Microsoft Responds to Outcry After Quiet Enterprise Install of Beta 'Photos' App

Windows 11 admins unhappy as Microsoft found installing unexpected new "OneDrive Photos" app - Neowin

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After a lot of criticism recently, Microsoft has been trying to do some real good work. For example, the company recently announced a couple of new tools which will use AI to improve Windows 11 performance optimization. And it's not just general users; Microsoft recently released a new utility for IT admins that has been described by some as a "game changer".

However, despite those positives, the company manages to do a lot of things wrong. The latest such case happens to be the installation of a new OneDrive feature on enterprise PCs without any caution or warning, and as such, this has angered some system administrators.

That is because Microsoft appears to be quietly rolling out a new OneDrive Photos app to Windows 11 PCs. The biggest problem, however, is that admins say they were not informed about the rollout, with some claiming that they could not find any mention of the app in Microsoft's roadmap, Message Center or similar such documentation.

If you are wondering why this is a big deal, the app is reportedly showing up even on Windows 11 Enterprise machines, despite apparently being a beta application aimed at consumer functionality. One admin questioned why a beta app was appearing on an Enterprise SKU in the first place, while another described the situation as yet another consumer-oriented feature being forced onto corporate PCs.

Things get even more frustrating for IT departments because there does not appear to be a straightforward Microsoft-provided way to disable the app. Instead, one community member created a Remediation script for Intune that can remove OneDrive Photos from managed devices, while others suggested scheduling the script to run regularly in case Microsoft installs the app again. You can find it at the source link below.

And this is arguably the biggest issue here. Enterprise administrators generally need to know what is being installed on their managed devices, particularly when a software is labeled as beta. Quietly adding another application and leaving admins to clean it up themselves is therefore unlikely to win Microsoft many fans, despite all the good deeds it has been trying to do recently.

Update 18:03 ET : We reached out to Microsoft and a spokesperson provided the following statement:

“We are incubating a new photos experience in OneDrive that went more broadly than it should have in Windows. We’re fixing that. Windows Photos will always give you the option of local and cloud photos and the choice to use OneDrive or not.”

Beyond that Microsoft did not have anything more to share.

Via: NickyDeWestelinck (Reddit)

Microsoft Responds to Outcry After Quiet Enterprise Install of Beta 'Photos' App

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