[HN Gopher] Starting in 2023, Windows 11 will require new laptop...
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Starting in 2023, Windows 11 will require new laptops to have a
front webcam
Author : rolph
Score : 30 points
Date : 2021-06-29 17:18 UTC (5 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.windowscentral.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.windowscentral.com)
| MeinBlutIstBlau wrote:
| This just means that if these laptops are going to have Windows
| 11, they need to have a camera. It's not that the OS will not
| work without it. It's just MS saying, "You need a camera on your
| laptop." It's no different than all Macbooks having a camera,
| except Microsoft is dictating the OEM market needs to adhere to
| that standard.
| aejnsn wrote:
| You're exactly right in your statement. But of all the
| experiences they could control, the most important is a webcam?
|
| That webcam is placed on an OS known for intrusive advertising
| and data collection, with OEMs known for pushing pre-installed
| software that's invasive, if not full-blown malware.
|
| You're exactly right about the facts. The problem is the
| perception of the theme here.
| bluerival wrote:
| This is most certainly a security initiative to standardise
| biometrics (Windows Hello). Windows wants everyone to use
| their "FaceID" because it's more secure.
| Arrath wrote:
| I'll believe that biometric security measures are more
| secure when they are fully protected under the Fifth
| Amendment, rather than by a few shaky court cases that
| could be overturned.
|
| https://slate.com/technology/2019/01/fifth-amendment-
| biometr...
|
| https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2019/01/14/feds
| -...
| MeinBlutIstBlau wrote:
| I'm fairly certain that the reason for it has more to do with
| standardizing laptops to always have webcams and that it's
| expected now that work from home is a more commonly accepted
| thing. Also every phone has a camera. It's not like this is a
| new concept in hardware requirements.
|
| Requiring cameras to laptops sounds like a better feature
| than having to waste time finding out "does it have a
| camera." Especially ensuring they have to be hi-res. Phones
| have had cameras forever. I don't get how the expectation
| that a laptop should not have a camera. It's not like it's
| any more invasive than the geolocation data google siphons
| constantly.
| krylon wrote:
| I own 7 laptops, and with the exception of a ~1995 ThinkPad, they
| all have webcams builtin.
|
| None of these will ever run Windows 11 (or any other version),
| but of all the things I have heard so far about Windows 11, this
| is relatively low on my outrage list. (Okay, strictly speaking,
| the ancient ThinkPad runs Windows 95, but I don't actually use
| it, I just keep it because I like old hardware.)
| mhoad wrote:
| WTAF? Was this supposed to be some kind of security thing?
|
| This misreads the room so badly on where people are at in 2021
| when it comes to the idea of tech companies and consumer privacy.
| endemic wrote:
| The article is light on details, but of course there's always
| this:
|
| > For those concerned with privacy, this means a trip to the
| office supply store to grab more tape with which to cover up
| the pesky little lenses.
| lb1lf wrote:
| -I am surprised not more vendors of laptops have done like
| Lenovo does (at least on the X1 series) - there's a plastic
| slider which goes over the lens, showing a bright orange dot
| when it has disabled the camera.
|
| Seems so cheap, simple and useful that there probably is a
| patent keeping others from doing it. Sigh.
| Lammy wrote:
| Good luck with that https://old.reddit.com/r/blackmagicfucker
| y/comments/kaxn0j/s...
|
| Also good luck taping up the microphone.
| xg15 wrote:
| Even if not, if the camera is required for login/screen
| unlock, have fun removing and reapplying that tape several
| dozen times a day.
| nailer wrote:
| It's not. You can use a PIN or a password.
| HWR_14 wrote:
| Isn't the remote made out of IR-transparent plastic? The
| privacy shields you tape onto a webcam should be IR-opaque.
| (Or they should be redesigned).
|
| I believe best practice to disable a microphone is
| superglue over the membrane.
| oarsinsync wrote:
| > _This misreads the room so badly on where people are at in
| 2021 when it comes to the idea of tech companies and consumer
| privacy._
|
| (Some) Tech people, politicians, and politicos, sure.
|
| The average person still uses Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp,
| Twitter, Google services, and/or believes Apple's marketing on
| respecting user privacy.
|
| Also, this is 2 years out. Either there will be major changes
| between now and then which will result in a change to this
| decision, or there wont. I wouldn't put my money on the former.
| dagw wrote:
| I know several pretty 'average' computer users with a piece
| of tape in front of their laptop camera.
| throwntoday wrote:
| What part of Apple's privacy policy is unbelievable?
| winthrowe wrote:
| This looks like part of their push to passwordless. Decent
| camera plus TPM means that FaceID style unphishable FIDO2
| credentials can become default moving forward.
| LorenPechtel wrote:
| And how do you handle letting someone else use your machine?
| contravariant wrote:
| That's not really the best argument in favor of passwords.
| petree wrote:
| You install Linux and tell Microsoft to fuck off with their
| stupid ideas.
| frombody wrote:
| It also means that you can't use computers running Windows 11
| inside secure areas.
| oarsinsync wrote:
| > _It also means that you can 't use computers running
| Windows 11 inside secure areas._
|
| It means you can't use computers running _retail editions_
| of Windows 11 inside secure areas.
|
| These kinds of requirements will absolutely not be
| mandatory under enterprise / volume licensing.
| s1artibartfast wrote:
| Reporting seems hyperbolic. What happens if your hardware doesn't
| have a camera? OS won't load or boot?
| anotherman554 wrote:
| Presumably it's saying OEMs will not be allowed to sell laptops
| with copies of windows preinstalled unless the laptop has a
| camera.
| rvz wrote:
| Oh dear.
|
| On top of that, the new Windows 11 OEM laptops will probably come
| with Windows 11 Home pre-installed and requires a Microsoft
| Account, which not only I warned against two years ago [0], but
| is an instant no deal.
|
| Comes to no surprise as to how Microsoft really wants to collect
| everything about you. Even if it you get a laptop with a Pro
| version installed, they will still make it harder for you to
| avoid a Microsoft account.
|
| [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21137699
| squarefoot wrote:
| Thank you, Microsoft! Thousands, potentially millions, of users
| will be motivated to migrate to other OSes, also thanks to
| Windows 11 insane hardware requirements they will find tons of
| essentially free hardware that will run their new OS with no
| issues.
| kungito wrote:
| Sometimes I laugh at arguments like this, sometimes I get
| pissed of. You are seriously disconnected from reality if you
| think this will change anything except all laptops having a
| front webcam. I haven't seen one without it ever anyways
| squarefoot wrote:
| There are some realities I may have been connected in the
| past, in which a laptop with a camera cannot enter if it is
| yours, and won't have a camera at all if it's from the
| employer.
|
| The point however was Microsoft imposing unnecessary hardware
| requirements, and my comment stands since from a Linux (BSD,
| whatever) point of view, lots of Windows users ditching their
| perfectly good few years old PC means a huge load of good
| hardware to be taken almost for free since our demand would
| never match the huge offer.
|
| Regarding messing with hardware requirements, I seem to
| recall Microsoft did a similar thing when they dictated that
| netbooks up to a certain size could not have more than this
| CPU and that amount of RAM to be eligible for receiving
| discounted OEM XP copies; it was called ULCPC or something
| like that. In that case they didn't set the minimum bar, but
| the maximum one. Which of course also produced tons of
| garbage since netbooks too slow or non upgradeable over 1 Gig
| RAM became hard to use with Linux too.
| hans-moleman wrote:
| This website is an echo chamber many times more niche than
| other social websites. It's mainly tech nerds with very
| similar beliefs and backgrounds. Opinons here, as with most
| websites, should be taken with a grain of salt.
| _-david-_ wrote:
| What laptop doesn't have a front webcam especially one that is
| at least 720p (I assume that is what is considered hd)? You can
| buy a $150 laptop and it likely would work.
| dagw wrote:
| Some so called gaming laptops don't. The Asus G14 for example
| was a series of extremely popular and well reviewed laptops
| without a front webcam. They where even quite popular with
| developers since they offered class leading CPU and GPU
| performance in a relatively lightweight package.
| _-david-_ wrote:
| Thanks. I didn't realize that. I assumed with the size of
| gaming laptops they would all have webcams.
| dagw wrote:
| Dell also at least used to offer some of their Latitude
| laptops without webcams, probably targeting people and
| industries working in situations where cameras in certain
| areas where forbidden.
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