351–360 of 657 posts
The Windows 11 changes will enable this plan by tying every computer to a real identity and using that identity to watermark all content.
I'm switching to Linux.
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Surely the 'professional' versions don't have this requirement? I'm quite far from a Windows expert, but at the company I work for the IT folks control all aspects of authentication and maintenance (e.g. patches all come through our own servers, not MS or Apple). They'd tell MS to piss off if they tried to require employees to have MS accounts.
I've only installed PRO versions of Windows 10 and you CAN setup a local account even if internet is plugged in. It is however, hidden behind a few clicks so you must actively search for it. EDIT: maybe I'm wrong now, as other comment says they changed it a few months back. My last install was somewhere in Dec/2020
> I Will Never Use a Microsoft Account to Log Into My Own PC Yes, you will. Eventually. They'll continue to beat you down until you submit. Because, here's the secret. Even though you built the machine from the ground up, hand selecting all the parts, once you install Windows, the machine belongs to Microsoft. No, really, it does. They certainly think so. And they're a rich powerful organization, so it must be so.
When Windows 10 came out, the telemetry, MS account features, forced auto updates/reboots made my computer feel like it was no longer my own. Having used Microsoft OSes since DOS, this was the straw that finally broke the camel's back. After dabbling in Linux for years, this was motivation to commit 100% to using Linux as my main OS. It was mildly painful at first, but after sticking with it, I would never go back.
Yes exactly - MS does not respect the user's ownership of their own hardware. My favorite thing about Linux is that it does what I tell it to, and that's all it does.
The "we'll protect you, but you need to login and install everything through our store" paradigm is an awful trade, in my opinion.
On the bright side, maybe this will push more people who find this appalling to install Linux on their computers.
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it's time to ditch Windows for linux
I am always surprised by the lack of a proper "Linux Wine" OS, binary compatible with Windows, but with linux under the hood..
After watching this fiasco unfold I have a hot take: We need to stop judging these decisions based on our needs and consider the everyday computer user. Yes, these decisions annoy myself and most users on this site, but we are in the minority here. Most people do not care and just want to be up and running. They want security/configuration to be easy. They don't want to have to think about it. I think that a lot of t…
You yourself just explained how this is not a need of the everyday user: Most people do not need to have their PC/laptop account be the same as their account on some Microsoft services/apps. Also, and to generalize - we need to stop judging these decisions based even on everyday single computer user's needs and consider the needs of the computing using _public_. ... and the public definitely does not need Microsoft t…
Surely us HN readers have the knowledge to definitively state this as fact.
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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 does…
... but you are similarly prompted and dark-patterned to create one anyway. It is just marginally easier to skip the choice, if you don't mind being nagged or diving into the buried option you need to switch it all off. And without an account, loads of features like family Screen Time don't even work.
Apple paved the way, while MS was being cautious because of the browser-related legal challenges. They made all this socially acceptable, so at one point the guys in Redmond rightly went "why can't we do the same?" and here we are.
You do it by serving corporations, owned by a few of the ultra wealthy, who have captured all the economic productivity gains that MS-like software has brought the world economy.
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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.