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Microsoft has removed the “use offline account” option when installing Windows

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Re: Microsoft has removed the “use offline account” option when installing Windows

#481

Post by navigatesol »

iforgotpassword wrote: post #397
m0zg wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> getting worse and worse at an alarming rate That's because Windows Division does not exist anymore as a separate business unit within MS. It's now a part of Azure. And Azure doesn't really care all that much about making desktop excellent. It'll just keep it good enough for you to buy more Azure, but not more than that.

I'm wondering if this is really the right move as in "desktop is definitely going down and everything will be web based". In that case sure, why bother throwing money at it. But should we realize in a couple years that this was overhyped and desktop OS and apps won't go away, everyone will have migrated to OSX or Linux if Windows quality continues to decline at that rate.

>But should we realize in a couple years that this was overhyped and desktop OS and apps won't go away, everyone will have migrated to OSX or Linux if Windows quality continues to decline at that rate.

Windows still claims nearly 80% of desktop market share, while OS X has less than 15%. Linux is around 2%.

Assuming people in any significant number care about having to use an online account is naive. Apple requires it. Google requires it. Amazon requires it. Xbox Live requires it. Facebook requires it. Sony requires it. People are used to this. If you think this will affect Windows in any way, you probably read too much HN.

Re: Microsoft has removed the “use offline account” option when installing Windows

#482

Post by missosoup »

klingonopera wrote: post #101

As someone who uses Windows for industrial PCs, I'm pretty appalled. We've been hanging on to Windows 7, including side-loading drivers into the installation image for modern hardware, because this kind of stuff that Windows 10 does is in these cases simply unacceptable (random tip: Go for AMD, their Windows 7 support is way better than Intel, do not use Intel chipset series 300). I can't have PCs bogged down downloa…

Windows 10 is an absolute clusterfuck in video walls/advertising screens/embedded or anything of the sort.

Watch windows 10 try to force an update during a live streamed esports match https://clips.twitch.tv/BadPlumpStarLitFam

Re: Microsoft has removed the “use offline account” option when installing Windows

#483

Post by zaat »

panpanna wrote: post #417
bsder wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In general I have a positive opinion about what MS is doing lately, but Windows is a glaring exception, it’s getting worse and worse at an alarming rate. Ayup. Win10 finally broke the camel's back and I started the process of figuring out how to transfer as much as we can to Linux. The hardest part is that our embedded development stuff is all Windows. :( I've been trying to get VSCode, Segger, and embedded boards…

Linux is _by far_ the best platform for embedded development. Vscode is available as an official snap (on Windows you need to download and update it manually), Segger tools and openocd are fully supported. GCC cross-compiler and even some flashing tools are part of the distro and just an apt-get away. This also means that everyone get the same tools (same version, same bugs). Which makes collaboration much easier.

Just a small correction:

>on Windows you need to download and update it manually

you don't need to update it manually, it will show a popup that an update is available and will update itself once approved.

Re: Microsoft has removed the “use offline account” option when installing Windows

#485

Post by rbanffy »

benhurmarcel wrote: post #460
m0zg wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> getting worse and worse at an alarming rate That's because Windows Division does not exist anymore as a separate business unit within MS. It's now a part of Azure. And Azure doesn't really care all that much about making desktop excellent. It'll just keep it good enough for you to buy more Azure, but not more than that.

What is the reasoning behind that? Putting a major desktop product as part of the cloud organization seems a bit ridiculous from afar.

Pretty much all of their brand recognition comes from people who buy a computer that starts up to the Windows logo, or arrive at their office to find a machine that runs Windows. The Backoffice-centric ecosystem will remain where it is out of mostly inertia, but its future is as cloud hosted services.

Re: Microsoft has removed the “use offline account” option when installing Windows

#486

Post by [deleted] »

mastazi wrote: post #63

This is incredibly bad. In general I have a positive opinion about what MS is doing lately, but Windows is a glaring exception, it’s getting worse and worse at an alarming rate. In the last two months we had two consecutive updates that broke basic functionality for users who disabled web results in Windows Search (which is a very common setting among those who care about privacy) https://www.zdnet.com/article/window…

[deleted]

Re: Microsoft has removed the “use offline account” option when installing Windows

#487

Post by tonyedgecombe »

ryan-allen wrote: post #111
JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people on HN, I would postulate, don't use Windows. We might use VS Code, we might use Azure, but we aren't using Microsoft's operating system.

I am! I reckon it's a neat OS. They've improved it dramatically (except for that... Candy Crush auto install, that is annoying). I have used WSL a lot, and now I use VS Code Remote to develop on a Debian 10 VPS. It's glorious. Being able to build a custom computer that I can do work on, and that I can play games on, and that run the Adobe suite of software, and not pay through the nose for high specs is wonderful. Af…

The nail for me was when OS updated were forced through their Apple Store.

They have moved away from that now, updates are managed through preferences again.

Re: Microsoft has removed the “use offline account” option when installing Windows

#488

Post by will4274 »

oefrha wrote: post #242
GlenTheMachine wrote: post #100

...and from what I can tell, their online account security is craptastic. Here’s a true story that happened to my family. My son is the only person in the house who uses Windows. For his game machine. He set up a Microsoft online account. It got hacked - someone set up a fake family and managed to get my son’s account listed under it as a child. As a consequence, he couldn’t install any new software. I’m not sure wha…

Yep, and last I checked (earlier this year I believe), there’s still a 14-character length limit on the MS account password. My bank’s better than that for crying out loud. Forget diceware or any other sane scheme, say hello to random hard-to-type punctuation characters. And now you’re forced to use that as your computer password too, which you probably have to type multiple times a day. (Okay, thankfully local accou…

> last I checked (earlier this year I believe), there’s still a 14-character length limit on the MS account password

It was 16 chars. And it hasn't been true since 2016.

Re: Microsoft has removed the “use offline account” option when installing Windows

#489

Post by xxs »

ageofwant wrote: post #375
daveheq wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you deal with Broadcom WiFi drivers?

You unscrew the small screw that keeps the mPCIe wifi card in place lift it out and throw it in the fish tank where it becomes part of the amusing detritus of social commentary and landscape art you've been contributing to. Now pop in the $18 Intel card you ordered last night and landed a hour ago. Your done ! Oh wait ! NOOB, you forgot to replace the screw !

Most cards have m2 interface nowadays; so you'd like to have an adapter too. Also mPCIe cards tend to use two screws, not one.

Re: Microsoft has removed the “use offline account” option when installing Windows

#490

Post by fauigerzigerk »

fourfour3 wrote: post #400
jevgeni wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or you know, iCloud? The thing that most people here probably have.

Except Apple have a lovely ‘Skip’ button at every step of the process. If you don’t want to use iCloud you’re not forced to by virtue of being internet connected, and there’s a clear option to not allow your iCloud account to be involved in auth or password resets.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think it's even possible to merge your iCloud account (Apple ID) with your Mac user account. Aren't these always separate identities?

I thought what Microsoft is pushing people to do is to use a single identity for both their PC and their Microsoft account, just like Google does with Chrome Books.

My concern with the single identity model is not just privacy. I worry that if something happens to my online account I might lose access to my local data.

At least on Chrome Books this is something that can happen. Not sure about Microsoft's approach though.

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