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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

#281
I don't love this move (I think people should still get the choice) bit do get it a bit more after doing IT support for the in-laws. My sister in law, who is not super tech savvy, has forgotten her password and also been prompted for the Bitlocker Recovery Key and called me on both occasions all upset.

Given she had signed in with a Microsoft account, we were able to get the password reset there as well as retrieve the key from there. If it was a local account then I imagine both would have been much harder. So for 'most people' it is probably a good thing.

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

#282
This was inevitable to be honest. They've made it harder and harder to use a local only account, probably to drive the adoption rate of Microsoft account sign ins up so that they eventually can stay "no one uses local accounts any more". Give it a little more time and they'll require Microsoft accounts for everyone.

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

#283
post #62

Using Windows with a Microsoft account introduces all sorts of issues that only power users tend to come across, and power users are who Windows Pro is targeted for. For example, RDP'ing to a Windows Pro computer with a Microsoft account becomes a lot more difficult. Another example is that Windows still needs a local username and password, even if you've logged in with a Microsoft account, and this can get out of sy…

> For example, RDP'ing to a Windows Pro computer with a Microsoft account becomes a lot more difficult. I'm of the exact opposite persuasion. RDP'ing into a computer with your Microsoft account is easier , along with file and folder permissions across network shares and other account related things. I used to have to manage an AD domain to have the same set of accounts across all my various Windows machines. Now that…

> RDP'ing into a computer with your Microsoft account is easier

Only if you use the same account on both computers. What means the GP will have to use his work account on his personal computer just to jump into another machine.

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

#284

My opinion stays unchanged: run from Microsoft like you're fighting for your life. They want nothing but to ensnare you into a web of proprietary languages and services until you can't do anything in your computer that is not controlled by them.

You're completely right.

So, they're just like Apple and Google :-)))

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

#286

I don't love this move (I think people should still get the choice) bit do get it a bit more after doing IT support for the in-laws. My sister in law, who is not super tech savvy, has forgotten her password and also been prompted for the Bitlocker Recovery Key and called me on both occasions all upset. Given she had signed in with a Microsoft account, we were able to get the password reset there as well as retrieve t…

> If it was a local account then I imagine both would have been much harder.

Suprisingly I needed to hack into an old admin account password on a laptop (that I setup on a family member's laptop) and it was suprisingly easy. After installing some software on a USB stick and choosing it as a boot device I was able to bypass the login password completely. Forgot the name of the software I used -- but there are literally a bunch of competiting alternatives.

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

#288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Posting someone else's single opinion to back up your own is no less anecdotal than your original post. Whilst I'm not accusing you of this specifically, I have noticed a trend toward folks being so ingrained in the 'Windows way' that anything else is broken if it doesn't act the same. I was the same way for a long time. Started using Windows in 1994 and when I found Linux for myself, I just got angry that it wasn't…

So far "Linux works well for you and countless others" but almost all these people fall under the category of IT specialists or people with a high IQ. There are many anecdotal stories how Windows doesn't work but considering a majority of organizations run Windows (and we are talking about literally hundreds of millions of users) just fine with little to no maintenance while Linux is nowhere to be seen, speaks volume…

Why would I want to choose software based on how well it worked for unintelligent people? Lets take installing software on Ubuntu. If you are used to downloading exes and msis a software store is an additional detail worse it doesn't have absolutely everything you could ever want right off the bat so you now need to learn about software sources.

On net I think the benefit of both is massive over simply downloading exes and msis but for some degree of user you have already crossed the threshhold of complexity they will sit down for. Isn't it ultimately OK to have different software for Grandma to watch netflix on and for techies to have on their desktop?

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

#289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This really seems hard to credit at face value. The thing that most strikes me is > Gentoo (on the laptop, and elsewhere—probably my most-used personal distro) > In hindsight I can tell that I'd become blind to all the time I was losing to it. I'd lose 30 minutes or a whole day fucking with dumb shit that I never should have had to Gentoo really isn't as much a distro as a personal distribution construction kit given…

As noted, I used other distros, also for years at a time. They weren't much better, just harder to fix when they broke (usually on upgrades... or when trying to use new hardware... or because I tried to do something that should work, but it didn't). The time on Gentoo just means that I'm pretty good at fixing the "just works" distros when they "just don't". > Your complaints kind of read like someone who has found th…

Mint for home users. Arch or void for techies. Use with hardware that all 100% works instead of buying hardware for windows and hoping it works.
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