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Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account

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Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account

#241

Post by trollbridge »

gjsman-1000 wrote: post #129
al_borland wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> compatible with Windows programs It seems with each passing year this becomes less important, as more and more apps are either web based or cross platform.

To the average consumer, Windows doesn't matter much anymore. To enterprises, Microsoft has them under lock and key with Office 365, basically forever. LibreOffice is nowhere near a replacement for Excel in an enterprise setting.

Large enterprises are switching to Google Sheets. The largest private employer in Australia, for example, pretty much has switched to Sheets now.

Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account

#242

Post by mac-attack »

mixmastamyk wrote: post #79
browningstreet wrote: post #64

Two weeks ago, after Microsoft reset my default apps twice in a week, I bought an external drive, backed up all my stuff and wiped Windows. I’ve got Linux all over the place, in many cloud envs, and on older hardware. But I finally committed to it on my big, meaty, main desktop. The one I use for coding and banking and accounting. I’m running a Linux distro full-time. I had to hack a few minor hardware things. Nothin…

That's an interesting point. To what extent does AI support make Linux on the desktop more viable? Reminds me of a discussion recently that said something similar, that developing in Rust is easier now that you can have another machine do battle with the borrow checker, haha. To extend, maybe someone could build a "SysAd AI" distribution that administers itself given natural language directions? Let me know if anyone…

There's a catch-22 in that the average Linux user is pretty loudly opposed to AI and so it appears hard for pro-AI software to gain footing in the space. Granted, most AI tools are Linux-friendly ATM, but my uneducated guess is that a larger % of Apple/Windows users use AI daily than Linux users

Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account

#243

Post by GeekyBear »

hu3 wrote: post #176
GiorgioG wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a .NET developer for 20+ years I’m down to my last Windows box - a gaming rig I pretend I have time to play on. Everything else is a Mac.

mac window management is borderline unusable and I'm tired of installing 5 tools to fix it. Looking at Tahoe, seems things are getting worse.

Mac window management using gestures has been miles ahead of anything available in Windows for over a decade.

Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account

#244

Post by adham-omran »

AJ007 wrote: post #158
browningstreet wrote: post #64

Two weeks ago, after Microsoft reset my default apps twice in a week, I bought an external drive, backed up all my stuff and wiped Windows. I’ve got Linux all over the place, in many cloud envs, and on older hardware. But I finally committed to it on my big, meaty, main desktop. The one I use for coding and banking and accounting. I’m running a Linux distro full-time. I had to hack a few minor hardware things. Nothin…

I had a similar issue, after cleaning up a Windows machine for someone else, making sure Firefox with uBlock was running. I took a look at it a few weeks later and there was some bullshit Microsoft Bing search bar or AI thing on the toolbar. Wiped, installed Linux. Microsoft is setting fire to the bridges and those will be users which they will never be able to get back again. Linux works great for gaming except some…

> Linux works great for gaming except some anti-cheat stuff which probably won't be legal anymore anyways in Europe under the PLD.

I tried to have a gaming setup with Linux (SteamOS and Bazzite) but both failed when I tried to connect more than one Bluetooth controller and they'd be unable to distinguish them or disconnect everything after a few minutes, it was a frustrating experience.

Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account

#245

Post by trollbridge »

jazzyjackson wrote: post #38
Havoc wrote: post #7

Had to edit a .docx today to refresh my CV today...and realised oh...I don't have any more windows machines on hand anymore. Interesting how smoothly that faded away psychologically after 20+ years of windows use without me even overtly noticing. Think MS is in for a rough ride on Windows. Short of corporate world - Excel/Sharpoint/AD - there is just no moat. Browsers work fine on all platforms, dev work is better on…

You're forgetting business critical software outside of office that's windows only or windows/macos. Stuff like Quickbooks, AutoCAD/Autodesk, off the top of my head

QuickBooks Desktop only exists in an Enterprise edition anymore (which is expensive), if you want to run still-supported versions of it. Intuit is pushing everyone hard to QuickBooks Online.

Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account

#246

Post by trollbridge »

gerdesj wrote: post #68
jazzyjackson wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're forgetting business critical software outside of office that's windows only or windows/macos. Stuff like Quickbooks, AutoCAD/Autodesk, off the top of my head

All of which are very easily replaceable. That list is laughable for an example of lock in. I used to run AutoCAD on a 80286 with a maths co-pro with 1 MB RAM. It has changed somewhat since! Who gives a shit about QB? - you could just run it in a VM and it probably runs under Wine. You can also just switch accounting vendor - there are quite a few. Double book keeping is a good 600 years old and can be considered pre…

QB Desktop doesn't run reliably under WINE; it doesn't run reliably under Windows 11 for Arm, either.

Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account

#247

Post by coin »

stackskipton wrote: post #147
gjsman-1000 wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To the average consumer, Windows doesn't matter much anymore. To enterprises, Microsoft has them under lock and key with Office 365, basically forever. LibreOffice is nowhere near a replacement for Excel in an enterprise setting.

I wouldn't say it's Office365 as much as "What are my other options?" MacOS is good option BUT cheapest laptop option is 1000 bucks. Dell has 16 inch with 16GB of RAM for 600. There is Linux but Linux Desktop still is not ready and mass management of it is very painful. So you default to Windows. It works-ish, won't break the bank and just about every piece of software you need works with it.

Mac costs more but are easier to support from an IT perspective, at least that's what many say.

Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account

#248

Post by scrps »

Anyone still using windows should plug that hole and switch to linux or apple.

If you are trapped on windows due to a specific piece of software running a virtual machine on linux is your friend. Boot up windows only when you need it and the only thing MS gets is one datastream of your single use of their product and not your entire digital existence. Same also applies for Apple + vm.

Either choice on its worst day is better than what windows has become on it's best.

Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account

#249

Post by somenameforme »

snovymgodym wrote: post #167
windows2020 wrote: post #94

Not sure Microsoft realizes the damage they're doing to the Windows brand. My first experience with Windows 11 was figuring out some dumb workaround to use a local account. When I think back to Windows 7, the good feeling isn't nostalgia. It was the last user-focused Windows. Maybe someone will develop a new user-focused OS that's somehow compatible with Windows programs. Or better yet, maybe Microsoft will realize v…

I'm not convinced Microsoft cares about the Windows market share in consumer PCs or the small amount of money they make from selling Windows licenses to regular consumers. If they did, Windows wouldn't be so usable unactivated and the MassGravel activation stuff would have been patched already. They built up their almost-monopoly when it mattered in the 90s and the 2000s, and now their market position is basically se…

The reason they don't meaningfully enforce their copyright on consumer PCs is precisely because they do care about their market share. If you buy a computer with Windows (or get it installed) in what I suspect is the overwhelming majority of the world, it's an 'illegitimate' copy and it works 100% fine, including operating with Microsoft's servers.

As you mentioned, they could trivially stop this if they wanted to, but they don't. Because if this were not possible, there'd be billions of more PCs out there running instead what would most likely be Linux. Enabling people to use Windows without paying is a key component of their strategy of maintaining market dominance, especially on a global level.

Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account

#250

Post by golden-face »

I haven't dug into this too much but the last time I set up a Windows 11 PC, I created a junk MS account, moved through the setup flow, created a local admin account once Windows 11 was configured and then delinked the aforementioned junk MS account.

What are the downsides to this approach or does it not work as I think? I have noticed things occasionally run slow and then it seems like the fan is blowing constantly when TaskManager says CPU is at like 30% utilization.

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