New Windows 11 build makes mandatory Microsoft Account sign-in even more mandatory
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It's all about the benjamins and that sweet, sweet subscription money they can upsell you on. Not to mention the advertising / tracking data they can grab and then sell.
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So does this mean that you wouldn't be able to install W11 on a PC without an Internet connection?
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Mostly Ignorant
Wise, Aged Ars Veteran
I read it as "the workaround that they're patching is considered to be a bug, not a feature" but agree that after reading your comment, it seems like an ambiguous way to word it.
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Just as I was about to wiffle my waffle back to Windows 11. I suppose I will stick with Fedora until my laptop dies. WoW has been getting more meh for me, and my gaming has moved to console. But even that is waning, so I may just use my usb-c to usb-c/usb-a/hdmi adapter with rhe TV for the one spreadsheet I update yearly. I don't even use Excel anymore or Word. With my phone costing more than the laptop I plan on making it an all arounder in the future.
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Fuck you, Microsoft. If you had something people wanted they wouldn't be working so hard to get around it. Fuck your shitty data scraping, burning the consumer at both ends money grabbing bullshit. I hope those product people have bad days. I'm so fucking sick of getting got at every opportunity and then clever assholes like these two fuckers thinking up new opportunities. I don't want OneDrive, I don't want an Office subscription, I don't want MSN. I want you to give me what I paid for and fuck the fuck off.
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Very much like how the most recent update of the YouTube player that runs on our Nvidia Shield now nags incessantly for a Google login and only grudgingly lets us continue on as "guest". It will no doubt soon drop the option to continue as guest. At that point I will have to figure out how to create a Google account with some made up identity and login using that. As for Microsoft, no version of its software which requires a Microsoft account is ever going to run in my house. I spend more time using Linux anyway, so no great loss.
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I'm not going to stop using Windows, but I'm also never creating an account. If I have to spoof an account server to install the next version, so be it.
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This sounds like the build where internet access is truly mandated from Microsoft's perspective. I'm guessing the bean counters have decided that's worth more than keeping the OS inclusive of all demographics.
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This is a dumb move all around. Forcing people to do things they don't like even if you can remove it later is just plane dumb. This will piss people off and thus it will almost always be a bad idea.
I just hope they are not dumb enough to mess with the pro versions and do the same. If I can't setup for domain and get around this as a temp setup I will start to push customers elsewhere. Management via MDM is available for all sorts of system types now so Microsoft's hold on the management side has slipped quite a bit...it still has some lead. That said, options exist and they need to start paying attention.
I just hope they are not dumb enough to mess with the pro versions and do the same. If I can't setup for domain and get around this as a temp setup I will start to push customers elsewhere. Management via MDM is available for all sorts of system types now so Microsoft's hold on the management side has slipped quite a bit...it still has some lead. That said, options exist and they need to start paying attention.
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If seeing is believing, they're just removing the actual script from the installer. But the script is only a 3-liner CMD. Hopefully entering this manually should still work. Or slipstreaming it into the ISO somehow. Or switching to a different OS.
Code:
@echo off
reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OOBE /v BypassNRO /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
shutdown /r /t 0
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What's preventing us from logging into a placeholder Microsoft account, having pressed "I don't have a product key", then creating a local account, then deleting the placeholder account?
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I've steadfastly stuck to local accounts on all of my Windows devices, yet I have an Iphone, an Ipad, and two generations of MacBook Pros all linked with my Apple login. I'm not even sure if I was ever given the option to use the first of those (when the phone was an iPhone 4) without an AppleID.
Yet, this article annoys me because I've always avoided a Microsoft login on any of my machines (though I do, in fact - if it's still active - have a separate, not tied to a machine login, Microsoft account.)
I guess I'm a hypocrite.
Perhaps if the rotating ads on my PC start menu, and my inability to uninstall the XBox widget and other intrusions weren't so annoying and pervasive I'd feel bad about it.
Or perhap I'd reconsider, but I've not been getting embedded ads on my Apple devices, and I haven't run across any pre-installed software (GarageBand for instance) that I can't casually get rid of without it reappearing.
Yet, this article annoys me because I've always avoided a Microsoft login on any of my machines (though I do, in fact - if it's still active - have a separate, not tied to a machine login, Microsoft account.)
I guess I'm a hypocrite.
Perhaps if the rotating ads on my PC start menu, and my inability to uninstall the XBox widget and other intrusions weren't so annoying and pervasive I'd feel bad about it.
Or perhap I'd reconsider, but I've not been getting embedded ads on my Apple devices, and I haven't run across any pre-installed software (GarageBand for instance) that I can't casually get rid of without it reappearing.
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It is sort of interesting how much flack they are getting with 11. I wonder if it is just that the attitude here has turned around, or if they actually have a real flop on their hands.
Usually every other windows is relatively less-garbage. Check back when 12 comes out I guess.
Usually every other windows is relatively less-garbage. Check back when 12 comes out I guess.
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Just tell it you’re going to join to a domain and it’ll go all the way without making an account.
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Between this, and 24H2 reminding me of the bad old days of crappy Windows NT service packs, I'm starting to wonder if there is anybody there who gives a shit about Windows. Feels like it's all Azure and AI now.
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Why should anyone be forced to log into an operating system? This is just wrong.
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The more MS pushed this MS account garbage the more I am going to move away from Windows to Mac when I have replace my computer. Win11 isn't great already and they are making it less and less attractive. I'm sure I can play my Steam games somewhere else or just stick with consoles.
Great job pushing this long time Windows user to Mac full time!
Great job pushing this long time Windows user to Mac full time!
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Honestly they already did that when they decided to end support for older hardware. So many people with older pcs and laptops will be without a supported OS soon. And most will likely either remain on an insecure W10 if they can't afford a hardware upgrade, or buy a new computer and cause a lot of unnecessary waste.
I've switched to Ubuntu recently on my unsupported laptop and I'm quite happy with it. But this is definitely not an option for everyone. Even though it's much more accessible than it used to be, it still requires technical knowledge many people don't have and are not interested in developing.
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Given how enthusiastically Win11 has embraced its role as a hardware abstraction layer for Microsoft subscription and surveillance services, rather than an operating system in the historical sense, not bothering to support machines that aren't internet connected seems like an unsurprising move.
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How many people called "F'off MS' with email foffms@spam.com do you think they will accept? So far I have made around 5 from different installations. Right next Mr' "F'off Apple" who unfortuntaintly also requires a valid expired credit card to make.
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You don't have to be a developer to use a Linux. If you're an average home use with typical home user requirements, the only "technical knowledge" requirement that comes into play is when you're installing Linux. But you can bypass that requirement by buying a PC with Linux preloaded, or getting help from a knowledgeable friend/family member.
Case in point, I installed Linux for my elderly mum about a decade ago, and she's got no issues using it till date. She does everything an average home user does: browsing the web, emails, light document editing, printing and scanning, file/photo backups. If my non-techy elderly mum can use Linux without issues, so can any typical home user with normal requirements.
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this can't go on forever I hope? like, at some point the market has to restart or something, back to people owning things as it used to be, even if technofeudalism goes on for everyone else,
basically, interests are almost completely out of alignment between consumers and producers
basically, interests are almost completely out of alignment between consumers and producers
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You have posted an illegal series of characters, citizen. Please report to your nearest ePrison for sentencing.
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Linux honestly isn't bad these days. I would switch in a heartbeat were it not for DirectX and that is a complete pain that I don't see going away for some time.
Proton is a good start but it's not seamless and will probably never be, we need devs to start using Vulkan but that's unlikely to happen in significant numbers. Not to mention the prospect of anti-cheat on an OS where users have essentially total control over the kernel.
It is getting to the point where even my non-techie friends moan about Windows upsells but I don't see it being enough to push them to Linux whilst the experience is anything less than perfect.
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Also not seeing what would stop you from using an installer for a version of Windows 11 from before they removed this, and then immediately updating to the current version.
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TheWerewolf
Ars Scholae Palatinae
One of the simplest ways is to create a burner Microsoft Account (ie: a Microsoft account you plan to use once then delete), use that to do a normal install, then create a local account - preferably using the old Users and Groups panel rather than Settings, and then delete or deactivate the Microsoft account based one.
It also lets you have a user folder with any name you want rather than the default Windows installer "five letters" approach.
It also lets you have a user folder with any name you want rather than the default Windows installer "five letters" approach.
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I will never use a Microsoft account to log into my PC. It's not that I have some particular belief in MS' nefarious intentions, I just don't like the way it frames the relationship. My PC is not just an extension of the internet. It's not just an extension of my Microsoft account (or any other account).
Microsoft wants this, as far as I can tell, because it's trying to build the idea of your Microsoft account as an identity that you take with you across PCs.
I'm not even saying I see no use for it, but the pieces of that particular puzzle that I want to use are all available without jumping through that particular hoop, and I'm simply not enamored of the idea that my PC account is the meaningful part of the "my PC" equation.
Microsoft wants this, as far as I can tell, because it's trying to build the idea of your Microsoft account as an identity that you take with you across PCs.
I'm not even saying I see no use for it, but the pieces of that particular puzzle that I want to use are all available without jumping through that particular hoop, and I'm simply not enamored of the idea that my PC account is the meaningful part of the "my PC" equation.
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I’d like to thank Microsoft for being so ungodly annoying about the W11 upgrade that I will finally, after having Windows machines since 3.11 (and DOS before that), not have one anymore after October when I switch it over to Linux.
Lately, they’ve taken to inserting FULL SCREEN ads (that’s what it is, not a notification) interrupting whatever I’m doing, telling me I need to get a new computer and upgrade to W11. Yeah, no— MS is dead to me.
My computer works great, it’s not trash and Microsoft should be legally obligated to collect and recycle all of the e-waste they are creating due to this naked, disgusting cash grab.
Lately, they’ve taken to inserting FULL SCREEN ads (that’s what it is, not a notification) interrupting whatever I’m doing, telling me I need to get a new computer and upgrade to W11. Yeah, no— MS is dead to me.
My computer works great, it’s not trash and Microsoft should be legally obligated to collect and recycle all of the e-waste they are creating due to this naked, disgusting cash grab.
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To translate from Corporate to English, just invert the intent.
"We’re removing the bypassnro.cmd script from the build to reduce the security and user experience of Windows 11. This change ensures that all users exit setup with internet connectivity and a way for Microsoft to up-sell you more and get their grimy hands on more of your data"
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