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Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account

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Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account

#731
post #609

Am I the only one who has simply said “no thanks” to Windows 11? There were hints of where Microsoft was heading in Windows 10, but at least a lot of the worst “features” could be disabled. I find 11 just completely unacceptable software to run on any system I own.

Really? I found them reenabled after the next update. I just gave up and switched to Linux a year ago.

Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account

#732

My biggest annoyance is that I specifically bought a Windows 11 license, from the MS store, using my MS account. I did this because I assumed that if something went wrong, I would always be able to recover it. I could never 'lose' the key if it was tied to my account. Well unfortunately, MS screwed me. When I upgraded my PC I was apparently supposed to transfer the license before deleting the old PC from my account.…

Last I ever bothered to buy a CD key I got it off one of those gaming key sites. I have since moved on to Linux, but you can get a Pro key really cheap on those sites. I refuse to overspend to upgrade what should have been a computer with Windows Pro OOTB. If you spend over 2 grand on any computer you should not be getting Windows Home edition.

I have to ask, why even bother paying some key site? It is violating the terms of the license agreement anyway, so why not just pirate?

Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account

#733

Normies that are upset with Windows will switch to macOS. You guys are smoking crack if you think regular people are going Linux.

Switching costs a thousand plus dollars, or you can install this on your existing machine.

Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account

#734

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Companies that cannot run their businesses responsibly at scale should not be allowed to run their business at that scale. If Microsoft can't do it, if Apple, Google, Facebook, X , OpenAI can't do it, then maybe we shouldn't allow companies to operate at scales which inevitably lead to widespread consumer harm. They should be required to provide human customer service, with some sort of legal liability to ensure thei…

Apple has customer service you can call and speak to a person.

It was a long time ago but more than once I had troubles with a Windows license and it was known that if you talked to somebody at Microsoft on the phone long enough they'd take pity on you and give you a new license key.

They're not really afraid that individuals are going to rip off Windows, they are afraid that system builders are going to rip off 20 copies of Windows for machines that they build. In fact, given that they are so into Azure and GAME PASS and all sorts of thing you've never heard of, Windows might just be a loss leader.

Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account

#735

My biggest annoyance is that I specifically bought a Windows 11 license, from the MS store, using my MS account. I did this because I assumed that if something went wrong, I would always be able to recover it. I could never 'lose' the key if it was tied to my account. Well unfortunately, MS screwed me. When I upgraded my PC I was apparently supposed to transfer the license before deleting the old PC from my account.…

Companies that cannot run their businesses responsibly at scale should not be allowed to run their business at that scale. If Microsoft can't do it, if Apple, Google, Facebook, X , OpenAI can't do it, then maybe we shouldn't allow companies to operate at scales which inevitably lead to widespread consumer harm. They should be required to provide human customer service, with some sort of legal liability to ensure thei…

This is why we have courts and judges, to hear complaints and issue remedies when the defendants are unwilling to do so. A better solution would be to reign in arbitration agreements, which are horribly inefficient. Arbitration purports to be lest costly, but it encourages unnecessary litigation by preventing the operation of res judicata, it increases the costs of litigation by preventing class actions, etc. It increases injuries by keeping wrongdoers conduct confidential.

Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account

#736

My biggest annoyance is that I specifically bought a Windows 11 license, from the MS store, using my MS account. I did this because I assumed that if something went wrong, I would always be able to recover it. I could never 'lose' the key if it was tied to my account. Well unfortunately, MS screwed me. When I upgraded my PC I was apparently supposed to transfer the license before deleting the old PC from my account.…

> When I upgraded my PC I was apparently supposed to transfer the license before deleting the old PC from my account. Doing it in the wrong order lost the license forever - no way to transfer it.

This happened to me too! It's absolutely insane that a license I bought through my account can't be transferred somehow...

My newest NUC is somehow recognized by Windows 11 as being entitled to a copy, and I can reinstall on it repeatedly while keeping the activation, so at least we've got that going for us.

But after Proton, all the machines in my house exclusively run Linux. I sincerely hope I never touch a windows machine again for the rest of my life :)

Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account

#737

Pirate it and you will have a much better experience for free

Using a pirated OS does not sound like a good idea lol. Who knows what could be added during "cracking" of the license.

Whatever it is, I'm sure it's not half as bad as things that Microsoft puts there. After all, who knows what's in Windows source code.

Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account

#738
Finally caved and bought a Mac this year. Never used one before in my life - I've used Windows / Linux / Chrome OS as my primary computing environments at various times over the years.

It's just okay. Windows 11 is worse.

Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account

#739

Discovered Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC edition recently. It's great! It is supposed to get security updates through 2032. It doesn't have Cortana, OneDrive, CoPilot, Edge, etc. (Which is a good thing IMO.) Nor does it require a cloud account to use.

Wait, is that a product that one can buy? It sounds like it would solve most of my issues with Windows.

It is purchasable only if you have access to business sales for Microsoft. You need to buy at least 5 normal licenses before being offered the LTSC upgrade option. It is quite pricey.

Re: Microsoft is plugging more holes that let you use Windows 11 without MS account

#740

Question out of curiosity: On todays hardware, it should be possible to run Windows in a VirtualBox on a Linux System, or am I wrong? Thinking about this to be my next setup for the next machine (in 1 or 2 years) Im mainly using corp & office software and MS dev tools - those should be useable in a virtualized Windows? Any experience?

> Any experience? Yes. As you transition to using Windows less and less, you'll get reminded more and more about how much of a pain it is to use, and how much of a Stockholm Syndrome you've developed over years of abuse. To the point that you'll be avoid Windows as much as you can. You'll be booting your system infrequently enough, that, at every boot, Windows will be unresponsively slow, hogging your CPU and your ba…

Hey, I don’t have this trauma! Last time I used Windows it was a bit different. Two decades passed, however. Perhaps I just forgot, haha!
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