I am no Microsoft fanboy, but I get the impression people are a bit overly skeptical here.
I think this is fairly obvious. They have no further use for it, they can either let it rot or they can do the tiniest bit of effort and get some positive PR. It might also just be as simple as an initiative from some employees.
I have been following their advice for years. I have replaced a couple of services with the suggested alternatives, and use GrapheneOS.
It is also useful to check their forum for discussion on why something is added/removed/not added
If you are new to the whole “privacy-thing” my advice would be to start figuring out your own threat model first. They have some guides for that.
Also remember that even though something does not make the cut to be mentioned as a recommendation, it might still be an improvement over what you currently use. The forums are great for discussions regarding that.
In the scenario in which your computer is forgotten or stolen, it would offer some comfort knowing that the data on the computer is not accessible.
We have a “policy” in our household that everything that has personal data should be encrypted. That is just for cases in which we lose the device or it gets stolen. That makes it a purely financial loss, and not as invasive / uncomfortable.
But on the other hand my household are not average users. So it might not work well for other people.
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