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

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

extremetech.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

331–340 of 657 posts

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

#331

Post by zorrolovsky »

tpoacher wrote: post #184
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…

for me Linux Mint was the first (and therefore last) linux that worked so well that there was no point experimenting with other linuxes anymore. it's supposed to be "ubuntu-based", but the usability difference between the two is night and day.

I agree! Linux Mint is very easy to install and to use. I tried both the ubuntu and debian flavours and I love the simplicity and elegance of cinnamon.

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

#332

Post by judge2020 »

gabereiser wrote: post #316
CSMastermind wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the case of requiring a phone number for emails it's to try and cut down on spam / bots abusing their service.

you would think, but that's not the case. It's used to correlate data sharing between data brokerages. Facebook has your number, Twitter has your number, Microsoft has your number. What better FK to link all this data together than that? Now Microsoft knows what you searched for. Twitter knows what you bought on Amazon. Facebook knows who you hung out with. It's all about the data brokerages.

Obviously it can be for more than one purpose. See spam reports from email1@outlook.com with phone number $x? Disable sending email for all accounts with that phone number. They've already signed up for three accounts this month with that number? Stop them from making any more without paying for a new number.

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

#333

Post by albertgoeswoof »

DrBazza wrote: post #284

If it's true that Windows 11 (home or pro) requires me to create an online account, then I'm finally done with Windows at home. I really hope that it isn't, but it does seem like this has been coming since Windows 10. I can understand from a company perspective that this kind of thing reduces piracy (and losses for a $2tn company), potentially improves the Windows upgrade route in future, and has minor benefits to so…

Surely pirates will just patch it, that’s not a good argument

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

#335

Post by ravenstine »

elliekelly wrote: post #292
HeckFeck wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

What do they stand to gain in making macOS easy/possible to run on other vendor hardware? That opens them up to headaches that don't bring in revenue. They are in the hardware business, not the OS business. Their OS development is just a necessary evil. Apple wants people to buy their hardware. If the customer wants macOS, they'd be best off buying the one hardware that's designed specifically for macOS. This is unlikely to ever change because it's been Apple's business model from the very beginning, and it's served them well overall.

I'm not saying anyone has to like it, but there's an inherent advantage in not having to support other hardware of varying degrees of quality. Honestly, I'll take that form of vendor lock-in over frequent pointless changes, having advertising shoved in my face, and being forced to have an online account. Perhaps my opinion will change if Apple follows suit (they won't), but for now it was pretty easy to set up my M1 Macbook Air without signing in with an Apple ID.

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

#336

Post by Brakenshire »

hawthornio wrote: post #75
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…

Elementary OS is positioning itself a Linux distro that Just Works TM, but I haven’t used it anywhere near as much as Ubuntu/Gnome so I can’t definitively say.

I don’t think they put any emphasis on tablet or 2-in-1 support, so might not be a good choice for this person.

I think it’s an excellent choice for a standard desktop or laptop.

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

#337

Post by agloe_dreams »

toyg wrote: post #272
nix23 wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really don't get it. Microsoft has an OS and a Cloud (Azure and Windows) and make pretty much good money with it, but both have a great need for privacy. I really don't get what Microsoft is thinking.

Microsoft is thinking that Apple somehow manages to have billions of people creating "iTunes" accounts, and they don't, and what the hell, John, why don't WE get all that sweet data and them big account numbers, can't we do what they do? Sure, Bob, but some people will get upse--Screw them, John! what they gonna do, move to Apple and pay more get the same treatment? Just fix the damn process, John, I want those accou…

....actually you do not need an iCloud account to use a mac or iPhone, but on iPhone you do need an iCloud account to download apps. On mac you can setup and use the machine entirely offline forever.

The same irony goes for the Windows 11 CPU support, the next version of macOS supports machines twice as old as Windows 11 supports. Microsoft embraces alt payment methods in the store and supports regulation, Apple doesn't and is the monopoly. The world is upside down in such strange ways in 2021.

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

#338

Post by judge2020 »

jptech wrote: post #221
shantnutiwari wrote: post #119

Microsoft has been using this dark pattern for a while now. Around 1-2 years ago, I upgraded MS Office on my Windows laptop. It asked me for my username/password-- which I didnt think strange, as I assumed it needed it to upgrade. And thats when I got a message "Good news! Your Windows machine now uses your Microsoft to login." W.T.F. I was never asked, never warned, just tricked into replacing my local login with an…

Even without an MS account, when using Microsoft Store with a local account, I won't be surprised if they used some hardware fingerprint such as MAC address to assign a unique ID to that account.

Wait until you hear about the combination of hardware identifiers they use to validate that your license is only being used on one computer.

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

#340

Post by arp242 »

addicted wrote: post #38
codecalec wrote: post #2

This requirement just does not make sense to me. Why would Microsoft even have this requirement? Do they want to force users into an account so it is easier to lead them into Office packages? It can't be for greater data profiles on users since they could do this in other less explicit ways. Microsoft just doesn't have the ecosystem like Apple to make this worthwhile from their point of view or the users.

To be honest, I think it’s as simple as it being a better experience for the type of people who would buy the Home edition. Forcing them to log in with a MS account allows MS to provide a lot of the services people expect using Android or iOS as their primary devices. For one thing, both those devices pretty much require an online account as well. And they contain far more sensitive data. But more importantly, they a…

All true, but I also think it's kind of missing the point of the article a bit: which isn't that a Microsoft account is bad in itself, or even a bad default, but rather that they go out of their way to make it as hard as possible for you to opt-out of a Microsoft account as you need to play all sort of non-obvious tricks to do so. They could just have some small text with "no thanks" and a popup "you'll miss out on sync, backup, etc. are you sure?"

The objections are more abstract, as in "it's my bloody computer, allow me to do what I bloody want!" Well... Microsoft says no apparently.

Post reply on HN