Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Microsoft has removed the “use offline account” option when installing Windows

reddit.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 800 posts

Re: Microsoft has removed the “use offline account” option when installing Windows

#101

Post by klingonopera »

As someone who uses Windows for industrial PCs, I'm pretty appalled.

We've been hanging on to Windows 7, including side-loading drivers into the installation image for modern hardware, because this kind of stuff that Windows 10 does is in these cases simply unacceptable (random tip: Go for AMD, their Windows 7 support is way better than Intel, do not use Intel chipset series 300).

I can't have PCs bogged down downloading updates or randomly restarting when they're controlling endurance test rigs designed to run 24/7.

Driver issues with Linux, no real vendor support and (believe it or not) stability was the reason Windows prevailed in these applications. And MS threw that all out the window.

Oh well, I'd get paid to rewrite the control software in Linux, I'm not really complaining, I just hope there's enough driver support (looking at you, National Instruments...).

Re: Microsoft has removed the “use offline account” option when installing Windows

#102

Post by arvinsim »

HenryKissinger wrote: post #60
JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people on HN, I would postulate, don't use Windows. We might use VS Code, we might use Azure, but we aren't using Microsoft's operating system.

Windows remains the most convenient OS for video games, and given HN's userbase (mostly young men), I think a lot of people here use Windows.

Windows is also the OS that doesn't require relatively expensive hardware(MacOS barring hackintosh) and doesn't require that much fiddling(Linux).

It's basically the good enough option that most people would use.

Re: Microsoft has removed the “use offline account” option when installing Windows

#103

Post by userbinator »

runn1ng wrote: post #85

Buy pirated Windows LTSC on ebay (or actual, if you have 260 usd to spare), it solves most of Windows 10 problems

If you're going to pirate, might as well pirate Windows Server, which is basically the same kernel with a far less offensive (and bloated) userland configuration.

Re: Microsoft has removed the “use offline account” option when installing Windows

#105

Post by Filligree »

cl0ckt0wer wrote: post #90
shakna wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> to use windows on a computer you don't have root access to that isn't allowed to run a non ms os or to distribute software that ms gets a 30% cut. That's basically how the SurfaceRT worked, isn't it? So they've already attempted this once.

That's what Windows S mode is https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/s-mode

Well, that's worrisome.

Re: Microsoft has removed the “use offline account” option when installing Windows

#106

Post by ocdtrekkie »

gdwatson wrote: post #97
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I imagine another good path is to state it's owned by an organization, then clicking "Domain join instead". I can't imagine they removed that, but it just dumps out to a local account because you can't domain join in the OOBE.

I use that at work, so I didn't realize the current situation, but I don't think that's an option in the home version.

Oh, that's true, you wouldn't see that option for Home edition at all. :/ I almost never use Home edition, I always buy Pro, even for personal use.

Re: Microsoft has removed the “use offline account” option when installing Windows

#107

Post by [deleted] »

mancerayder wrote: post #86
xeeeeeeeeeeenu wrote: post #41

I don't understand why so many people on HN praise Satya Nadella. I guess good PR is worth much more than actions. Before Nadella, Windows wasn't nearly as user-hostile as it is now. There was no mandatory telemetry, there were no forced updates, end users weren't treated as betatesters and QA wasn't non-existent. And now they are taking away the ability to use Windows without Microsoft Account. Of course there are a…

If only the Linux on the desktop dreams of a decade ago - along with those Linux-installed PCs they tried to push at Walmart - had a more optimistic outcome...

[deleted]

Re: Microsoft has removed the “use offline account” option when installing Windows

#108

Post by herohamp »

sukilot wrote: post #98
haolez wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since I’ve migrated to web IDEs, my daily driver has become a Chromebook. Privacy concerns apart, it gets the job done and the battery life is over 14 hours. I’ve migrated from Linux, which is also pretty good as a desktop, but feels a little less polished than ChromeOS.

Which web IDEs?

I've come to love coder.com (port of VSCode), I created a container on proxmox with a base install so I can create environments for any project. C9SDK is also a very solid choice it just isnt as stable as coder.com, lacks many features, and doesnt have the VSCode hype.

Re: Microsoft has removed the “use offline account” option when installing Windows

#109

Post by paulryanrogers »

blahedo wrote: post #71
chank wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Deal is, big corps want it. Everything as a service. Easy to write off. Easy to ramp up and down as needed.

Do they though? My friends that work IT in corporate settings seem to tear their hair out every time MS (or anyone ) tries to auto-push an update that they haven't had a chance to rigorously test for compatibility and security with their existing stuff. Some of them have fiduciary responsibility to not add/change/upgrade software without carefully testing it first. That doesn't seem compatible with the trajectory Win…

> Some of them have fiduciary responsibility to not add/change/upgrade software without carefully testing it first.

While that makes a lot of sense will it remain a requirement if/when it's simply not a choice with any major vendor?

Can smaller vendors still provide that choice and meet all the necessary certificates that such industries often also require?

(Serious question, not trolling.)

Re: Microsoft has removed the “use offline account” option when installing Windows

#110

Post by MertsA »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #73
mentos wrote: post #2

“They have not removed it, it just is not visible by default if you are connected to the internet. Either run the setup without being connected to the internet, or type in a fake phone number a few times and it will give you the prompt to create a local account.”

I imagine another good path is to state it's owned by an organization, then clicking "Domain join instead". I can't imagine they removed that, but it just dumps out to a local account because you can't domain join in the OOBE.

I can confirm that's the case, just did this last week.
Post reply on HN