One concern many users have about AI is that often their data leaves their PC and their network, with inferencing happening in the cloud. They have big questions about data protection. That's one of the main drivers for Microsoft's Copilot+ PCs; the neural processing units that are built-in to the latest CPU systems on a chip run inferencing locally using small language models (SLMs) and other optimized machine-learning tools.
Once upon a time, when you ran Windows on your desktop, it was your desktop. Oh, the IT department might have called the shots on how much you could do with it, but you could write what you needed to, and it was all kept nicely on your PC or your choice of network drive. Those days are long gone.
It feels like Microsoft is blindly racing toward another Windows 8 situation. Windows 8 was arguably the most divisive release of Windows in its 40-year history, as Microsoft attempted to overhaul the operating system for a touch-first future. Spooked by the iPad, the company shipped a radical overhaul that ditched the familiar Start menu and left users frustrated and confused. They weren't quite ready for the future that Microsoft envisioned.