One of my best friends sent me a link to a TikTok video while I was driving yesterday. When I finally got around to watching it, I wanted to disbelieve that anyone at Microsoft could be so damn stupid… but then, I remembered Windows ME and Windows Vista.

So, par for the course, really…

Here’s the video so you can watch it for yourself: https://www.tiktok.com/@perezbrenna/video/7380169309856746798

Here are a couple links related to the fate of Recall…

https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/microsoft-delays-recall-rollout-amid-3259035/

https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/microsoft-drops-recall-from-copilot-plus-pc-launch/

If the major game developers coded their games for Linux or Mac, I’d disassemble my Windows gaming box and never look back. As it is, I’m giving serious consideration to air-gapping it. And transferring new games via external SSD.

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So, I get it… kind of. AI–which isn’t truly AI, but I suppose it’ll do until Skynet comes along–is the latest shiny boondoggle that every tech company has to have some iteration of, or they’re falling behind and no longer relevant.

I don’t agree with that mentality, either.

I completely understand and appreciate the need to innovate and improve. That’s part of why I try to make each new story I tell better than the one I just finished. But I also think there’s something to be said for knowing what you as a company do and making damn sure you do it better than anyone else. I feel like Microsoft has missed this boat multiple times, no matter how often it arrives at the dock. (I’m looking at you, Windows ME and Windows Vista.)

Ever since Microsoft went the route of forced updates (a definite double-edged sword), I have problems trusting them.

If I’m being 100% honest, it’s stupid shit like this that make me look longingly toward Linux as my primary operating system. Yes… it kinda requires a little more advanced tech skills, but a person doesn’t really have to be a power user or tech geek to learn and adapt to it. But being said tech geek, perhaps my conclusion in this is a tad flawed.

For me, switching full-time to Linux isn’t really feasible. It can’t do one crucial thing as well as Mac can… format my books with Vellum. Vellum (https://vellum.pub) is Mac-only at this point, and I became almost 99.9% Apple when I grew tired of hopping over to my used MacBook to format my stories. As much as I might stare longingly in the direction of Linux, I doubt I’ll switch at this point.

So, I may just stop playing games. I dunno. Of course, it’s also possible that I’ll forget about this in six months, fire up the Windows box, and download all the updates anyway.  🤣

And yes, I know that Apple is hopping on the “AI bandwagon,” too, with their upcoming release of Apple Intelligence. I personally don’t feel that their products need it, but there’s nothing I can do about that. And besides, like I wrote above, I’m kinda stuck with them until Vellum has a Linux version.

Speaking of macOS updates, I’m looking forward to the non-AI enhancements in the next release of macOS. The one I’m looking forward to the most is their version of window snapping, as macOS has long suffered in that regard. I’m cautiously optimistic it’ll be pretty good.

All right. I’ve ranted enough. Time to go write for a little bit.

After all… these stories won’t tell themselves!