Feeling Confused - Co-Pilot and a Laptop

Eyeful

Holly, the two most recommended Linux distros for those moving away from Windows are (a) Linux Mint (b) Zorin.  

booneruk

HollyandCo said:

booneruk said:

mta999 said:

why don't you just uninstall it - or am I missing something ?

Missing the desire for the tin foil hat brigade to conduct their scare rambling.

I've been a Windows 11 user for years. I've never seen any adverts, it also seems to be frugal with power consumption from what I can see. My world has not ended, or even been impaired in any perceivable way from running it.

I disable a few bits and bobs, but I'd do the same on any operating system I installed. That's the tech geek in me.

I've had a bit of a giggle at your post.

I am a bit of a tin foil hat person myself.  I could have directed my questions to my son, but I always like to do my research before discussing with him.  My son actually has a Master's in Cyber Security. 

I do find the hysteria around certain things within the realm of computing quite amusing. 

How am I being tracked? what ill has it brought me? I did spend a while after getting a Google Home device randomly saying "Pink crop top" around my flat - as a 40+ year old single male, I've never uttered this sequence of words in my entire life. Did I start seeing adverts for pink crop tops? No. Even if I did - would it be a world ender?

Don't get me onto Cookies and how people see them as mortal threats.

Honestly, I've been a Windows user for decades and I've encountered no ill, but we're all free to make our choices. As with all operating systems, Linux can bring its own problems. If it all installs and works straight away it's wonderful, but a problem might mean you're needing to delve into command line terminals and the need to modify configuration files and run arcane commands that would look like hieroglyphics to most.

Alderbank

HollyandCo said:

recordplayer said:

HollyandCo said:

So, basically I need a new laptop.  Current one is 7 years old and as soon as I move the laptop or touch the cable jack, it shuts down.  It won't hold any charge and only works when connected to the electric.  No visible battery to replace.  It's a Lenovo Ideapad 330s and Core i5.

I'm ready for a new one.   Recently my word documents keep getting interupted by somethingcalled co pilot that wants to interrupt the way i do things.  Its driving me bonkers.  And now I need a new Laptop, everything I look at is promoting this co-pilot thing.   Its just too stressful for me.

What laptop should I buy?  Can I simply just turn this co-pilot thing off?

Also, every year Microsoft have been charging me about £60 for Microsoft 365.  They have now upped this to £85 year to include the co-pilot thing.  I even amended my renewal to say I didn't want co-pilot but they still took the higher amount and lumbered me with it.

I dont even want to pay a licence so any advice on what I can do is appreciated.

I 100% sympathise with you. Co-Pilot is Microsoft's AI 'Assistant' which also sends you information to MS servers which is then used for targeted marketing. I completely sympathise with you on Windows 11, it's and awful, advert flinging, power hungry, data exfiltrating piece of junk. Office 365 is just as bad and that is being 'enhanced' with Co-Pilot, so expect more of the same.

I would look at two options. A Chromebook would be a good place to start, but that still have Google's data grabbing fingerprints all over it, essentially they use your data to generate more ads to fling at you.

I would, personally, look to a refurbished corporate laptop. They are generally higher end machines (which depreciate like crazy so they're a good deal), and it's actually good for the planet, as a side benefit. 

As a minimum, get off office 365, Frozen_up_north gives some cracking advice about buying a copy of Office so you don't need Office 365 subscription, eyeful and hubr both mention Libre Office and Mozilla OpenOffice, these are great, FREE, suites which are very powerful and will deal with most companies needs for office software, it's just everyone 'knows' MS Office and Office 365, and thinks that's the only game in town.

Finally, I would really look to install either Linux Mint or Ubuntu LTS on the new machine, both come with Libre Office baked in as standard in many distributions. It takes around 15 minutes to prepare a USB stick to install the operating system, using free tools, and when it's done, no more Microsoft, no more in operating system ads, no exfiltration of data for targeted advertising, no sell through to hook you on monthly subscriptions. It is also very secure and fast, and much more resistant to malware / ransomware.

Finally, if you are 'stuck' with Microsoft Windows 10 or 11, you should run crapfixer from GitHub. I'd post a link but right now I'm not allowed to.

This removes / cripples much of the data exfiltration rubbish in Wondows 10 & 11, and there is an option for it to disable Co-Pilot completely. I would not even think of running Windows without it.

Oh, and also, dump Edge and Chrome browsers, they have so many leaks and data holes in them it's a joke, they are an ad platform, not a browser to help you. Try using 'Brave'  browser, it's much more secure, has ad blocking built in, or 'Duck Duck Go' browser. Also try not using Google for searches, use Duck Duck Go instead, it doesn't collect data on you. If you must use Google search, use it from within one of the browsers mentioned above in Private or Incognito mode so they wipe your cookies at the end of each session.

Hope this helps. 

 Also, I'm not a fan of the Microsoft owner, so extra pleased to be getting rid of it!

That's interesting.

Which owner would that be? - Microsoft is a publicly traded company so there are lots of shareholders.

Almost all shares are owned by a few large, long established (the oldest was established in 1792), well regarded investment companies who invest in safe companies on behalf of pension funds, etc.

Steve Ballmer is the largest individual shareholder but he owns less than 5%.

HollyandCo

Alderbank said:

HollyandCo said:

recordplayer said:

HollyandCo said:

So, basically I need a new laptop.  Current one is 7 years old and as soon as I move the laptop or touch the cable jack, it shuts down.  It won't hold any charge and only works when connected to the electric.  No visible battery to replace.  It's a Lenovo Ideapad 330s and Core i5.

I'm ready for a new one.   Recently my word documents keep getting interupted by somethingcalled co pilot that wants to interrupt the way i do things.  Its driving me bonkers.  And now I need a new Laptop, everything I look at is promoting this co-pilot thing.   Its just too stressful for me.

What laptop should I buy?  Can I simply just turn this co-pilot thing off?

Also, every year Microsoft have been charging me about £60 for Microsoft 365.  They have now upped this to £85 year to include the co-pilot thing.  I even amended my renewal to say I didn't want co-pilot but they still took the higher amount and lumbered me with it.

I dont even want to pay a licence so any advice on what I can do is appreciated.

I 100% sympathise with you. Co-Pilot is Microsoft's AI 'Assistant' which also sends you information to MS servers which is then used for targeted marketing. I completely sympathise with you on Windows 11, it's and awful, advert flinging, power hungry, data exfiltrating piece of junk. Office 365 is just as bad and that is being 'enhanced' with Co-Pilot, so expect more of the same.

I would look at two options. A Chromebook would be a good place to start, but that still have Google's data grabbing fingerprints all over it, essentially they use your data to generate more ads to fling at you.

I would, personally, look to a refurbished corporate laptop. They are generally higher end machines (which depreciate like crazy so they're a good deal), and it's actually good for the planet, as a side benefit. 

As a minimum, get off office 365, Frozen_up_north gives some cracking advice about buying a copy of Office so you don't need Office 365 subscription, eyeful and hubr both mention Libre Office and Mozilla OpenOffice, these are great, FREE, suites which are very powerful and will deal with most companies needs for office software, it's just everyone 'knows' MS Office and Office 365, and thinks that's the only game in town.

Finally, I would really look to install either Linux Mint or Ubuntu LTS on the new machine, both come with Libre Office baked in as standard in many distributions. It takes around 15 minutes to prepare a USB stick to install the operating system, using free tools, and when it's done, no more Microsoft, no more in operating system ads, no exfiltration of data for targeted advertising, no sell through to hook you on monthly subscriptions. It is also very secure and fast, and much more resistant to malware / ransomware.

Finally, if you are 'stuck' with Microsoft Windows 10 or 11, you should run crapfixer from GitHub. I'd post a link but right now I'm not allowed to.

This removes / cripples much of the data exfiltration rubbish in Wondows 10 & 11, and there is an option for it to disable Co-Pilot completely. I would not even think of running Windows without it.

Oh, and also, dump Edge and Chrome browsers, they have so many leaks and data holes in them it's a joke, they are an ad platform, not a browser to help you. Try using 'Brave'  browser, it's much more secure, has ad blocking built in, or 'Duck Duck Go' browser. Also try not using Google for searches, use Duck Duck Go instead, it doesn't collect data on you. If you must use Google search, use it from within one of the browsers mentioned above in Private or Incognito mode so they wipe your cookies at the end of each session.

Hope this helps. 

 Also, I'm not a fan of the Microsoft owner, so extra pleased to be getting rid of it!

That's interesting.

Which owner would that be? - Microsoft is a publicly traded company so there are lots of shareholders.

Almost all shares are owned by a few large, long established (the oldest was established in 1792), well regarded investment companies who invest in safe companies on behalf of pension funds, etc.

Steve Ballmer is the largest individual shareholder but he owns less than 5%.

Wrong words used.  I should have said one of the co-founders.

HollyandCo

Eyeful said:

Holly, the two most recommended Linux distros for those moving away from Windows are (a) Linux Mint (b) Zorin.  

Thank you

Mee

Before you invest, it may be worth checking out some of the capabilities of other services such Google's office suite (Docs). See training videos by Learnit Training.
https://www.youtube.com/@LearnitTraining

Also, if you have a John Lewis nearby have a play on some of their laptops.

I would also check Which? - free online access at your local public library. Your library will also have a subscription to free magazine/newspaper services like BorrowBox and Press Reader - check out Computer Active for all round help and advice.

Some public libraries lend laptops so check that as a temporary option.

Eyeful

booneruk said:

Honestly, I've been a Windows user for decades and I've encountered no ill, but we're all free to make our choices. As with all operating systems, Linux can bring its own problems. If it all installs and works straight away it's wonderful, but a problem might mean you're needing to delve into command line terminals and the need to modify configuration files and run arcane commands that would look like hieroglyphics to most.

Many Windows users have also reported problems as well.
Like Windows updates bricking their computer!