Lifelong windows user here - gave up last year, switched to macos for laptop & ubuntu for desktop - haven't turned back since
Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything
211–220 of 464 posts
Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything
#212Windows has reached the point where it deserves only to run in a virtual machine for some needs. Otherwise leave it behind and move on to Linux, BSD or whatever doesn't require a cloud account to work
I installed it on a VM the other day, and trust me it was only because my job, which pays me, required it. I couldn't believe it was trying to get me to sign in to a Microsoft account to finish installation. I had to look up some arcane way to skip it. The article I read listed other methods, many of which no longer work so it seems they really want you to log in. Then it was showing me shit like the FTSE 100 price r…
Moving 15 years back puts you into glory Win7 days. IIRC, the spam started with win8 which was released ~13 years ago and was very mild at first
Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything
#213I enjoy windows 10 hugely now that it is out of support. It became way better when microsoft started tormenting the users of win11 instead of win10, and now that windows update doesn't bring new catastrophes and unexpected reboot, the OS is finally not interfering with usage anymore.
You are not worried about 0-days and other malware?
Why would they need to be any more worried about those now than before?
The same holes exists and have existed for some time already. If he was not worried about them before why be worried about them now? And if you're worried about security holes why not be worried about the ones that exist now?
In general I find it funny that some people think that system is "secure" when it's on the latest version. At time t0 version N is considered "secure" then an update is made at t1 with version N1 and suddenly N is no longer secure. But it didn't change... it's the same version it was before.
Fact is a computer system is never going to be 100% secure.
Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything
#214Earlier quoted context omitted.
>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? Depends. The average user would be more afraid if its not backed up online.
My rather distant friend has a tendency of not reading what happens on the screen. She uses her computers for years only for browsing the web and writing papers. Whatever else obstructs her way is dealt with "next next finish" approach. Despite I told her many times, she should read and look up for solutions online if there's any doubt. She locked her W11 laptop. Disk was encrypted and she couldn't recall neither log…
Encrypting disk by default but giving the password to microsoft makes no sense.
I'm way more scared of airport security stealing my laptop and getting access than I am of someone breaking into my home with the purpose of accessing my data.
Basically it hassles people like your friend, protects against the very unlikely scenario while leaving the more likely scenario unprotected.
Not to mention of course the bitlocker backdoor that was discovered last month.
Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything
#215Earlier quoted context omitted.
You are not worried about 0-days and other malware?
Why would they need to be any more worried about those now than before? The same holes exists and have existed for some time already. If he was not worried about them before why be worried about them now? And if you're worried about security holes why not be worried about the ones that exist now? In general I find it funny that some people think that system is "secure" when it's on the latest version. At time t0 vers…
Because the longer software is out in the wild, the more vulnerabilities are found. At least when they're found in windows 11 they should be patched
Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything
#216Just last week I installed Windows 11 by downloading the ISO from Microsoft and creating a bootable USB stick with Rufus [1]. Rufus has options to make the Windows installer skip the Microsoft account login. Worked great! There are reasons to install Windows. For one, I had to install it for my wife, and making her switch to another OS she isn’t used to would be quite a hassle. I also use it at work, and I need to ru…
Would make perfect sense if your competitor does it and automatically every customer is saving a microsoft subscription per employee.
In some industries, Microsoft subscriptions are a drop in the ocean. Switching out things like Entra ID, Office, and print/scanning solutions would cost so much more, and come bundled with enough risk that no sane project manager would take it on lightly.
As a C# software provider, making something Windows- and Linux-compatible is easier than ever. So giving up on Windows is effectively the wrong move, because you would miss out on the behemoth companies that are simply too large to transition easily.
I know the majority of HN readers are fed up with Windows. That is completely understandable. But not everything about it is bad.
Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything
#217Earlier quoted context omitted.
Running Windows 10 Enterprise IoT LTSC still gives you updates until 2031 with the added benefit of no app store. I run it as my main OS since last October and have yet to encounter any issues.
>Running Windows 10 Enterprise IoT LTSC [...] have yet to encounter any issues. It depends on the type of software a user runs. I installed Windows 10 LTSC on a friend's computer last year thinking she could run it for at least 5 more years and just ignore the newer Windows 11/12/whatever. But she needed Intuit TurboTax 2025 and it requires Windows 11 and it's a hard requirement. The installer aborts on Windows 10. I…
Fusion 360 complains about Windows 10, but it still runs fine.
Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything
#218Without the MS account, it is _much_ harder to sell OneDrive, Copilot, Office365-whatever subscriptions etc to their users.
I get it. I get that they need to upsell their customers OR their product would be more expensive. I'd be happy to pay that premium though, and I'm not going to buy any of those additional things.
But let's not pretend that this is purely an evil or thoughtless design choice that isn't economic in Nature. Windows has a cost and that cost gets subsidized by all the people who buy additional services.
Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything
#219Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Everything online says to use the option to switch to a Windows account but I am pretty sure it is not available anymore. Not everything. I say: use the option to switch to Linux. I installed PopOS and Steam for my 11 y/o. She games either on her Nintendo Switch (not Microsoft) or on her iPad (not Microsoft) or on Linux (not Microsoft). Wife works from a Debian desktop PC, so do I. Microsoft is not allowed in this…
An option only available on households with UNIX skills, and work that has zero dependency on using Microsoft products. Something that isn't available to everyone.
If you need office open a browser, in the unlikely case that libreoffice doesn't do.
Re: Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything
#220Without the MS account, it is _much_ harder to sell OneDrive, Copilot, Office365-whatever subscriptions etc to their users. I get it. I get that they need to upsell their customers OR their product would be more expensive. I'd be happy to pay that premium though, and I'm not going to buy any of those additional things. But let's not pretend that this is purely an evil or thoughtless design choice that isn't economic…
I do not think that it is as well-reasoned as that. Far more likely IMO that teams are being evaluated on upsell uptake and so push these requirements to make the number on the dashboard go up.
Anyway, I’d be more sympathetic to this way of thinking if windows wasn’t getting worse over time. But it seems like investment in the OS is being disfavored for investment in AI-in-things-no-one-wants-AI-in, which is inverse of the subsidy direction you propose