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Windows 11 adds AI agent that runs in background with access to personal folders
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Re: Windows 11 adds AI agent that runs in background with access to personal folders
#92It's an agentic OS now. It acts as an agent on behalf of Microsoft and its business partners, and against your interests.
Funny that’s exactly what the “more intelligent Siri” was promised to be too but for “brand” reasons, there was less of a backlash. Either way, we have Silicon Valley agents and mini agents running around our gadgets now.
That's what the AI agents at MS and Apple told told their respective companies to do.
Re: Windows 11 adds AI agent that runs in background with access to personal folders
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think in this case, Microsoft has shown they don't respect the user when they force shutdown for system updates. This has happened during my time working retail and the mom and pops are helpless when this happens. I would never trust Microsoft to bake ai agents in..
> shown they don't respect the user when they force shutdown for system updates Are you familiar with the prior state of things that explicitly motivated this change?
Why does that matter? I should be allowed to explicitly chose the risks I want to take. Not microsoft. Especially not for microsoft to decide, no matter what I'm doing, or what I have open and unsaved on my computer, now is the time they think my risk is too great and tuesday has passed, so reboot reboot reboot.
Re: Windows 11 adds AI agent that runs in background with access to personal folders
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are you kidding? This is pure theft. If I got into your computer and accessed your Documents and Desktop, I'd be in jail but its OK when Microsoft does it.
Most apps on Windows can already access those folders though, except for UWP/AppContainer apps (which require particular capabilities to access them). I think the same is generally still true of the equivalents on most Linux distributions despite that things like SELinux exist.
That, and how many commenters in this thread are using something like Claude Code with their src directory as context? This is no different. It’s [claude code/gemini CLI/codex] but for non-devs and with a GUI instead of a TUI.
I feel like everyone here is overly dismissive of this because it’s cool to hate Windows in these parts, but this could be genuinely useful for your average office drone. Much like we love to shit on Copilot for M365 but it’s been extremely useful to the non-tech folks at my work.
Re: Windows 11 adds AI agent that runs in background with access to personal folders
#95> Instead of letting an agent act directly as you, Windows spins up this extra workspace, gives it limited access (like specific folders such as Documents or Desktop), and keeps its actions isolated and auditable. > Each agent can have its own workspace and access rules, so what one agent can see or do doesn’t automatically apply to others, and you stay in control of what they’re allowed to touch. This actually sound…
I disagree. Maybe certain sensitive things are outside that folder such as browser cookies, but most users have a LOT of sensitive stuff there. "Tax forms 2023.pdf" for instance. It's similar to UAC - a good and important protection, but fundamentally if you're letting code run with access to your plain old non-administrator documents that's where the biggest data threats are.
> but most users have a LOT of sensitive stuff there. "Tax forms 2023.pdf" for instance.
So don’t give it access?
It clearly says it’ll have granular ACLs. How is this any different from something like Gemini CLI or Claude Code where you’re running it in your src directory?
It’s basically that, but for non-devs and with a GUI instead of a TUI.
Re: Windows 11 adds AI agent that runs in background with access to personal folders
#96Mmh, I've always wanted my gaming PC to run a useless background agent to eat up CPU cycles that could have been used for my game. Oh well, if I didn't want that, I could just consider using a Steam Machine, which Valve just announced.
> run a useless background agent to eat up CPU cycles Hey, that's not fair, won't this eat up GPU cycles? ;)
Not if it uploads all your data to the cloud and analyzes it there!
Re: Windows 11 adds AI agent that runs in background with access to personal folders
#97Just checked my Windows (i have latest). It has Settings -> AI components tab. It has "There are no AI components currently installed". I will let it stay this way till i need it. I like AI, but only when i control what it does.
> I will let it stay this way till i need it. I guarantee it will stay that way only until Microsoft decides you need it, and then they will just silently enable it and bury the option to disable it.
In the runup to Windows 10, Microsoft was trying to push a patch that enabled telemetry - KB2952664.
I didn't want Microsoft to poll my machine for data Microsoft would not describe to me in detail, so I uninstalled the patch and deselected it so it wouldn't re-install. I generally didn't read through the patches at the time, and and usually just let Microsoft update do it's thing, so I wasn't really in the habit of refusing Windows updates, though.
The problem with KB2952664 was that Microsoft kept re-issuing this stupid patch, which re-selected it for upgrades. This happened quite a number of times. Then, when they discovered that people kept blocking KB2952664, they re-issued the patch, again, but this time numbered KB3068708 so it wouldn't be blocked, and did in fact bypass my then-current setting that disabled automatic Windows updates.
Then, Microsoft added the telemetry, again, but this time they included it with a patch labeled as a security update: KB4507456.
Right before Windows 10 came out, Microsoft added what they called an optional prompt to allow Windows to automatically upgrade to 10. I refused the upgrade, but on launch day, came downstairs to find that Microsoft had upgraded my PC anyway, and did so clean - I lost every file on my system.
The dark patterns that Microsoft uses to trick non-computer-savvy people into using OneDrive, or non-local accounts are downright diabolical. They couch the OneDrive setup in terms like "Your computer and your data are not protected! You are at risk of lowered file and computer security. Click here to resolve these issues."
Microsoft relies on ignorance to push this absolute bullshit on unsuspecting people, and in a just world, the execs that dreamed this up would be prosecuted under RICO.
And yet, there are serious computer professionals that clearly understand what Microsoft is doing here, but continue to use Windows. Convenience trumps all, apparently.
Re: Windows 11 adds AI agent that runs in background with access to personal folders
#98> Instead of letting an agent act directly as you, Windows spins up this extra workspace, gives it limited access (like specific folders such as Documents or Desktop), and keeps its actions isolated and auditable. > Each agent can have its own workspace and access rules, so what one agent can see or do doesn’t automatically apply to others, and you stay in control of what they’re allowed to touch. This actually sound…
I disagree. Maybe certain sensitive things are outside that folder such as browser cookies, but most users have a LOT of sensitive stuff there. "Tax forms 2023.pdf" for instance. It's similar to UAC - a good and important protection, but fundamentally if you're letting code run with access to your plain old non-administrator documents that's where the biggest data threats are.
But how is this worse? If you run an agent now, it will run with your privileges. If you run an agent after this feature, it will run with limited privileges as specified by you.
Heaps of ranting here about agents sucking down private data to Microsoft servers without your knowledge, where a cursory look at this feature is to give you more control if you actually want to use agents. Sure, it might be learned reflex behavior, but that is exactly what OP was talking about.
Re: Windows 11 adds AI agent that runs in background with access to personal folders
#99windows 10 LTSC. the last remotely decent windows, i'm using it to the grave :-)
I would argue that Windows 2000 was the last decent version of Windows. Fast, non-bloated, ran DirectX and games better than Windows 98 ever did, and as stable an operating system as I'd ever run.
Re: Windows 11 adds AI agent that runs in background with access to personal folders
#100I could not get into the article, but the wayback machine can https://web.archive.org/web/20251118002918/https://www.windo... If people do not want this spyware, we all here know what OS they can move to :)
TempleOS?