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Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything

windowscentral.com

21–30 of 464 posts

Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything

#21
post #4

It does make me wonder why people keep running this OS...

It is too intimidating to change for one. Most users I deal with are terrified and bewildered by settings and can't even take the few steps to install an adblocker (and they want the adblocker!)

And from the article: "Technician's know how to get around this, but not everyone using a computer is a technician."

To use an alternative, you need to know someone with the knowledge and ability and able to request their time. Backing up data, burning USB sticks, installing, setup new backup solution, resyncing bookmarks, creating shortcuts to their email, replacements for the apps they use... all the details takes a lot of time, and it is ongoing work. Someone has to become 'the technician' and provide support. Otherwise, people have no option except to keep bumbling along with the default or somehow become 'the technician' themselves without any guide but web forums and ChatGPT.

Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything

#22
post #17

Yet they use it, they do not really care, they even install Windows games that requires kernel level spyware read anti-cheat. There are Linux distros that are newbie friendly and looks like Windows. An end user that does not depend on Adobe, if you are still using that for whatever reason, they have no excuse to don't move to Linux distro OS.

good luck getting ol' grandma to flash her desktop with Fedora/equivalent

Flash it for her. The result will be a more stable (in terms of not shitting the bed randomly one day or changing the entire UI) and decluttered portal to whatever website she uses it for.

Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything

#23

That's a long article ridden with ads just to say "a redditor complains about shitty Windows OOBE requiring a Microsoft account (this has been the case for 10 years already)". Alternatives exists and are viable, now people still prefer pouring energy into complaining to a wall instead of actually moving. Getting abused is deserved at this point, it's been more than 10 years now, get a grip.

> Getting abused is deserved at this point

Nobody deserves to be abused.

Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything

#24
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

good luck getting ol' grandma to flash her desktop with Fedora/equivalent

Flash it for her. The result will be a more stable (in terms of not shitting the bed randomly one day or changing the entire UI) and decluttered portal to whatever website she uses it for.

Let me provide you a preview of how this will go:

"You moved my Chrome. I liked my Chrome. Put it back. I can't get to the Facebook. I want to talk on the Facebook and I can't because you moved my Chrome."

Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything

#25
post #5

they also force you to give a recovery account. i’m thinking microsoft’s hands are tied in this matter, it might be the government forcing a kyc strategy

"KYC" simply for operating your own PC?

Of course. How else are they to know that you posted criticism of the President on the internet?

Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything

#26

they also force you to give a recovery account. i’m thinking microsoft’s hands are tied in this matter, it might be the government forcing a kyc strategy

Apple doesn't force you to create an AppleID unless you want to use Music and the App Store. You can still run macOS as a standalone local user. So, it's not government-forced KYC.

Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything

#27
post #4

It does make me wonder why people keep running this OS...

Because when I want to play a game, I want to play a game, not debug someone's hacky attempt to make it work on Linux.

Implementing a strict "no fiddly shit on my game machine" policy was one of the best choices for my mental health that I've made: It's a dedicated machine for gaming, with nothing really sensitive on it aside from gaming related accounts, and its only purpose is to play games with the least amount of immediate hassle. In other words, if the choice is installing something ugly or fiddling, that launcher, kernel level anticheat or whatever it is gets installed.

Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything

#28
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People don't know about the stuff you're describing. They use the OS that comes with their PC or is the one everyone else uses.

^^^^^ https://xkcd.com/2501/ Just like how Linus from LTT (just trust me bro on the source) said one day he needed a tool (hammer?) so he walked into the hardware store, found what looked like a hammer, and bought it. End of journey. And then he finally realized how a regular person buys tech. Most people do not care, do not know they should care, and do not care enough to know if they should care enough.

Yeah but they could have gotten a Makita XWT15Z 18V LXT Lithium Ion Brushless Cordless Impact Hammer instead?

(This is like my niece buying a $5000 Alienware to play Roblox because she thinks she “needs a gaming PC”)

Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything

#29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Flash it for her. The result will be a more stable (in terms of not shitting the bed randomly one day or changing the entire UI) and decluttered portal to whatever website she uses it for.

Let me provide you a preview of how this will go: "You moved my Chrome. I liked my Chrome. Put it back. I can't get to the Facebook. I want to talk on the Facebook and I can't because you moved my Chrome."

1. It's probably not hard to put her Chrome back where it was and set her homepage to Facebook.

2. These users wouldn't be the people referred to by the article though, right?

Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything

#30
post #6

> "To avoid the next problem: 'Microsoft locked my data behind bitlocker, and now I can't get it back.' they need to store that key on the MS account." Doesn't that make the account requirement even more scary? So now if MS decides for some reason to lock my account, this will make even the data I have on my local disks inaccessible as well?

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