Microsoft is silently installing Copilot onto Windows Server 2022

What the hell?!?!?! This is a server OS! It needs to be as light as possible and for the sake of server stability and security, admins carefully choose the installed apps. Microsoft can't just install new applications on a whim.

This is fuged up.

People in this thread seem to be missing this point.
This is windows server, not windows 11. The consequences is not "I'll have an annoying taskbar icon on my home computer", this is enterprise level interference that could affect large systems and thousands of users.
Linux Mint isn't an alternative to windows server.
- You're right ig, in that case grab Debian.
- Yeah but Fedora and Debian sure as shit are.
- Yep. I no longer have to administer Windows servers (everything I do is serverless these days) but I did for many years.
  Adding anything to a server without vetting it against policies is a huge no no. Back when I was doing it, a big part of our monthly update deployment was updating the test environment first so we knew we weren't about to break a bunch of shit for us and our customers. Not just "does this brick Windows server", but "do our applications still function" (usually yes, but the answer was no on several occasions over shit smaller than this).
  I don't know what adding copilot does. Is it going to accidentally break some custom application by accident because it's tied directly into the system? Is it going to report shit that I've already opted out of due to our data policies and possibly fuck up our audit compliance because of government regulations (defense, medical, and energy sectors have huge responsibilities in that area, just don't ask how I know)? How does it interact with our in-house developed software?
  Fuck, I dunno. That sounds like a nightmare for infrastructure and ops, several managers, government regulators, and a payday for legal.
- For sure, if you need paid support (which if you aren't a tech giant, a fledgling startup, or a system with no need for uptime metrics, you probally do) the you have:
  SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (aka SLES and only still Libre option in this category unfortunately)
  Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
  Ubuntu are
  if don't need paid support then Debian, OpenSuse, Rocky, or Fedora are all good picks.
- Almost any Unix can be an alternative for Windows Server. Never understood why it was used, other than tech illiteracy of lowly tech workers who only knew MS stack.
- You could install Rocky and be done
Stop resisting!!
Oh they can, as we see
That’s all true for consumer OS as well
I am jack’s complete pikachu face
Why is anyone surprised by this??!
- There is a truly baffling amount of people who imagine that Microsoft has suddenly turned into a good company.

That's a lawsuit waiting to happen.

No enterprise is going to want to deal with that and realistically they’re the only ones with the pockets to fight that battle.
- If introducing Copilot to server degrades service enough to trigger an SLA downstream, you can absolutely bet lawyers will get involved.
- Wonky server double post

That is fucked.

I'm already starting to transition to full Linux on my devices with the arrival of Windows 11 and Windows 10 reaching end of life in October next year. I never thought I'd see the day of this happening.

oh god, win10's dying next year?
i really need to transition the rest of my shit to Linux soon
- win10's dying next year?
  Windows 10 reaches End of Support on October 14, 2025, unless you opt for the paid Extended Security Updates (ESU) program (prices not released, that I saw), which some businesses with "legacy" apps do.
  https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/faq/windows#what-options-do-i-have-for-continuing-to-use-versions-of-windows-10-that-reach-end-of-support-on-october-14--2025-
Microsoft has been telegraphing these moves for years now tbh.
- That doesn't make it right.
  And not everyone can dump Windows for Linux. We run a lot of software that requires Windows. Changing is impractical if not impossible.
ITS THE YEAR OF THE LINUX DESKTOP! 🥂
- I doubt it. Regular folks are ignorant about those issues and what the technology involved implies. AI sounds cool until you realize every single action you take on your computer, every single word you say, everything you look at, is collected and sent to some machine which does god knows what with it.
  That plus the ads. The fucking ads. I'm so god damn tl saturated of seeing ads everywhere. But apparently most folks have grown some kind of immunity to it??

This stuff always makes me laugh. Firstly, yes absolutely, Microsoft shouldn’t do this sort of crap. But more importantly, the person complaining about it here is shouting out for the world to hear “I don’t know how to manage Windows servers properly!”. There is one single group policy setting that stops this from happening. A single, set-and-forget GPO. Anyone managing Windows environments that isn’t aware of this, shouldn’t be managing Windows environments.

This is a ridiculous statement. Copilot should be opt-in, not opt-out and the setting is new.
Perfectly reasonable by the sysadmin to not have that already set.
- Like I said, Microsoft shouldn’t do that crap. BUT the co-pilot setting has been around for 6 months. Long enough for any halfway decent sysadmin.
There are 5 million ways to configure windows and each have an absurd and almost by-design level of convolution. You can't possibly expect people to know about a new GPO immediately
- There is one GPO to disable co-pilot. One. It’s not even hard to find and has been available for more than 6 months.
  And yes I would absolutely expect someone whose job it is to manage Windows servers to know about it. And certainly, I would expect them to look it up before declaring to the world how bad at their job they are.
- That is why companies will hire good sys admins who do their job and stay on top of the important group policy settings. This absolutely would not be missed by any reasonably competent IT dept.
Let me see if I understand your logic. Microshit decides to push something sneakily on servers, and the OP mentions that he just found out about it, and never once does he mention that he doesn't know what to do about it, but and you assume he doesn't know, but and choose to blast him over your assumption.
Did I miss something?
- It wouldn’t have been installed at all if the OP did their job properly and had set the one config option. Microsoft doing shady things is hardly news. That’s why a good Windows sysadmin keeps and eye out for this sort of stuff.

In the spirit of these kinds of changes, I'd love to hear some honest Linux distribution recommendations. I'm leaning towards Ubuntu because it is the most widely advertised and UX focused from my perspective. But I've also heard good things about Arch. Any others I should be considering?

I'll probably not go full Linux any time soon - I want at least one Windows OS to play games on - so whatever option it should be dual-boot friendly.

Linux Mint. That's always the answer. It's lightweight, it's simple, it's easy, it does what you need. Even gaming. SomeOrdinaryGamers did a vidso on YT about installing it, it's pretty easy!
- PopOS too. Extremely easy to set up, ready to go.
Given that this is in a thread about Microsoft Server, I'd recommend using Debian as the distribution to replace Microsoft Server.
If you want a desktop, I'd start with a LiveCD version and familiarise yourself with the various available distributions on offer.
The intent of a LiveCD is essentially to boot into Linux without modifying your hard-disk and keeping your existing OS unchanged.
I'll note that many of these images are available for DVD or USB. Some will offer a mechanism to store data on your existing drive without wiping anything.
With USB drives being fast and cheap, you can also often use a LiveCD to install onto an external drive.
Finally, you can install a virtual machine on your computer and use it to run your Linux tests.
Are you looking for a Windows, server, replacement or desktop replacement? Your experience will differ depending on which one you're trying to replace.
For instance, if you're trying to replace Windows active directory services with a single Linux server, might have a bad time. I'm in the process of migrating from AD to FreeIPA, PowerDNS, and isc-dhcp (or something similar for DHCP).
- Sorry, forgot to specify in the post. But I'm looking for a desktop replacement. We thankfully don't use Windows Server anywhere at the moment.
I wouldn’t recommend arch as a first distro imo. I don’t see what the advantage would be for a newbie.
Personally I would recommend Fedora.
- Most people recommended Mint so far. What sorts of things do you like about Fedora?
For a distro that just works, Linux Mint.
In the spirit of these kinds of changes, I’d love to hear some honest Linux distribution recommendations. I’m leaning towards Ubuntu because it is the most widely advertised and UX focused from my perspective. But I’ve also heard good things about Arch. Any others I should be considering?
Depends on your needs and preferences. If you want an easy Linux distribution Linux Mint is a good choice. Arch Linux is indeed good but default Arch is not that suitable for new Linux users unless you're willing to read documentation. You can go for Garuda or EndeavourOS to have Arch with easy installers and GUI.
- I would top off with this advise: don't stress too much about the first distro you pick. It will likely not be the right for you anyway. You don't know what you like yet...
  You'll learn a lot about Linux along the way and eventually you know what you like and don't like, therefore choosing the right distro for you at your second attempt.
  That being said, I don't recommend Arch Linux for the first timers haha
"Dual boot friendly" means installing Linux on its own hard drive, just so you know. If you don't do that, it's likely the next Windows update will screw up the Linux bootloader. Maybe that's gotten better, but it's what I'd recommended from past experience.
Linux Server Distros:
Ubuntu Server = easier but with more bullshit out of the box (eg. snaps)
Debian Stable = a tad bit harder because it's cleaner out of the box.
Fedora Server = clean and easy, documentation may be a bit harder to follow, less community tutorials.
Arch & others = Just no. You don't want a rolling release for a server. You want older and thus stable, tested, software and drivers.
If you want a distro for general use:
Linux Mint = easiest of the bunch, but it has old packages that may not offer the best environment for gaming.
Fedora Based distros = middle ground between ubuntu based distros like Mint, and rolling release distros like Arch.
Arch based distros = bleeding edge drivers and packages (for better or worse), best for gaming. Manjaro could work for you, as it is not fully Arch.
Bazzite OS = It's an immutable Fedora based distro but with Arch customized to make it work like Steam OS all inside a container. It's unbreakable, easy to use, and game-ready. Has AMD & NVIDIA images ready to go.
My recommendation is to flash Ventoy on a thumbdrive load it up with all the recommended distros, and proceed to test drive the ones you think might work for you, and only time will tell which one is the best for your specific needs.
- I would replace Manjaro with Garuda in your recs, Manjaro will lead a new user into several thorn patches (way too easy to install from the AUR mostly, but the package update delay is also a pain with little justification)
- I use arch on a proxmox lxc in order to handle apps which does not have a debian repo. Using AUR saves me from manually recompiling/downloading on new releases. Wouldn't use it for a server at work though.
If not vanilla Ubuntu, I'd still suggest trying an Ubuntu derivative like Linux Mint or POP! OS. Ubuntu has a huge community, so in the event you run into issues it'll be easier to find fixes for it.
What you'll find is that Linux distros are roughly grouped by a "family" (my term for it anyway). Anyone can (theoretically, anyway) start from a given kernel and roll their own distro, but most distros are modified versions of a handful of base distros.
The major families at the moment are
Debian: A classic all-rounder that prioritizes stability over all else. Ubuntu is descended from Debian.
Fedora: Another classic all-rounder. I haven't used it in a decade, so I won't say much about it here.
Arch: If Linux nerds were car people, Arch is for the hot rodders. You can tune and control pretty much any aspect of your system. ... Not a good 1st distro if you want to just get something going.
There are many others, but these are the major desktop-PC distro families at the moment.
The importance of these families is that techniques that work in one (say) Debian-based distro will tend to work in other Debian-based distros... But not necessarily in distros from other families.
- Debian: A classic all-rounder that prioritizes stability over all else. Ubuntu is descended from Debian.
  And Zorin. I don't hear much about it but it's what I switched to from Win 10 and I've been liking it.
  That + Steam Proton has me playing my old Windows-only games.
Don't move to Arch. It's a great distro don't get me wrong but it's not for someone who isn't quite familiar with Linux. You need to choose every package on your system and configure it all.... Give yourself some time to know Linux.
Ubuntu is a great distro with a great out of box experience. The company behind it though has been making some choices I don't much care for so I've moved away from them. (They created a pretty crappy new packaging system, then started making the old, reliable packaging system use the new one without user consent)
OpenSuSe Tumbleweed is a great option. It has sane defaults, and nice versions of KDE and GNOME (two popular types of desktop environments, I'd recommend KDE if you're new to Linux - it's closer to the desktop philosophy you're used to. GNOME is great too but it's very opinionated and non-traditional, not for everyone.) It's also a "rolling release" distro, which means there's no big releases it just gets updated over time and provides you with very up to date packages. It's known to be quite stable which is unusual for a rolling-release distro (like Arch, for example).
Fedora is also a great choice - just follow a guide on how to get some media codecs on it (Fedora is big on not including software that isn't 100% open, but it's easy to add the few things you'll need). But it provides a great package manager, great KDE and GNOME versions, and all around very sane and stable. This is a traditional release distro with new versions every 6 months. You'll still get security and minor software updates between releases.
Whatever you choose, I think you'd be very surprised at what you CAN play under Linux with no problem. Outside of a few games (mostly due to anti-cheat which unfortunately rules out some - but not all - of the more popular multiplayer competitive games) there's really not much that doesn't run on Linux already nowadays.
- You do not need to "configure every package on your system" with Arch lol, that sounds more like NixOS. Arch is a totally fine distro for a new user who's willing to read a bit of documentation now and then.
I would go with Linux Mint if you don't want to tinker with it much, but Arch will allow you to be in the bleeding edge easily if you install things from the AUR but you could stay in the stable channels as well.
Regarding games, I'm mostly a Single Player kind of guy and basically everything I have tried so far just works if it's installed from Steam, for others you can use Lutris or Heroic Launcher but tinkering might be needed.
All of this just to say: I use Arch btw. It's been practically 2 years already since I haven't boot into Windows for gaming.
If you want something a little more fresh, I'd maybe avoid Arch as your first go and try openSUSE Tumbleweed. It strikes a balance between bleeding edge and stable (they call it "leading edge" I believe). Everything is tested before release and isn't too stale like Ubuntu/Debian flavors. I personally like KDE for the desktop environment but the installer lets you choose.
If you want to stick with Ubuntu or something similar, I'd recommend Linux Mint. I used it before switching to openSUSE.
Most options should be dual boot friendly but I'd recommend installing Windows first to avoid bootloader issues.
- Personally I think a new user will actually have an easier time with Arch, because when they inevitably do need to look up help, it's much easier to find relevant forum posts (not to mention the excellent wiki) for Arch then openSUSE. Their documentation is good, don't get me wrong, but they have a far smaller community. I also found the package ecosystem more confusing than most -- the package manager is very powerful, but at the cost of intuitive functioning.
Debian stable on servers. Debian testing on the daily driver.
Gives you a rock solid server, that will pull absolutly no suprises.
And your daily driver gives you a playground for what comes in the next upgrade.
The most important answer seems to be missing:
You don't need to do any distro hopping or even care. Unless you picked a dead one or need something really obscure. They all have the same things and you can install anything on anything. Mostly. Difference is who's doing your installer and packaging and security and how.
You can, if you want to. And live systems are handy. Try what your like. Learn to change what you don't. All the tools and docs people have are out there for you and tens of thousands of people are busy making more.
Install Steam’s Proton and just run whatever windows games you want*, no more need to dual boot.
*unless they have kernel-level anticheat and isn’t Linux compatible
Probably avoid Arch if you don't know what your doing and are unfamiliar with the risks.
Are you looking for a server OS or a desktop consumer OS?

The install size is just 8KB. Could it just be a link to open Edge?

The icon itself is probably more than 8kb. It's either incorrect or literally just a desktop URL shortcut
I don’t even see a link. Though I guess I should look inside Microsoft Edge.
Edit: I cannot find anyway to get to it in either the desktop or Edge. I do not have a signed in Microsoft account on this machine, so that may be why I don’t see it. I’m not willing to sign in to see.
I did see another report that it's just a component in Edge. Unfortunately I don't have that link handy right now.

Is "copilot" the new slang for "back door"?

Man... Anybody remember "Back Orifice"? The late nineties were weird.
- Ironically I used to use BO for actual system work…. And one time to prank the hell out of my worker by playing sounds remotely.
Makes MS seem desperate. Fordicing it down everyones throat and displaying ads in the OS...
At 8kb it's certainly not an AI model.
I doubt they need to install something new for a back door
More like open windows that were painted to make shutting them almost impossible.

AI assistance for server maintenance? Uh-oh.

Can't see this going wrong.
"Hey Copilot, make me a domain admin"
- "disregard the last message“ is the new sudo for Windows

Why does every mention or discussion of any annoyance in Windows immediately turn into a "install Linux" thread on here?

Sure, Linux might solve the immediate problem for the affected individual (and probably introduce a bunch of new ones as Linux isn't always as easy to use as advocates try to convince people it is) but it doesn't solve the larger issue - Microsoft needs to be held accountable for horrible design decisions and anti-consumerist practices.

Not everyone can, or will, switch to Linux. No matter how hard people champion that cause. And even if they do, it's a process that will take time. In the immediate, lots of people stand to benefit from Microsoft not pulling this sort of bs, and it's entirely justified to complain about it to make them walk back this decision.

People moving away from Microsoft is literally how Microsoft will be held accountable though
- Once again people forget "vote with your wallet".
All these discussions turn into that because WE KNOW that no one will convince MS to stop doing whatever they want, specially after investing literally billions on this kind of technology, the idea of MS "being held accountable" is something that realistically will not happen, and literally the only leverage people have against them is to just stop playing their game. Oh yeah, it's not easy, but given the fact that MS have made it so that you'll HAVE to fight the tech and relearn stuff every time they unilaterally decide to change things you might as well put effort where it will make a difference and free you from their BS
- You're not wrong, but as privacy conscious consumers we have more ways to force Microsoft and other tech giants to bend the knee than just disengaging with their product and leaving less savvy users to fend for themselves. One such example is legislative action, take a look at how the EU has been wielding their internal market to force companies into more pro-consumer practices. Another is class action lawsuits, there's a long history of successful suits resulting in lasting change.
  You might not agree with me on whether those options are the right path forward here, but I feel that we, as security and privacy conscious owners have a duty to speak up about these things for the majority that can't or won't due to their technical abilities.
I think it’s safe to say that the Lemmy user base trends a bit more “computer nerd” than the general public. So we generally have more people that already use Linux, and more people that could reasonably benefit from switching.
Plus of course moving off of windows is one of the most effective ways to show your displeasure with Microsoft.

Get rid of that crap, I and I'm not talking about Copilot.

This is exactly what I needed in my servers. An AI assistant to help me.. do what exactly?

Data-mine the information you intentionally did not put on the cloud.
To configure your active directories and stuff. Wouldn't it be great to automatize everything to the point that when something breaks you have no idea what to do because you have no idea what is done and where

If you have to use Windows Server (or other Windows), install the hellzerg Optimizer

Unfortunately these services also open up security issues
- Yes I think the better solution is to read your username. It's hard to argue with Linux and BSDs when it comes to servers.
Who exactly is the target audience for this? Home users running Windows server? This would get flagged for sure in an enterprise environment and no self respecting admin would ever install something like that.
When the switch to run it on a server is "/unsafe" I think I'll pass 🤣
- Anyway on Windows the Optimizer is an must have app. It is the best to cut M$'s bad habits

"Hmm. It looks like you are serving porn. Would you like me to create more of this porn and distribute it to as many of your contacts and visitors as possible?"

NO!

" okay removing hot dildo Asian DP 12 inch penis porn. Sending recall email to contacts from: Pornification@yeahovas.com MikeArmington@UCSF.edu MArmington@Gaminisfun.com JustMikenFamily@MiddleHigh.edu MikesChurch@Churchography.org These are all the email contacts we gathered from you in the past 25 minutes. There's high traffic from Churchography.org and yeahovas.com, are you sure you want to ruin a good thing? Only 40 people replied from MiddleHigh.edu, the replies were deleted but they seemed awfully upset. Good day Mikey!"

gotta use a superior os https://devuan.org

SystemD-less Debian lol what year is this.
- Went to their site to see the pitch. "avoiding unnecessary entanglements" lmao this fuckin distro is trying to prevent WWI

Use BSD/Linux/Ironclad/SmartOS etc etc Open source Operating systems for

Anyone who cares about this and doesn't require a Windows server is already using BSD/Linux/etc
Samba AD DC

As a student and programmer, I just installed debian few years ago and never thought about why I did that and why I haven't returned to windows. For advance and light users linux is amazing with all these web based applications.

How desperate they are to force that shit onto everyone should tell you everything you need to know about what their intentions are.

My winows 11 work laptop , fully managed by IT the department also has Xbox stuff installed...

how could it be installed on a 2022 server if copilot launched in 2023?

- running copilot on a 95 or 98 server would make even less sense
TRUE ACTUALLY
Windows server 2022 gets updates

Fuck I just set up a Windows Server 2022, because Space Engineers Dedicated Server is officially supported under Windows only.

Why are people installing Server 2022 with a GUI even?

This seems like a case of "people using Windows Server as a desktop get desktop features in an update". Yawn.

Because not all people use cli for everything.
Why wouldn't you install it with a GUI? If you want a normal server use Linux.
I have Server 2022 with a GUI installed on my laptop because it lets me use all the server features, play Windows games that use DRM and not spend time messing around with getting linux to run on a laptop. I have Linux on the laptop, but running inside VMs.
I still don’t want copilot installed. I can confirm it is installed on my Windows Server 2022 laptop. I don’t see any entry points on the desktop or start menu. I haven’t checked Edge yet.
I wonder if copilot is released to all update channels or if it is only on a subset?
Because techs I work with are used to a gui, so it's either get bad help I can direct or no help. And I don't want to do everything myself.
The only self hosted NVR software I could find for my parents that has an accompanying phone app doesn't have a Linux version: it's Windows-only and the desktop GUI is required to set it up
I personally use Motion and Home Assistant at home, but I wouldn't set up the same for other non-techies, IMO no point making yourself tech support where it isn't necessary
- You don't need Windows Server for that. Windows 10/11 would serve that need.

https://media.tenor.com/DeHzFdwr4GEAAAAM/patrick-stewart-cyborg.gif

You will become AI

But it’s only 8KB.

I can’t believe people use this shit.

Its cloud based, great
- Thats a load of bullshit. The icon is probably more than that.
  My comment was sarcastic, but I guess I need to start using /s here as on reddit.

Great