I don't ever access Windows without an MS Account...because I don't access Windows anymore.
Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account
991–1000 of 1001 posts
Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account
#992I 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 inten…
I had a false start getting my mom to switch from OSX to Linux. She is tech savvy, and because of that she was doing more advanced things like mail merges for nonprofits, developing websites, etc. That was in the 2000s. I expect moving from Windows to Linux is much easier than moving from the Apple ecosystem. I still provide tech support to both parents, but since tailscale and quickassist it hasn't been too bad.
Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account
#993The best thing to happen to Linux Desktop is Windows 11, with perfect timing too as modern Linux has been a joy to use as a daily driver. Normally I'd be unhappy when a sleazy corp forces me to give up on 25 years of muscle memory of using my preferred OS, but I'm thankful they gave me the push I needed to rip off the ad/spyware laced Windows Band-Aid that I only need to do once in my life. It's been over a year sinc…
Speak for yourself, I tried again to switch to Linux last year with standard Ubuntu and had multiple issues, the machine wouldn’t wake from sleep, would lock up with a grey graphics glitched login screen when locked, I tried to upgrade the OS and it broke all my graphics drivers, after I spent another few hours trying to fix it (and seeing a lot of very unfriendly and unwelcoming “help” from the Linux community), and…
I have been a software developer "for many years" and I have been using Linux full-time since 2007.
I rarely have issues with Linux, and some of those systems also had nVidia Graphics cards.
One time I had an issue was my wireless network, which the linux kernel did not support for that particular distro. That wasn't the end of the world -- I was using ethernet for it, anyway.
- My Wife has Linux
- My Daughter (now) has Linux -- after soo much annoyance with Windows 11 originally.
While more people are (slowly) going to Linux, we still have Convenience dominating over ethics/pride/politics/freedom/etc.
The Convenience Microsoft has right now is familarity. The Non-PC technies understand enough about the Start button, or Drive C: etc. However... and most importantly... is this reason:
New PCs (desktop or laptop) comes with Windows installed. Most of the Non-PC techs do not know any better, and will just follow like sheep each instructions to completing their Windows installation. Yes, even if it is "Oh, you need to create a Microsoft account with us"
The typical shops people buy their new desktop or laptops will encourage Windows as it is their job as well pushing for anti-virus and Office pack add-ons. They won't want you to say "don't worry, I am going to install Linux"
Imagine if new desktops and laptops provide a choice in main computer shops? I do wonder how many people will choose Linux as it does not cost extra? It does make you wonder. Sure, I am not expecting this to a 50/50 split - but I am sure Microsoft would notice a decline in various areas.
Anyway - I remember buying a laptop in a shop.. a laptop for my Wife.
Staff - "Would you like XYZ software for extra protection.. etc"
Me - "No thank you. I wont be using Windows"
Staff - [pause] "What are you using, sir?"
Me - "Linux"
Staff - "You wont be able to install these software and you will not have the security Windows can offer"
Me - "I know what I am doing, thank you"
Staff - [Goes to get laptop, return 10 mins later] "I just spoke with my manager and we can offer you a discount for out XYZ security software and include Microsoft Office"
Me - "This has not interest to me as I will be running Linux"
Staff - "You wont need to install Linux. You can keep Windows, sir"
Me - "Eh.. No thank you"
Staff walks to the counter with this look on his face. Yes.. yes.. he knows better, right?
Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account
#994Earlier quoted context omitted.
Speak for yourself, I tried again to switch to Linux last year with standard Ubuntu and had multiple issues, the machine wouldn’t wake from sleep, would lock up with a grey graphics glitched login screen when locked, I tried to upgrade the OS and it broke all my graphics drivers, after I spent another few hours trying to fix it (and seeing a lot of very unfriendly and unwelcoming “help” from the Linux community), and…
Unfortunately you tried the worst possible distro out of them all - Ubuntu is infamous for being the Windows of the Linux world (for all the wrong reasons), and Canonical is getting worse every year. Still nowhere as bad as Microsoft, but they're getting there. I would highly recommend using a sane newbie-friendly distro which bundles all relevant drivers, like Aurora[1]- they even have a developer edition which may…
Weird, I have “the same leg, and it doesn’t hurt”.
Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account
#995Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am looking forward for a good energy management on Linux notebooks. I think it is currently one of Linux blind spots.
What do you mean? My Intel MacBook Pro works better on Linux than it works on the latest supported macOS (Big Sur in my case). It works longer, and fans almost always stay silent. I have a fairly minimal sway setup, however.
I mean, when you have an Mx notebook there is no step back regarding energy management and duration. It is a hardware innovation first but the macOS helps. We need the same for Linux.
Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account
#996Does the Common [Wo]Man have any control over any of our own shit anymore? I just got an iPhone 17. I travel often and have a bunch of SIMs and eSIMs from various countries, with varying periods of validity. With the physical SIMs, I can just pop them into the new phone and still use them for a month or two more just fine. (I specifically got a Singapore region variant with a SIM tray AND eSIM support just for this)…
esim is maybe my favorite mobile innovation ever. As someone who also travels a ton I could not stand dealing with a bunch of physical sims and would just end up not even bothering and relying on WiFi which made everything a massive pain. Now I have one esim provider that supports every country, takes all of 30 seconds to activate it for whatever country I’m traveling to.
Also, your original point is irrelevant anyway, because every single part of validating an esim also happens with a physical sim, there is zero difference in the process on the part of the carrier, from their perspective a sim is a sim, doesn’t matter (and some might not even be able to tell) if it’s a physical sim or an esim. No idea what you’re talking about with regards to IDs, never once had to provide an ID to use an esim abroad. Thats likely some local government regulation.
Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account
#997I've got an Ideapad that had Win11 on - completely removed it and installed Ubuntu. I've primarily used a Mac over the last decade, but it's insane how close the Ubuntu/Gnome experience comes - really have been super impressed. There are actually a few things I prefer on it too - the only (rather big) downside is that the web runs visually worse on it. I don't know how, but painting and font rendering feels suboptima…
I don’t like macOS or GNOME, but if I had to use something from that paradigm I think GNOME is way better. GNOME feels like how Mac users talk about macOS. Whereas macOS just has nonsensical stupid things like delete key behavior, apps staying open after hitting the red X, lack of window snapping, etc that make no sense in 2025. GNOME at least has a rationale and a workflow behind it, even if I don’t like it I can respect it.
>the only (rather big) downside is that the web runs visually worse on it. I don't know how, but painting and font rendering feels suboptimal (compared to Windows and MacOS).
This is definitely worth investigating as that shouldn’t be the case at all…web performance is one of the best benefits of Linux. That’s why it’s often recommended as the best developer system especially for web devs, as it’s the most native web platform that most web technologies are developed for and ultimately deployed to. Font should be crisp (assuming you’re not using fractional scaling, which can cause font issues on any OS). And painting/performance should be the fastest of the three major OS. On the same system Linux and Windows feel somewhat comparable with an edge to Linux I think simply do a a more responsive system overall. And anything beats macOS, even using a brand new Mac feels like molasses sometimes. I would investigate drivers/scaling/hardware acceleration, cross chrome/chromium browsers and Firefox to see if you can narrow down your issue.
Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account
#998I've got an Ideapad that had Win11 on - completely removed it and installed Ubuntu. I've primarily used a Mac over the last decade, but it's insane how close the Ubuntu/Gnome experience comes - really have been super impressed. There are actually a few things I prefer on it too - the only (rather big) downside is that the web runs visually worse on it. I don't know how, but painting and font rendering feels suboptima…
I don’t like macOS or GNOME, but if I had to use something from that paradigm I think GNOME is way better. GNOME feels like how Mac users talk about macOS. Whereas macOS just has nonsensical stupid things like delete key behavior, apps staying open after hitting the red X, lack of window snapping, etc that make no sense in 2025. GNOME at least has a rationale and a workflow behind it, even if I don’t like it I can re…
> one of the best benefits of Linux
> as it’s the most native web platform that most web technologies are developed for
This is a very idealsitic stance. It's not the best for web because web has been refined where users are - MacOS or Windows. I wish it were different.
> And anything beats macOS, even using a brand new Mac feels like molasses sometimes. I would investigate drivers/scaling/hardware acceleration, cross chrome/chromium browsers and Firefox to see if you can narrow down your issue.
Simply not remotely true - try it yourself. The best supported distros (Redhat, Ubuntu, SUSE, etc.) all suffer from the same fragmentation of the Linux ecosystem. In fact not even Windows comes close to MacOS's font rendering (why do you think designers prefer it).
Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account
#999Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nvidia graphics? How much care did you take in getting a machine for running Linux? Did you get one specifically with that in mind? Or did you slap it on the machine you already had?
Endless raving about how painless and troubleshoot-free Linux is and then you try installing it on your very standard-built PC and face major glaring issues and then get told you're the idiot for not junking your perfectly good GPU from the most popular GPU maker and most valuable company on the planet. I'm sure it's Nvidia's fault for whatever reason but Linux proselytizers need to stop being so dishonest about how…
Agreed. My bog standard modern AMD card just flashes the screen in Linux. Why? Who knows? No way to fix either.
Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account
#1000Earlier quoted context omitted.
Speak for yourself, I tried again to switch to Linux last year with standard Ubuntu and had multiple issues, the machine wouldn’t wake from sleep, would lock up with a grey graphics glitched login screen when locked, I tried to upgrade the OS and it broke all my graphics drivers, after I spent another few hours trying to fix it (and seeing a lot of very unfriendly and unwelcoming “help” from the Linux community), and…
Linux is generally a rock solid delight on any AMD desktop, but insists on being at least an occasional pain in the ass on basically every laptop in the world and anything with Nvidia.
My AMD card does not work with any Linux Distro. Just flashes constantly.