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Windows 11 Pro will soon require a Microsoft Account during initial setup

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Re: Windows 11 Pro will soon require a Microsoft Account during initial setup

#141

Post by zsims »

Fergusonb wrote: post #110
nemacol wrote: post #52

Can you use Apple products without an account? If not*, what version of Linux should I get setup with. Casual web development. I mostly use my personal machine for gaming. Edit - Typo

A lot of the replies here are recommending Ubuntu - I'm going to recommend PopOS. It's built on top of Ubuntu, but comes with a newer kernel (better new hardware compatibility), graphics drivers, and some sensible defaults. Some optimizations for laptops with graphics switching is great too.

Does it come with ads? Because that's my favourite part of Ubuntu

Re: Windows 11 Pro will soon require a Microsoft Account during initial setup

#142

Post by christkv »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #122
giobox wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is no excuse, especially thanks to Valve for their work enhancing wine ecosystem and making your games work. While Proton is great, it helps no one to suggest it's a solution to making all games work. There are absolutely enormous multiplayer titles still unavailable on Proton, if you can't play the games your friends play who cares if 99% of the rest of the Steam library works? Again, I think Proton is great…

Agreed on all counts. Proton (and WINE in general, really) is an impressive piece of work that has done wonders to make software available on Linux Desktop, but it is not a perfect solution. Personally, I'm sick enough of Microsoft's shit that I'm now willing to put up with Linux Desktop's shit instead and if that means I miss a few games, I'll live with it. I don't play competitive online games anyway.

A friend virtualized his hardware and just assigned a dedicated gpu to the windows vm under Linux and gets close to native performance for games.

Re: Windows 11 Pro will soon require a Microsoft Account during initial setup

#143

Post by newbamboo »

zeusk wrote: post #131
ethbr0 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My last round of Windows 11 installs, I just created a new MS account for the install, created a local admin user, and then deleted the MS account from the machine and built local accounts out normally. I'm sure, somewhere, there's a Microsoft VP whose "New MS accounts" KPI looks great...

Well it's all a part of them trying to turn Windows into iOS like device management system, including the "family" aspect of app store and subscriptions. When was the last time you used an iOS device without an Apple ID?

“When was the last time you used an iOS device without an Apple ID?”

So that’s what I’m doing wrong!

Re: Windows 11 Pro will soon require a Microsoft Account during initial setup

#144

Post by woodruffw »

randomhodler84 wrote: post #2

Literally a trap to hand over your encryption keys. Never sign into an operating system with a cloud identity. You should have stopped using windows years ago. There is no excuse, especially thanks to Valve for their work enhancing wine ecosystem and making your games work.

> Literally a trap to hand over your encryption keys. Never sign into an operating system with a cloud identity.

Why does your trust model include "running a proprietary OS that can do anything at any time" but not "the OS explicitly requires a user account tied to an online account?" That doesn't make any sense.

To be clear: there are plenty of great reasons to dislike this change. But they all fall under "user-hostile" or "creeping surveillance capitalism," not "shady conspiracy to steal your encryption keys." They can already have the keys if they want them, and there's nothing you can do about it as-is.

Re: Windows 11 Pro will soon require a Microsoft Account during initial setup

#145

Post by jacquesm »

newbamboo wrote: post #139
jacquesm wrote: post #117

Ah we never saw that one coming. What really bugs me is why people keep defending these companies: this is straight up abusive, and we - all of us - should not accept these tricks. Getting you an MS account is one small step away from charging you monthly for the privilege of using the computer that you've already paid for.

It’s 2022, accept that everything is now a subscription and learn to eat bugs.

Not a chance.

Re: Windows 11 Pro will soon require a Microsoft Account during initial setup

#146

Post by giobox »

christkv wrote: post #142
AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed on all counts. Proton (and WINE in general, really) is an impressive piece of work that has done wonders to make software available on Linux Desktop, but it is not a perfect solution. Personally, I'm sick enough of Microsoft's shit that I'm now willing to put up with Linux Desktop's shit instead and if that means I miss a few games, I'll live with it. I don't play competitive online games anyway.

A friend virtualized his hardware and just assigned a dedicated gpu to the windows vm under Linux and gets close to native performance for games.

This approach is a lot more hassle to setup than Proton, but it does yield some really great performance and ~100% game compatibility. I've been planning to go this way for my next desktop build (Windows gaming VM with native GPU pass-through).

Re: Windows 11 Pro will soon require a Microsoft Account during initial setup

#147

Post by joedissmeyer »

There are two reasons why I continue to use a personal Windows machine - PC Gaming and Microsoft 365 Family. On the gaming topic, almost all of the games that I play are also on console which is where I spend most of my gaming time anyways. On Microsoft 365 Family, OneDrive backup and sync is the top reason why I have it. I use it to sync all of my family photos between my phones, PC, Macbook, and iPad for myself, my wife, and my kids. It is extremely convenient and hard to argue otherwise. Beyond data backups, the biggest reason why we have the subscription is because my wife really really wants to use the Office Apps because it is what she is used to the most (Word, Excel, Publisher). So to my family and I, Microsoft 365 = value and convenience.

For me, if a good OneDrive linux sync client was out there that would be a good reason for me to finally jump ship off of Windows. I suppose I'm just waiting for the right push to move away from Windows. Maybe this is that time. Hell, I already know that my personal PC (which I built early January 2021) "fails" the Windows 11 upgrade readiness check anyways so I already feel burned. All of the reasons why I used Windows for decades was because of its "value" for me. Lots of convenience, tons of community support and tons of software, etc. But not anymore. In my opinion, what Microsoft is doing with Windows is similar to what Disney is doing with their parks. "Value" is being removed while increasing prices and limiting "choice". Maybe I still do have _some_ "convenience" in using Windows. But I'm losing more and more reasons to stick with Windows over time as more of Microsoft's business decisions are impacting you and me, and not necessarily for the better.

Re: Windows 11 Pro will soon require a Microsoft Account during initial setup

#149

Post by qbasic_forever »

elorant wrote: post #109

Well I have 3 years before Win10 reaches EOL and then I'm moving on to greener pastures. Linux desktop has matured enough for my needs.

Might as well switch now, you can always run your win 10 install in a little VM. Ubuntu and PopOS are great and a nice step up from windows subsystem for linux if you're doing mostly development work.

Re: Windows 11 Pro will soon require a Microsoft Account during initial setup

#150

Post by Underphil »

brimble wrote: post #114
Underphil wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely false. It may not be for you, but it is not remotely a mess. I do everything from DevOps work, to gaming, to audio production in desktop Linux. It absolutely is a viable alternative for millions of people. But I concede, not for everyone. But your hyperbole is plainly false and likely to deter folks who would otherwise thrive in Linux.

Heavy Linux user since about 2000, was my main desktop (and laptop!) operating system from about 2002-2011. Mainly Mandrake (mostly early on), Ubuntu, Gentoo (on the laptop, and elsewhere—probably my most-used personal distro), and Debian. I most recently gave it a serious go about a year ago (Fedora and Ubuntu, plus some Void [Void was pretty nice!]) Can confirm it's a mess and there was no hyperbole in the original…

It's difficult to 'confirm' something that's just your experience. I, conversely, can confirm it's not a mess in that case.

I will admit there are times when I have dig into the system a little to resolve a niggling issue but I consider that the price I pay for avoiding telemetry, vendor lock-in and a mostly proprietary ecosystem. I have not experienced 'drag and drop operations crashing'. '30 minutes' or a 'whole day fucking with dumb shit' hasn't been my experience for many years.

I maintain it is not a mess. It is not ideal, but a 'mess' IS hyperbole.

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