Windows 11 is closing a loophole that let you skip making a Microsoft account • Hacker News Board

Re: Windows 11 is closing a loophole that let you skip making a Microsoft account

#21

Post by glenstein » Sat, Mar 29, 2025, 12:07 AM UTC

jwoglom wrote: post #3

> We’re removing the bypassnro.cmd script from the build to enhance security and user experience of Windows 11. This change ensures that all users exit setup with internet connectivity and a Microsoft Account. "enhancing security and user experience" -- what a ridiculous, bold-faced lie. Bravo Microsoft.

Well, it's bald-faced lie but I wouldn't disagree that it's bold.

The idea that you need to confirm you're connected to the internet and that creating a Microsoft account is merely for that purpose is preposterous on its face.

Not that I was ever a regular on windows, but I think I've at least found there to be a necessity to be on windows for certain desirable games or for PC apps. So I've always kind of recognized a necessity, but I do think I can't imagine myself ever intentionally signing up for this. The Linux-based gaming experience is now so advanced, and there's nothing I truly need on Windows. I know it's a cliche indulge in a kind of performative version of a goodbye cruel world post so I don't want to go that far, because I think I would considered the contract to have been broken a while ago, but I don't think I have ever considered myself forever away from Windows, perhaps until just now.

Re: Windows 11 is closing a loophole that let you skip making a Microsoft account

#22

Post by caseyy » Sat, Mar 29, 2025, 12:07 AM UTC

lousken wrote: post #7

Enhanced security, if you connect your device to the internet. Can they at least stop bullshitting? It's shameful

Microsoft is really degrading themselves over the 0.1% of users that opted out (and however much money they didn’t manipulate out of them because of that).

I’m really surprised how humiliatingly their top managers act. Surely someone who lies like this has no concern for self respect or pride.

Re: Windows 11 is closing a loophole that let you skip making a Microsoft account

#23

Post by DecentShoes » Sat, Mar 29, 2025, 12:09 AM UTC

The best marketing campaign for Linux, is Windows 11.

Re: Windows 11 is closing a loophole that let you skip making a Microsoft account

#24

Post by wmf » Sat, Mar 29, 2025, 12:10 AM UTC

lousken wrote: post #7

Enhanced security, if you connect your device to the internet. Can they at least stop bullshitting? It's shameful

Security updates do come from the Internet.

Re: Windows 11 is closing a loophole that let you skip making a Microsoft account

#25

Post by NotYourLawyer » Sat, Mar 29, 2025, 12:10 AM UTC

Windows 7 was legitimately pretty good. It’s been downhill ever since.

Re: Windows 11 is closing a loophole that let you skip making a Microsoft account

#26

Post by tapoxi » Sat, Mar 29, 2025, 12:10 AM UTC

I have a recent (2024) Gigabyte AMD motherboard and Windows 11 refuses to recognize the Ethernet NIC or onboard wifi. I can't load the drivers during setup either because they're .exe installers and it wants .inf files or something.

I got mad and installed Fedora Kinoite, which somehow just worked out of the box. My games all worked too.

I've been mulling over installing a Windows partition for the inevitable game with anti-cheat I'd like to play (Battlefield) but insanely hostile shit like this has made me reconsider.

Re: Windows 11 is closing a loophole that let you skip making a Microsoft account

#27

Post by dmitrygr » Sat, Mar 29, 2025, 12:11 AM UTC

wmf wrote: post #24

lousken wrote: post #7

Enhanced security, if you connect your device to the internet. Can they at least stop bullshitting? It's shameful

Security updates do come from the Internet.

But so do security threats.

Re: Windows 11 is closing a loophole that let you skip making a Microsoft account

#28

Post by OsrsNeedsf2P » Sat, Mar 29, 2025, 12:12 AM UTC

DecentShoes wrote: post #23

The best marketing campaign for Linux, is Windows 11.

This has been true every major Windows release.

Re: Windows 11 is closing a loophole that let you skip making a Microsoft account

#29

Post by falcor84 » Sat, Mar 29, 2025, 12:12 AM UTC

DecentShoes wrote: post #23

The best marketing campaign for Linux, is Windows 11.

Well, sales-wise it seems to mostly be driving people towards macbooks, but yes, also linux.

Re: Windows 11 is closing a loophole that let you skip making a Microsoft account

#30

Post by MrMcCall » Sat, Mar 29, 2025, 12:13 AM UTC

I've been skipping dealing with a MS id every day for coming up on seven years now :-) and I had been (ab)using OpenBSD for a few years before that, so it's been a nice long hiatus.

I do, however, miss the early F# on WinXpPro64, having bought the Pro install version a million years ago for a clean install, using it for quite a few years on an early q6600, I'd love to be able to fire up one of my boot disk images into a no-network VM subnet from those years, maybe even creating network drives to connect and disconnect to in order to migrate files to and from. It was fully registered and current, with up-to-date service packs and everything, and quite a bit of nice MS dev software as well, and nicely stripped down by cannonballing down into the registry morass and tweaking as many sections as possible over the years.

Any clues on which modern 64bit linux or BSD would allow it to boot and run and as a functioning MS instance to run old-school commandline F# fsi.exe, including the recompiled one I made a tiny prompt change to? [That was some high-nerd-reward spelunking that I never really took advantage of.]

Maybe QEMU?

I loved the commandline interactivity; I had built up quite a suite of code to do some slick processing using F#'s mind-blowing pipe operator.

Anyway, AtDhVaAnNkCsE, and Happy Friday, all.