mounting important data from a network nfs drive (like a drive on a network raspi or so)? Would make it easier to take your data in case of a fire, and you could mount it on your desktop, laptop, whatever, and be more independent/adaptable in terms of where you do your stuff... And it would be too far from Windows to be able to damage anything.
Right (Score:2)
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you can pull out edge, onedrive and a whole mess of other stuff via winget. But copilot is not one of those...
What, that was NOT possible until now? (Score:2)
Makes their imposter of an OS unsuitable for any professional use.
Why the caveats? (Score:2)
People want "Winux" (Score:2)
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The answer is simple. (Score:2)
Takes too long to attempt anti-spy on Windows (Score:2)
The AI feedback polling must be really bad (Score:2)
It's no secret that users dislike the direction Microsoft is taking Windows. The forced online account, the telemetry and invasion of privacy, and the advertisements are all objectionable, but it's the injection of AI everywhere, even/especially where it's not needed that has has caused the most pushback from users.
The criticism to all this has been deafening, but Microsoft has completely ignored it, dismissing user all concerns and forging on ahead. They have not only ignored user criticisms, they are dou