Microsoft faces Copilot backlash
Mozilla publicly criticised Microsoft for installing Copilot on Windows without clear user consent, framing it as a privacy and choice issue. (cybersecuritynews.com) Separately, a recent Windows update (KB5079473) broke Microsoft‑account sign‑ins on Windows 11 and produced a misleading offline error, which Microsoft has acknowledged. (windowsnews.ai)
Microsoft is facing a two-front Windows problem: backlash over how Copilot was pushed onto users, and a March update that broke account sign-ins. (blog.mozilla.org) Mozilla said on April 9 that Copilot “wasn’t offered” to many Windows users but “installed on them,” pointing to automatic app installs, a dedicated Copilot keyboard key, and default taskbar pinning in Windows 11. Mozilla policy vice president Linda Griffin said Microsoft moved “without user consent.” (blog.mozilla.org) Microsoft had already signaled a retreat on March 20. Pavan Davuluri, the company’s executive vice president for Windows and Devices, said Microsoft would be “more intentional” about Copilot in Windows and would reduce entry points in Snipping Tool, Photos, Widgets, and Notepad. (blogs.windows.com) The complaint lands after Microsoft spent months weaving Copilot into core Windows surfaces and Microsoft 365 software. Microsoft’s own deployment guidance says Windows devices with Microsoft 365 desktop apps automatically install the Microsoft 365 Copilot app in the background, though the company says that rollout is now temporarily disabled because of a technical issue. (github.com) That same period also produced a reliability problem. Microsoft’s March 10 cumulative update, KB5079473, for Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2 introduced a bug that could block Microsoft-account sign-ins in apps even when the device was online. (support.microsoft.com) Microsoft later listed the issue in Windows release health for both Windows 11 version 24H2 and 25H2. The company said only Microsoft-account sign-ins were affected, while organizations using Microsoft Entra work and school accounts were not. (learn.microsoft.com, learn.microsoft.com) Microsoft’s release-health pages say the sign-in problem was resolved on March 21 at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time through KB5085516. That fix closed a bug that hit consumer-facing apps such as Microsoft Teams Free and OneDrive after KB5079473. (learn.microsoft.com, learn.microsoft.com) Mozilla tied the Copilot dispute to a longer fight over Windows defaults. Its April 9 post cited past research on browser choice screens, Edge prompts, and link handling in Outlook and Teams as part of what it called a pattern of steering users back to Microsoft products. (blog.mozilla.org) Microsoft’s public response has been to narrow the AI rollout and emphasize Windows quality. For users, the immediate record is simpler: one Microsoft document says Copilot was set to install automatically on eligible PCs, and another says a routine Windows update broke sign-ins until a later patch fixed it. (github.com, learn.microsoft.com)
