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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

#761

Post by tripzilch »

isostatic wrote: post #754
tripzilch wrote: post #751

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone in another thread mentioned, it's because the marketing budgets are way bigger than what people would, or even could, pay. Whichever corporations are paying for these revenue streams of monetized data and attention, they can (and do) easily outbid whatever a human customer is willing or able to pay for software or services that don't track you. It's pretty obvious when you think about it. All the incentive…

> As someone in another thread mentioned, it's because the marketing budgets are way bigger than what people would, or even could, pay. This makes no sense. Someone paying £43 a month for Sky TV in the UK is only worth another £5 a month in adverts. Maybe that works out fine, but I don't pay for Sky because of this. London Underground brainwashes millions of people every day. They spend £4.50 on a ticket, but TFL wan…

I'm not sure about your examples, they don't seem to be on line data harvesting tracking ads, monetizing consumers of software or content. Maybe I'm missing the analogy here.

Anyway, it was this comment, they explained the idea better than I did maybe: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20988742

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

#762

Post by rvz »

Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #758
rvz wrote: post #757

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A default Ubuntu install doesn't require much if anything in the way of settings mungery... I don't think any user would be bothered in attempting to install Ubuntu to replace Windows unless they are 'tech-savvy' enough or a software engineer. Such users would only see that as a double negative in losing their apps + UX mental model just to get things done. They first have to unlearn Windows/Mac and then replace th…

I'm not going to entertain any more ideas of "users are stupid and therefore cannot figure out an Ubuntu installation". It's extremely simple and I don't have that little faith in the average person. It's not hard, and I'd appreciate it if we dropped this stupid argument once and for all. It's defeatist and false. >Yes, Windows is a nightmare for getting drivers working, but I have heard worse stories of Linux users…

> I'm not going to entertain any more ideas of "users are stupid and therefore cannot figure out an Ubuntu installation". It's extremely simple and I don't have that little faith in the average person. It's not hard, and I'd appreciate it if we dropped this stupid argument once and for all. It's defeatist and false.

Realistically the "average user" has better things to do than to install Ubuntu or another OS these days just to get work done. It's even better for Windows users thanks to WSL which gives them less of a reason to switch to a Linux distro or even to buy a Chromebook. Android is a good example of what the mess of the Linux distros should have been but for mobile.

> In the last 10 years? This is no longer a problem.

Well you brought up an anecdote about Windows as so did I for Linux. But as with both graphics cards and their drivers, this is still an eternal issue on the majority of Linux distros, especially those who keep using NVIDIA and Intel.

> The "average user" doesn't care. They want to read Facebook. See my previous comment.

Exactly. Why should the "average user" bother with all that trouble in switching/migrating if Windows / Mac users have everything Linux has to offer but with a sainer environment and established support and ecosystem.

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

#763

Post by jmnicolas »

kchamplewski wrote: post #535
bachmeier wrote: post #502

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there anyone that even knows what "Domain join" means? If the button was there but hidden, would that count as "still there"? What if it was there but labeled "Click here to brick your computer"?

Domain joining means connecting the machine to a Windows domain allowing domain user accounts to be used, and allowing for the domain to administer the machine. It's actually quite a helpful option to have, but it's completely absurd for the only way to create a local account to be via the domain join option.

Every time I click the "domain join" button when I install a PC at work it never even ask which domain I want to join. I have to do it once the OS is fully installed.

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

#764

Post by rogual »

Kuinox wrote: post #491
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…

They didn't removed it. The title is misleading, The button is still there, but they renamed the button. It's under "Domain Join Instead" https://i.imgur.com/tA9fo1R.png And there you can create an offline account: https://i.imgur.com/eBLi5cv.png

"Domain join instead"? That's bizarre, it's not even proper English. They really don't want anyone to click there.

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

#765

Post by fortran77 »

angry_octet wrote: post #392
fortran77 wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't run NVidia on Macs (Ok, some Mac true believer will tell me I can get an PCI-X external cage and run it over thunderbolt with crazy drivers) and I can't run Adobe Premiere, After Effects, Audition, etc, on a Linux machine.

It's one reason I gave up having a MacBook Pro, the hardware is underwhelming in so many ways. But my Mac Pro from 2010 still gets nvidia driver updates and cuda support. In the unlikely event someone will pay for a new Mac Pro for me I'll be able to stick a 2080 in it. You can stick an nvidia card in a PCI-e chassis and it will work on a laptop or Mac mini, but yes it isn't optimal.

"isn't optimal" is an understatement. It's downright wonky!

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

#766

Post by gnode »

dgzl wrote: post #593
proc0 wrote: post #556

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Games is literally the only reason keeping me installing Windows. Hoping this changes with some viable alternative.

Are PC games that important?

From my personal experience, there is a large overlap between people who like to play PC games and people who are interested in and curious about computing technology, and would otherwise be inclined to use Linux.

Although the trend appears to be changing with the likes of Proton, the lack of Linux compatibility for games keeps these people tied to Windows, and keeps them from adopting Linux.

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

#767

Post by ptah »

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…

why can't you use linux instead?

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

#768

Post by gnode »

ernst_klim wrote: post #741
gambiting wrote: post #606

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a multi-billion dollar industry, is this a real question?

>It's a multi-billion dollar industry It's actually a tiny industry with a revenue of Oracle.

Perhaps more significantly: there are around 1.3 billion PC gamers out of a larger 2.5 billion video gamers globally. Around 35% of Americans are PC gamers, although the largest market region is now Asia-Pacific.

Amongst people most likely to care about the concerns raised here, the proportion is likely even larger.

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

#769

Post by lp001 »

Microsoft Windows 10 is the least secure OS on the market. Tracking, spying on, selling all user data to the highest bidder. MS is an abomination to privacy and security.

I still have an installed copy of Win 8 for special use if need be. However, I am avoiding the use MS products if at all possible.

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

#770

Post by jandrese »

I've never created an online account with Microsoft. I don't see any advantage in giving them my login information. It makes me mad every time I have to pixel hunt for the link that is way down in the corner and one shade darker than the background. Like people at Microsoft have to know this is absolute bullshit and yet they keep doing it.
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