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Microsoft blocks Windows 11 workaround that enabled local accounts

pcworld.com

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Re: Microsoft blocks Windows 11 workaround that enabled local accounts

#91

Post by baq »

advael wrote: post #83
baq wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's be honest here, the something is 99% drivers. It was printers, then it was wifi, now it's gpus. DNNs and LLMs at least made the compute part of the gpu driver Linux-native (from the vendors' perspective), one would hope the graphics part of the graphics processor would come next, but alas making big iron do work is done from macos and windows laptops.

Weird I haven't had a graphics issue since like the 8000 series of cards for like, the normal driving graphics right off the card use case. Optimus is definitely a little fucky with multiple GPUs and sometimes new CUDA versions break libs if you're keeping it bleeding edge updated, but most ML workflows use environment management to get around the clusterfuck that is the python ML ANN ecosystem anyway. Nvidia does a…

The GPU market forces are:

- gaming: Windows with a sprinkle of Steam Deck (yay!)

- compute: Linux

- video decode: Windows (DRM on Linux... yeah)

- video encode: mixed (Windows for consumers and smbs, Linux for cloud transcode)

Of these, the Steam Deck is the closest to a laptop that we got to. This is actually great, but it didn't result in a noticeable shift in anything, because LLMs took it all.

Re: Microsoft blocks Windows 11 workaround that enabled local accounts

#92

Post by account42 »

mrweasel wrote: post #14

Other than being able to gobble up user data and being able to associate it with a person (or at least an email address) and later sell that information, what is Microsoft reasoning for refusing local accounts? This whole obsession with forcing users to create a Microsoft account is really weird. It may provides some features for certain types of users, but I really don't see any reason for forcing a Microsoft accoun…

Some exec at microsoft probably has their promotion depend on user growth and is able to push the Windows team to implement this crap. Things megacorporations do don't really have to make long-term sense for the organization as a whole - they only need to provide a short-term advantage to someone in the hierarchy.

Re: Microsoft blocks Windows 11 workaround that enabled local accounts

#93

Post by haspok »

Dalewyn wrote: post #72
mrweasel wrote: post #14

Other than being able to gobble up user data and being able to associate it with a person (or at least an email address) and later sell that information, what is Microsoft reasoning for refusing local accounts? This whole obsession with forcing users to create a Microsoft account is really weird. It may provides some features for certain types of users, but I really don't see any reason for forcing a Microsoft accoun…

>It may provides some features for certain types of users, but I really don't see any reason for forcing a Microsoft account. To play Devil's Advocate, I can see some: * Backups. Let's face it, most people do not and will not take backups and yet they all cry when they inevitably suffer data loss. OneDrive syncing everything at gunpoint is a holy grail in the face of this problem. * Sync. Clearly, most people like al…

Wrt licences, these days laptops have their Windows licence burnt in their BIOS (and this has been the case for some time now). Backups and sync are great, except if someone doesn't want to upload all their data to the cloud. There could be many reasons for this, I'm sure you can list some of them too.

Re: Microsoft blocks Windows 11 workaround that enabled local accounts

#95

Post by deaddodo »

ta1243 wrote: post #25
worewood wrote: post #10

I recently had to install windows on 2 computers after some years without doing it. Had to spend an entire day debloating the thing. Had to use a handful of tools and powershell scripts to do it. I still can't imagine how they managed to make a context menu open in almost a full second. In Windows 9x on a 200Mhz it was instant. A useless one too, because all the options that matter are in the old one. The only thing…

> The only thing holding me from Linux I've spent the last 25 years using linux and seeing this statement. There's always something.

I've been using Linux for a similar time. To be fair to those people, there were massive roadblocks for ages. 802.11b (then G, A, N, etc) support, Flash while it ruled the roost, DRM-video playback, GPU-acceleration, Bluetooth device support, proper sleep, functional multihead, application support, etc, etc, etc.

It's not fair to say "there's always something" in a sarcastic tone, when there legitimately has always been something holding people back. Especially on laptops.

Is it easier than ever to use? Definitely. Does it support a significant chunk of hardware these days? Yup. Are there actual proprietary/commercial pieces of software on it? Yeah. Does it game now? Sure does. Are there still reasons people might not be able to use it? Definitely.

Re: Microsoft blocks Windows 11 workaround that enabled local accounts

#96

Post by williamvds »

worewood wrote: post #10

I recently had to install windows on 2 computers after some years without doing it. Had to spend an entire day debloating the thing. Had to use a handful of tools and powershell scripts to do it. I still can't imagine how they managed to make a context menu open in almost a full second. In Windows 9x on a 200Mhz it was instant. A useless one too, because all the options that matter are in the old one. The only thing…

> MSI Afterburner, which are a must for gaming on my laptop

If you want some unsolicited software recommendation: CoreCtrl offers similar controls to MSI Afterburner, at least on my AMD GPU

Re: Microsoft blocks Windows 11 workaround that enabled local accounts

#97

Post by vjulian »

djaychela wrote: post #79
ta1243 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The only thing holding me from Linux I've spent the last 25 years using linux and seeing this statement. There's always something.

For me, the something is the DAW i use (Cubase). I know it intimately, I make a living with it, and despite trying other alternatives, there isn't a DAW which runs on Linux which would cut it for me, in terms of overall features. If Cubase ran on linux (and all my current plugins could work), then I'd drop it in a heartbeat. I've been running Linux in various guises and roles since (I think) 1998, but it's never made…

I’m curious, how did you settle on PC vs Mac? I’m a PC user (Cubase), but there are certain unique advantages to Mac as a platform of course when it comes to music. I’m not wedded to brand personally but use PC as I find it more versatile in non-music tasks (and in music I am more a hobbyist these days).

Re: Microsoft blocks Windows 11 workaround that enabled local accounts

#98

Post by erremerre »

whywhywhywhy wrote: post #75

I'm definitely not one of those people who thinks Windows should stay frozen forever as Windows XP, I appreciate we're finally getting 15-20 year old features like search filtering in the task manager. But whoever's bonus metric is tricking people to sign in with MS accounts is really making it a gross experience. I managed to finally get my new machines install on a local account using "OOBE\BYPASSNRO" although none…

I was a user of several microsoft services that worked relatively well. On computer I used to have onenote and onedrive. On phone I also had the outlook app to manage all emails.

For exactly the very same reason you stated, I have stopped using them. Whilst I can still use them on my android phone, there is no point if they dont sync to my computer, and they don't sync to my computer because I am afraid of putting my microsoft password in anything that is not firefox.

Hence, I already moved out from onenote to Joplin (still synced via onedrive), (I am not happy with the move) and I stopped syncing with Onedrive, and will have to move soon to something else. On my phone I stopped having outlook, and I am back to use each app for each email.

As you, I am also trap on windows (tried fedora, it simply didn't work).

Sad times for people who want just a computer that works.

Re: Microsoft blocks Windows 11 workaround that enabled local accounts

#99

Post by Y-bar »

Dalewyn wrote: post #87
whywhywhywhy wrote: post #75

I'm definitely not one of those people who thinks Windows should stay frozen forever as Windows XP, I appreciate we're finally getting 15-20 year old features like search filtering in the task manager. But whoever's bonus metric is tricking people to sign in with MS accounts is really making it a gross experience. I managed to finally get my new machines install on a local account using "OOBE\BYPASSNRO" although none…

>and let the Pro version just be an actual tool to use hardware. Pro has Group Policy, among which is an option to block Microsoft account logins at the OS level. It kind of breaks Microsoft 365 subscriptions if you need Office 365, but that's obvious. Other Group Policies include ones to turn off Windows Autoupdates, block OneDrive, block Copilot, and more.

Any good resources on flipping these switches?

Re: Microsoft blocks Windows 11 workaround that enabled local accounts

#100

Post by aaomidi »

TheCapeGreek wrote: post #35
bee_rider wrote: post #15

I have a theory, which I have no way of backing up or testing at all, that the entire slump in the laptop segment is driven by the fact that Windows is just utterly user-hostile garbage, and there aren’t any alternatives really, other than MacOS, which is too tied to Apple. Like any reasonable tech savvy person I use Linux of course, but I’d have trouble suggesting it… lots of people just don’t want to use the termin…

I agree. I've been a Linux user since 2017, and in the last year transitioned to an M1 MBP for the battery life (cheaper than buying an inverter+batteries in South Africa with loadshedding). Tried to upgrade to a new machine last month. New-ish (and not name brand) hardware made Linux unusable on it (keyboard & BT wouldn't work), while Windows was passable. After some work I decided to try working on Windows again. H…

You went to the one OS that’s practically universally shunned because of how unstable it makes arch systems n.n
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