I Will Never Use a Microsoft Account to Log Into My Own PC • Hacker News Board

Re: I Will Never Use a Microsoft Account to Log Into My Own PC

#291

Post by fragileone » Mon, Jun 28, 2021, 1:52 PM UTC

anyonecancode wrote: post #202

teekert wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you really need Windows? Our family laptop runs Linux, it does Teams for school, MineCraft, Netflix. You could do Office365 from a browser, although I admit, it is less than ideal. But it seems like you are almost at the emotional state make the jump... what's holding you back? I bought a Dell Latitude E5450 for 350 eur about 2 years back. It was used but looked new. It came with Win 10 Pro, which sits on my NAS a…

Roblox. I had my kids on linux originally, but there's no linux version of Roblox, and the proposed workarounds I found were unreliable, out of date, or more work than I was willing to invest in.

Roblox works on Linux as of this week, there was a post here a few days ago.

Re: I Will Never Use a Microsoft Account to Log Into My Own PC

#292

Post by elliekelly » Mon, Jun 28, 2021, 1:52 PM UTC

HeckFeck wrote: post #245

nickjj wrote: post #117

I know the post is about Windows 11 but I installed Windows 10 for someone on a laptop about 2 months ago and it had the most crazy dark pattern I've ever seen to be able to proceed past the installation screen without a Microsoft account. Short of not connecting to the internet first the only way I saw where it was possible to create an offline account was to first attempt to sign in using an incorrect password with…

It is a shame to watch the decline of Windows. There isn't much I can recommend to non-technical users looking affordable computing relatively under their control. Manipulation and user hostility is unacceptable. Any of these possibilities would be nice: * The market presents a kinder (and equally-affordable x86) solution and users follow. * ReactOS lurches leaps and bounds ahead. * Microsoft realises this trajectory…

Why does Apple make it so difficult/borderline impossible to run MacOS on non-apple computers? Would it cut into their computer sales that significantly? I would imagine most people who want (and can afford) a Mac would still buy one.

Re: I Will Never Use a Microsoft Account to Log Into My Own PC

#293

Post by Der_Einzige » Mon, Jun 28, 2021, 1:53 PM UTC

chokma wrote: post #220

exceptione wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a long time Windows user that tried Linux in the past with no avail, I finally found my love in Manjaro KDE. Because it is based on Arch, it is closer to cutting edge which is a good thing wrt hardware support. I especially love that you can just switch kernels from the GUI. The good thing is that it Arch with safety belts, with a wide array of curated packages. If you feel more adventurous, you can also reach out…

I tried Manjaro recently - just in time to run into the Nvidia update disaster (black screen on boot, broken X-server due to system update). And no amount of fiddling with the config files and nouveau / proprietary drivers brought the system back into a usable state. So back to Ubuntu it was...

Same exact experience here. Now I get why people told me to avoid rolling release distros.

I used Manjaro entirely because of its i3/bspwm DE versions. Ubuntu now has a good equivalent in the form of regolith. Avoid Manjaro if you care about long term system stability

Re: I Will Never Use a Microsoft Account to Log Into My Own PC

#294

Post by ghoward » Mon, Jun 28, 2021, 1:54 PM UTC

ajdude wrote: post #137

Retric wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OSS software isn’t immune to this stuff either. Many projects want to increase the number of people using them. What’s different is the community pushes back on annoying examples where customers are mostly stuck with that they purchased and don’t have a say.

You’re getting downvoted but I’ve seen this even with Firefox and Ubuntu lately. No, I don’t want to log into a web account! Then you have stuff like this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26114194

And this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27068400

Re: I Will Never Use a Microsoft Account to Log Into My Own PC

#295

Post by fart32 » Mon, Jun 28, 2021, 1:56 PM UTC

w4rh4wk5 wrote: post #234

kyrra wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why I haven't taken the dive either. Though, is this why Microsoft crested Hello? https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/sign-in-to-your-...

Might be, I don't know. But I am not going to use biometrics either, for various reasons.

Would you mind sharing few of them? I use fingerprint reader on my phone and laptop, is there a reason I shouldn't? Face recognition is something I have a problem with. I don't like cameras, especially those you cannot unplug.

Re: I Will Never Use a Microsoft Account to Log Into My Own PC

#296

Post by fartcannon » Mon, Jun 28, 2021, 1:57 PM UTC

C19is20 wrote: post #151

brushfoot wrote: post #73

This makes me want to move back to Linux, but last time I tried Ubuntu (2020) there were lots of little annoyances. Off the top of my head: - Screen tearing. I Googled around and installed the Nvidia drivers for my laptop, but it never went away. - No detection of tablet mode. - No auto screen rotation. - Slow Blender rendering. Probably a PEBKAC with my driver setup, but it just worked in Windows and it was easy to…

...try being an audio engineer on Linux.

It's awesome? It's how I do all my audio.

Re: I Will Never Use a Microsoft Account to Log Into My Own PC

#297

Post by rovr138 » Mon, Jun 28, 2021, 1:57 PM UTC

Retric wrote: post #115

rovr138 wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They also did say ‘software’.

Your monitor has software, as does basically everything built lately significantly more complicated than a fan.

The topic is around stickiness of software.

What does your monitor have that make it sticky?

Re: I Will Never Use a Microsoft Account to Log Into My Own PC

#298

Post by streamofdigits » Mon, Jun 28, 2021, 1:57 PM UTC

Ygg2 wrote: post #250

streamofdigits wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

they switch towards selling hardware to datacenters

Assuming they all can. Still, that presupposed we will be able to connect to the datacenters in the future.

to be honest I suspect everybody (including Microsoft) got wrong-footed by the mobile explosion. this redefined what personal computing means by placing simpler devices in the hands of billions.

maybe its just a matter of time before the pendulum swings back and we get really cool hardware repatriated to homes / desktops offering features that would be suboptimal in a thin client setup (due to latency, privacy etc)

Re: I Will Never Use a Microsoft Account to Log Into My Own PC

#299

Post by dividedbyzero » Mon, Jun 28, 2021, 1:58 PM UTC

naikrovek wrote: post #55

CannisterFlux wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently in Windows 11 they removed that loophole, and now you require an internet connection at least once during setup to proceed.

Windows 11 Home only. Pro, Enterprise, and Education don't have this requirement.

Are any of these freely sold to individuals, or do you only get them as part of larger deals?

Re: I Will Never Use a Microsoft Account to Log Into My Own PC

#300

Post by alyandon » Mon, Jun 28, 2021, 1:59 PM UTC

My pseudo-workaround to deal with this is to use a Microsoft account for the sole purposes of backing up my digital entitlements. After I've logged in once, I create a local admin account using the control panel and never use the online account again.