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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

#791

Post by worble »

bluetidepro wrote: post #641
Redster wrote: post #631

I know that there are enterprises and individuals who need Windows. I also know that I had been on Windows my whole computing life and made the switch late in 2023 and there's never been a better time to switch to Linux. I could have switched much sooner! I have found my Windows apps for everything work (or have equivalent or better Linux versions) and will soon be switching my non-technical wife over to Linux to avo…

For majority that want to switch but can’t yet, gaming is the biggest pillar still very far behind. Many popular games (and game related apps) don’t work on Linux, sadly. I don’t know if it’s ever going to change either because of it being a chicken or egg scenario where they don’t want to spend the time supporting it cause it’s not enough users, but it’s also not enough users cause it’s not supported.

If anything, gaming is the pillar that is furthest ahead, thanks to SteamOS and Proton and everything else surrounding it.

The main issue is that a lot of people I know need things like Photoshop or propriety CAD apps or video editing software where the alternatives are simply not acceptable - sure I can mention some OSS alternatives but it's not really my field; this is their job and they can't really take the velocity hit, or waste time finding out mid-project that it can't do what they need it to do.

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

#792

Post by r011erba11 »

SuperHeavy256 wrote: post #724
tombert wrote: post #585

I doubt it’s going to happen, but a part of me prays that people will eventually get sick Microsoft’s increasing bullshit and it really can become the Year of the Linux Desktop. Gnome has genuinely gotten pretty great in the last couple years, and I think a lot of former Windows would genuinely like it if they gave it a chance, and virtually any Linux you install will have less tracking bullshit than Windows. I suspe…

> it really can become the Year of the Linux Desktop. Gnome has genuinely gotten pretty great in the last couple years, and I think a lot of former Windows would genuinely like it if they gave it a chance This comment could have been written at any point in the past 20 years.

I ran Enlightement + GNOME at work... on OS/2... circa 1999/2000. Wasn't even that bad. Also on linux of course.

Since then it comes down to someone wanting to go deeper than the surface and that's not for everyone, particularily if they are busy.

Pain can get the attention of even the busiest people so I really hope they keep making user suffer like this because that is the best driver away from windows and off the plantation.

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

#793

Post by pdonis »

observationist wrote: post #665
Night_Thastus wrote: post #598

My biggest annoyance is that I specifically bought a Windows 11 license, from the MS store, using my MS account. I did this because I assumed that if something went wrong, I would always be able to recover it. I could never 'lose' the key if it was tied to my account. Well unfortunately, MS screwed me. When I upgraded my PC I was apparently supposed to transfer the license before deleting the old PC from my account.…

Companies that cannot run their businesses responsibly at scale should not be allowed to run their business at that scale. If Microsoft can't do it, if Apple, Google, Facebook, X , OpenAI can't do it, then maybe we shouldn't allow companies to operate at scales which inevitably lead to widespread consumer harm. They should be required to provide human customer service, with some sort of legal liability to ensure thei…

> Companies that cannot run their businesses responsibly at scale should not be allowed to run their business at that scale.

The best way to do that would be for all the governments and large corporations that buy Windows machines for their employees to switch to Linux. That would probably end up cheaper in the long run. But nobody wants to sign up to be the one driving the switch.

Unless and until that happens, the unfortunate fact for individual Windows users is that you're rounding error in MS's numbers anyway. You're not the one they're making all the money from. The large government and corporate accounts are. And as long as people have to use Windows at work, they're going to use Windows at home because it's familiar to them. (Except for outliers like me who run Linux at home even though we have to use Windows at work. But those outliers are rounding error to the rounding error.)

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

#794

Post by furst-blumier »

voidmain0001 wrote: post #788
jcalvinowens wrote: post #736

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When I upgraded my PC I was apparently supposed to transfer the license before deleting the old PC from my account. Doing it in the wrong order lost the license forever - no way to transfer it. This happened to me too! It's absolutely insane that a license I bought through my account can't be transferred somehow... My newest NUC is somehow recognized by Windows 11 as being entitled to a copy, and I can reinstall on…

I so wish I could move to Linux, but I extensively use Windows computers via RDP and the Linux RDP clients are just so bad on my eyes. I tried Remmina, rdesktop and FreeRDP. Maybe NX would be a good option but I can't install NX on all of the computers I use. I guess I should shut-up and try to contribute to those projects to make them better.

Have you looked into Rustdesk? The setup isn't complicated, it's basically TeamViewer but local. It provided me with a way better quality than anything VNC based on linux.

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

#795

Post by jonbiggums22 »

xela79 wrote: post #520

So I just figured out a workaround that actually works! At least until Microsoft puts out a new Windows installer that fixes this, here's what you can do: First, make sure you unplug your ethernet cable or turn off WiFi before you start installing Windows. This way your computer isn't connected to the internet during setup. When you get to that screen where it's asking you to sign in with a Microsoft account (you kno…

What happens when you install without account using an old ISO without this "patch" and then just update it?

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

#796

Post by harvey9 »

wil421 wrote: post #658
wing-_-nuts wrote: post #645

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and it comes with free malware! I gotta be honest man, I do not understand someone who pirates executable code. I (and I assume most of the hn audience) am not some starving student with nothing to lose. I would much rather run linux than pirate windows.

Agree with you but not every answer is move to Linux. A lot of us help family member with IT stuff. People I help use excel, quicken, and one drive to run their businesses and finances. I could see myself running into GPs license issue with my father in law. I tried to get a few of them to use chromebooks but the need for quicken or another app they used for decade(s) keeps them windows based.

I agree. Some people don't really think about licences, they buy a PC with Windows and only buy another when that one stops being usable. Even this forced upgrade to 11 is still the path of least resistance.

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

#797

Post by vladvasiliu »

jcalvinowens wrote: post #736
Night_Thastus wrote: post #598

My biggest annoyance is that I specifically bought a Windows 11 license, from the MS store, using my MS account. I did this because I assumed that if something went wrong, I would always be able to recover it. I could never 'lose' the key if it was tied to my account. Well unfortunately, MS screwed me. When I upgraded my PC I was apparently supposed to transfer the license before deleting the old PC from my account.…

> When I upgraded my PC I was apparently supposed to transfer the license before deleting the old PC from my account. Doing it in the wrong order lost the license forever - no way to transfer it. This happened to me too! It's absolutely insane that a license I bought through my account can't be transferred somehow... My newest NUC is somehow recognized by Windows 11 as being entitled to a copy, and I can reinstall on…

> NUC is somehow recognized by Windows 11 as being entitled to a copy

There's some form of "BIOS-attached license". Don't really know how it works, but I've seen this for many years. Basically all PCs that have the Windows logo have that, and you can install windows on them as many times as you like, without ever having to enter a license key (I suppose this is limited to the same edition level - I've only ever tried this on "enterprise-level" machines that came with windows pro).

This even works for machines that originally came with windows 8 to install 10, and 10 -> 11. I've never tried "forcing" a win11 install on any machine that came with win8.

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

#798

Post by tombert »

SuperHeavy256 wrote: post #724
tombert wrote: post #585

I doubt it’s going to happen, but a part of me prays that people will eventually get sick Microsoft’s increasing bullshit and it really can become the Year of the Linux Desktop. Gnome has genuinely gotten pretty great in the last couple years, and I think a lot of former Windows would genuinely like it if they gave it a chance, and virtually any Linux you install will have less tracking bullshit than Windows. I suspe…

> it really can become the Year of the Linux Desktop. Gnome has genuinely gotten pretty great in the last couple years, and I think a lot of former Windows would genuinely like it if they gave it a chance This comment could have been written at any point in the past 20 years.

I wouldn’t say 20 years, I think the tides turned somewhat when AMD opened up their drivers around ~10 years ago and really turned when Valve released Proton in 2018. Prior to that it was still kind of hard for me to recommend Linux to people.

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

#799

Post by hbn »

bluetidepro wrote: post #641
Redster wrote: post #631

I know that there are enterprises and individuals who need Windows. I also know that I had been on Windows my whole computing life and made the switch late in 2023 and there's never been a better time to switch to Linux. I could have switched much sooner! I have found my Windows apps for everything work (or have equivalent or better Linux versions) and will soon be switching my non-technical wife over to Linux to avo…

For majority that want to switch but can’t yet, gaming is the biggest pillar still very far behind. Many popular games (and game related apps) don’t work on Linux, sadly. I don’t know if it’s ever going to change either because of it being a chicken or egg scenario where they don’t want to spend the time supporting it cause it’s not enough users, but it’s also not enough users cause it’s not supported.

My biggest hope is Valve can pivot Steam OS into a general free OS that devs/publishers can and will want to target if it starts getting traction.

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

#800

Post by snichola »

daveguy wrote: post #672

I gave up trying to keep from using a microsoft account to login to Windows 11. Instead, I installed linux and created a Win 11 virtual machine. Fortunately, I only rarely boot the Windows VM. Now I have: 1. no more random reboots 2. fast updates 3. much lower idle cpu use 4. cleaner operation with fewer crashes 5. no ad garbage from the OS to worry about 6. much much faster linux environment (WSL2 is atrocious). It…

Anecdotally, my dad is pretty tech illiterate but he's been using Ubuntu for over 5 years. I got fed up playing tech support for Windows and had him try it out. He's been much happier with it. His workflow and UI stays the same, no forced changes. I just login every once in a while to run updates.

I finally switched my desktop this year and I wish I had done it sooner but gaming held me back. Now any games that intentionally won't run under Linux are games I'm not interested in playing.

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