What you need to know
- Microsoft has unveiled a host of next-generation AI features coming with Windows 11 exclusively on Copilot+ PCs with powerful NPUs.
- One user bypassed these strict requirements and got Windows Recall running on Arm64 hardware.
- The feature works surprisingly well on unsupported hardware, but you’ll likely have a better experience on PCs with dedicated NPU hardware.
While Microsoft’s stringent requirements limit the new and controversial Windows 11 Recall feature to Copilot+ PCs with powerful NPUs like Qualcomm’s Snapdragon can be performed, noting Arm64 hardware (via TechRadar).
Great progress made by enabling Recall on current Arm64 hardware, no luxury X Elite in sight! ✨Should theoretically work on Intel/AMD too, OEMs only received Arm64 specific ML model bundles so not much I can do yet. Here’s a little demo video with screenray 🪄 pic.twitter.com/w57fF1LxiNMay 23, 2024
According to the video of the famous Windows hacker Albacore, the feature functions exactly as Microsoft explained. However, it’s clear that much of the Windows Recall experience doesn’t actually require an NPU. As you may know, an NPU (Neural Processing Unit) is designed to offload the processing power load from the GPU and CPU on PCs to a dedicated chip designed to handle these AI workloads.
The video shows how the screenray feature works on Windows 11 Recall. Screenray is when you activate context-sensitive mode and use Windows 11 Recall’s capabilities to retrace your steps.
RELATED: 5 reasons why you should (and shouldn’t) use Windows Recall
Albacore added that the feature “should theoretically also work on Intel/AMD; OEMs only received Arm64-specific ML model bundles, so there’s not much I can do yet.”
While Windows Recall apparently works without an NPU, it’s probably not something you want to enable on a PC that doesn’t have one. When an NPU is present, some Windows Recall functions are transferred to the NPU, freeing up your CPU and GPU for other tasks.
Windows Recall causes security and privacy issues
“One of the dreams we’ve always had is how we introduce memory,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella while speaking to The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern about Windows 11’s new and controversial AI feature, Windows Recall. “Right? Photographic memory in what you do on your PC? And now we have it.”
During Microsoft’s special Windows and Surface event, the company announced a host of next-generation AI features shipping to Windows 11 as part of the Windows 11 2024 Update (version 24H2), including Live Captions, Windows Recall and more. The latter stole the show, causing users to worry about security and privacy issues.
Windows Recall runs in the background of your PC and takes snapshots of everything you see and do, so you can search in natural language for everything you’ve ever done on your PC.
Microsoft promises that the feature is 100% privacy-focused as it runs on the device via NPU. It is presented to users as an opt-in experience and users can disable it at any time through the settings.
Additionally, you can prevent the feature from taking screenshots of specific apps or websites (stored locally on your PC). Users can also choose how long they want to keep the screenshots and how much space is devoted to this feature.
READ MORE: How to use Windows Recall in Windows 11
Interestingly enough, the only way to get the new Recall feature is to buy a new Copilot+ PC. Microsoft has remained quiet if/when it plans to bring next-generation AI features to traditional Windows 11 PCs without/with less powerful NPUs.
Windows 11 Recall is impressive and controversial, but at the same time it can help you achieve so much. And despite Microsoft’s 100% privacy-focused promise and running the feature locally with NPU on the device, users have openly expressed their reservations about the feature.
Some users have even indicated that they will soon switch to other operating systems such as Linux, as support for Windows 10 looms. Elon Musk even compares the AI function to a Black Mirror episode. In the meantime, the UK’s data watchdog is investigating Microsoft’s new controversial AI feature to determine safeguards to protect user privacy.
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