opt-in

Microsoft's latest in‑app prompt inside Microsoft Paint has quietly pulled back the curtain on a new experiment: selected Windows 11 users are being invited to opt into what the UI calls Microsoft AI Labs, a dedicated testbed for pre‑release AI features that — for now — mostly amounts to a...

I opened Paint and a small banner asked me to join “Windows AI Labs” — an opt‑in program that, according to the on‑screen card and an attached programme agreement, will let selected users test experimental AI features inside Microsoft Paint before those features are broadly released. Overview...

Google’s experimental Windows app aims to remove the friction of switching windows to look something up — a floating, Spotlight‑like search bar you summon with Alt + Space that can search local files, installed apps, Google Drive, and the web, and that folds in Google Lens and the company’s AI...

Google has moved to eliminate a key friction point for organisations running workloads across multiple cloud providers in Europe and the UK, announcing that its Data Transfer Essentials service will be available at no cost for customers processing workloads “in parallel” across two or more...

Microsoft’s vision of a future Windows where you “talk to your PC” is less a finished product than an aggressive bet on changing workplace culture — and whether that bet pays off depends as much on human behavior as on silicon and software. Background: what Microsoft is saying — and what PCWorld...

Copilot Vision is the clearest sign yet that Microsoft wants your PC to be an active, visual partner — not just a passive tool — and that ambition already makes a meaningful difference in real-world workflows while raising important questions about reliability, privacy, and when to trust a...

Microsoft has changed how it handles voice recordings in a way that directly affects what you can see and manage on the Microsoft Privacy Dashboard: new voice clips contributed for product improvement are now de‑identified and are no longer associated with individual Microsoft accounts, which...

Microsoft recently changed how it handles voice recordings used to improve speech recognition — new voice clips are no longer tied to your Microsoft account and therefore won’t appear on the Privacy Dashboard, but legacy recordings and certain metadata remain viewable and removable through the...

Microsoft’s public guidance on voice data makes a clear point: voice recordings gathered by speech-recognition features are used to provide and improve services, but the way that data is collected, stored, and displayed in users’ privacy controls has changed significantly — especially since...

Users of the free version of SUPERAntiSpyware are now being offered the Ask Toolbar. The difference, however, is that, unlike other inclusions of the toolbar, it is an opt-in rather than a pre-checked (opt-out) option. I don't believe it was widely advertised, but SAS was acquired by...