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Patch reliability is unclear. Unless you have an immediate, pressing need to install a specific patch, don't do it. |
FYI: What’s happening in the future with adblockers has been explained over on ghacks by Martin Brinkmann.
All Chromium-based browsers, including Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave, Opera, or Vivaldi, won’t support best in class adblockers anymore.
Firefox users have little to be concerned about when using the best in class adblocker out there..
thereagain, uBlock Origin works more efficiently on gecko browsers anyway.
Prefer an option to run Google Search sans AI?
Instructions for Chromium and Gecko based browsers..
Chrome, Brave, Edge, Firefox and derivatives.
Check it out over on: ghacks
Tested on Firefox and ESR which both work well here as a fallback browser search engine.
Big shout to to Martin Brinkmann for the blog!
For Firefox:
about:config
browser.urlbar.update2.engineAliasRefresh
Create NEW bolean and set to TRUE
[Restart browser]
Load about:preferences to display interface.
select search options.
Click on the [ADD] button.
Type any name for the search engine
eg: Googlenot
Add
https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14
into the Engine URL field.
Type any alias, eg: @googlenot
Click on Add Engine.
Scroll to the top of the page.
Select the newly created search engine as the default search engine
or keep it as a secondary option.
Run a test search..
UCPD (User Choice Protection Driver)
is still getting disabled here, I like risc 
Another article with growing public replies by Martin Brinkmann:
https://www.ghacks.net/2024/04/08/new-sneaky-windows-driver-ucdp-stops-non-microsoft-software-from-setting-defaults/
Bingo. Does not install with Edge Canary – just with Edge beta
See Martin Brinkmann’s 25-Mar-2024 ghacks.net article Microsoft Copilot App Getting Installed on Windows Devices which states in part:
“… A quick check on a test system did not reveal the app initially. It did appear, however, after Microsoft Edge was updated to the latest version on the system … Note that you may use the uninstall option to remove it again from the system. A click on “advanced options” reveals some details. The app’s version is 1.0.3.0 and the site is 0 bytes at the time. This suggests that it is a placeholder app that has no functionality of its own at the time. …”
I checked at Settings | Apps | Apps and Features and now see this Microsoft Copilot v1.0.3.0 app was installed on my system on 22-Mar-2024, which is likely the same day my MS Edge browser upgraded from Version 122.0.2365.106 to Version 123.0.2420.53 (see the stable channel release notes <here>) on my Win 10 Pro v22H2 machine.
That would also support Susan Bradley’s conclusion in post # 2650482 that you got an early preview of this Copilot app because you have a BETA edition of MS Edge installed on your computer.
Kudos to Alex5723 for posting a link to that ghacks.net article today in his topic Microsoft Copilot installed (probably with the new Edge update).
————
Dell Inspiron 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.4170 * Firefox v124.0.0 * Microsoft Edge v123.0.2420.53 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.24020.7-1.1.24020.9 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.11.320-1.0.2302 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783
Interesting that you chose to quibble over the definition of an “email client” instead of addressing the substantive issue, which is that Microsoft is putting copies of users’ communications from other email providers in its own cloud. From the XDA Developers article:
The offloading of the client functionality of email to the cloud also removes the ability for security engineers or researchers to easily inspect what the client is doing… It’s also important to remember that this access is ongoing. It’s no longer possible to stop Microsoft’s access to your emails by simply closing Outlook. Users may log in to Outlook on their desktop to test it out, decide they don’t like it, and simply stop using it without signing out. Until the user does sign out (or revokes the session elsewhere), Microsoft will retain ongoing access to their data.
Martin Brinkmann of ghacks.net states the issue plainly:
The new Outlook for Windows application will replace Mail and Calendar, and also classic Outlook. Problem is, it may transfer third-party email logins to Microsoft and gives Microsoft full access to all emails, contacts and events.
[…]
Windows users need to be very careful when it comes to the new Outlook. We recommend not to use it with third-party accounts at the time of writing until Microsoft publishes an official statement about this.
What to expect in Firefox 119 has been published by Martin Brinkmann:
https://www.ghacks.net/2023/10/24/firefox-119-ships-with-security-fixes-and-privacy-enhancements/
I use Ublock Origin as my adblocking. In setting under my filters, I have added the line –
http://www.ghacks.net##div.post,a.home-posts,a.home-category-post:not(:has-text(/Martin Brinkmann|Mike Turcotte|Ashwin/))
I found it in one of the comments on an article but I do not remember which one.
Ok, I’m a idiot. I was somewhere on the internet reading, and in a comments section some people were discussing the authors on Ghacks.net. They said only Brinkmann and Ashwin write articles, all the other articles are AI-generated from advertising and such. It made sense to me, all fluff. Then someone said, well, here’s how to limit the authors that show up on GHacks – and they listed a method to do that. It works!
However, I have no clue what I did to do that. And I can’t find where I read it. So here is the ask – does someone know what I did to filter the authors? I’d appreciate it, only because I read Ghacks most days, and sooner or later they will change authors, I’d like to be able to modify that filter. Thanks.
Wrt “Microsoft says that it will be possible to re-enable these options via Registry changes”, Martin Brinkmann has some Registry changes in his article about this subject at https://www.ghacks.net/2023/06/16/microsoft-is-removing-some-folder-options-in-windows-11/
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