Question Is M$ Trying To Kill Windows Off?

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

I'm still using 7 with no intention to move beyond it.

New Windows 11 preview makes Microsoft accounts mandatory for (almost) all

PC World|9 minutes ago
The latest build of Windows 11 eliminates the option to sign in with a local account on Windows 11 Pro, forcing users to sign in with a Microsoft account instead.


Guess I need to explore something else.

 

[Zoozuu]

lol.. what nsa tracking wasn't implemented from you not logging in?

 

[Shmee]

If you are gaming, you can just stick with Windows 10 for some time. If not gaming, you can use Linux. Whatever you choose in the mean time, hopefully Windows 12 will be better when it comes out.

 

[mxnerd]

Apple forces you to login, Google forces you to login, now Microsoft.

Even Twitter/Facebook ask you to login, so I don't visit their websites.

Google/MS are getting so invasive really have to look for alternatives.

 

[Zoozuu]

heh yeah and he probably has a goog/facingbuk account and logs in all the time and is tracked and fed ads. what is worse about doing the same while having a ms account? lol ohgawdworldends

 

[mindless1]

I'm still using 7 with no intention to move beyond it.

Guess I need to explore something else.

These two statements are at odds with each other.

If not gaming, keep running Win7 till you have a compelling reason to switch to something else. For me that is driver support for the hardware, otherwise any system of mine that can, is running Win7.

 

[Muadib]

Actually they are working to end passwords altogether.

Some of tech's biggest names want a future without passwords — here's what that would look like

From Google to Microsoft, some of tech's biggest names say the dream of a password-less internet is close to reality. The truth is a little more complicated.

www.cnbc.com

 

[DigDog]

if you are in a non-work-related environment, you can grab W10 LTSC and not worry about anything for 10 years.

 

[OlyAR15]

I was able to install Win 11 Home without using an MS account, even though it was supposed to be required. Probably same for the near future.

 

[Zoozuu]

I was able to install Win 11 Home without using an MS account, even though it was supposed to be required. Probably same for the near future.

I think win11 home was one of the versions sited in the article at the top as able to do offline accounts. also any version is able to do offline accounts till ms doesn't allow it anymores.

 

[OlyAR15]

I think win11 home was one of the versions sited in the article at the top as able to do offline accounts.

Win 11 Pro is the version that allows offline accounts. Home normally requires a MS account, but there are ways to force it to accept a local account. Hopefully these techniques will still work with the updated version should MS ever go that route.

 

[Zoozuu]

der lol sorry yeah that's what I meant. also enterprise I think.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

This thread hits the nail on the head concerning my pet peeve about Win 10 (and later) that I've had for some time.

I'm going to post a new thread about my Win 2012 Essentials R2 server and my client systems. I'll explain most of it on that thread, but suffice it to say, when I moved my flagship computer from Win 7 to Win 10, I was connected in a WORKGROUP or "HomeGroup" to a Windows Home Server 2011. I upgraded that server OS to Win 2012 R2 (Essentials). A lot of people with home servers want to keep their Workgroup and local accounts for various clients in their home. I was no exception. So -- there was a workaround for avoiding the hassle of joining a server Domain, and I pursued it with the flagship system. Everybody else in the house was using Win 7, and the new server continued to back up their systems, but not my Windows 10. But it turns out that Windows 10 can be backed up by Win 2012 (or 2016 . . or 2019 I suppose) provided the clients all join the domain. In that case, you'd want your local account and password, your local settings and configuration, to be easily migrated to a "new" account with the same name and password.

So then there was the confusion about the "Microsoft Account", and one isn't initially sure that logging on to the Microsoft account will keep you plugged in to your local account. I ALWAYS create an account name and password to logon to my PC. And these have been "local" accounts as far as I remember.

Mainstreamers are like lemmings. They can be led around by the nose, while MS didn't make it easy for people like me to preserve their network topology and accounts despite OS upgrades.

My trouble restoring my client systems and cleaning up my server has taken a lot of my time and attention. I've had to discover the causes for backup failure on my own, in a situation where everyone else in the house was using Win 7. I finally just started using Macrium for local backup of my flagship computer. Now -- I'm catching up on reading I should've done for Win 2012 Essentials, and I see (mostly) what I have to do to set things straight. But the confusion over Workgroup accounts, Domain accounts and Microsoft accounts has been a big timewaster for me.

[Blank] You In the Heart With a Telephone Pole, Microsoft!

 

[DasFox]

You don’t need to have an account to install Win11.

1. Press Shift+F10 when it asks for an internet connection.
2. Type taskmgr and hit the Enter button.
3. Click on the More details button.
4. Find the Network Connection Flow process.
5. Select it and click the End task button.
6. Close all windows and enter your name and password if you choose, password isn’t needed.

P.S. I spoke to AMD on this, and they are recommending Win11, which has better CPU Scheduling, so if you’re going Ryzen, performance will be better. I’m sure better for Intel CPUs too...

 

[Zoozuu]

I'm wondering why someone cares about having to use an account so much? anyone who doesn't like the idea of using a MS account. tell me. do you also not use a facebook account or a google account or an amazon account? what about an account on a website like this or a different "store website" that doesn't use a connected account like google ect? even some download sites for games require it..what im saying is there is so much ad service and telemetry you are doing nothing but stepping over one puddle before the sea or whatever.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

^^ With shopping or banking or social sites, you log in temporarily, only as long as you're visiting that site. You don't need to log in to them just to be able to use your computer for anything else.

 

[Zoozuu]

you are acting like that is having your feet wet while touching an active appliance but really I'm saying you get that either way. the nsa doesn't need a ms account.

edit: Lost do you own a phone? (*not an actual question)

 

[DigDog]

two things;

i'm not sure what a M$ account entails. Frankly i wouldn't be terribly bothered with having to have an online account to log in to a PC, but there are two things i am worried about, which are:
1. the account being matched to my ownership of the OS
2. the account being (eventually?) linked to online activities.

I'm all for paying M$ their fair share for a OS license, but i dont want to be at risk of being accidentally locked out of my own PC. Not like that's never happened, no?
I'm also seriously worried about my doing-something on one website, being reflected in another, the way that Google does.
I have a completely 100% fake account with Google and i don't want my potential LinkedIn recruiter seeing that i have a Quake clan named "4ss R4pers" or that i play as "G4yShi7lord69" on COD

true story;
i still own a email account @doramail (doraemon fans email, ok?) which is from the early 90s and, once upon a time, used cookies for security, then went to passwords, but i still have a 4-character password. And if that's not shocking enough for you, i also had a @kittymail (hello kitty fans) account, and both companies were bought by Mail.com, so today you would go to www.mail.com and in the username, you put account@domain.com and then your password.
Now, because - keep in mind, this is early 90s - mail.com saw me access both accounts from my same PC, without asking, they merged the two emails. Now each account is a separate folder in the other. Never even bothered with a "is this your email?" popup.

second, LTSC is something that everyone ought to know exists. Not just because it's awesome, but because before W10 launched, everyone who had a brain thought "how the f* am i going to deploy this garbage on my work environment?". With Cortana and all that telemetry bull***t.

So obviously M$ had to work behind the scenes to deliver a OS that doesnt actually suck, but they don't advertise LTSC at all, it's like, if you are a commoner, a pleb, you don't even know it exists, only serious businesses that are one step of frustration away from moving to a Linux UI get to have it.

And basically it's W10 stripped of all the garbage that has nil real-world functionality for users, or if you want it explained in another way, it's W7 with the engine upgrades of 10.

So do what an ethical pirate does, pay your $89 (via some dodgy russian website) for your M$ license, then throw it in the garbage and install W10 LTSC. No cortana, no "APPS", no commercials for M$-associated products on your desktop, no sending data to M$, no forced updates, sure it can take a little bit of tweaking, but you can tailor it to make it exactly like W7, including the classic-style Start button and UI.

 

[mikeymikec]

heh yeah and he probably has a goog/facingbuk account and logs in all the time and is tracked and fed ads. what is worse about doing the same while having a ms account? lol ohgawdworldends

Windows historically has been an OS that essentially lets you do almost anything you want. Run a program designed in 1996 on a 2022 OS? Sure. Store your files however and wherever you want? Sure. Not really in any way similar to a Facebook account.

Lately though MS has been imitating its competitors and trying to railroad their users. They got spanked for it in the days of Win9x, but just like you said, if MS got pulled up for it in this era, could they not just cite their competitors' behaviour?

I changed from Windows 7 to Linux because I believe even though Microsoft hasn't yet 100% forced its users into say MS accounts, OneDrive etc, it's coming. It doesn't even have to be 100% forcing its users to use say OneDrive, it just needs to make everyone's life awkward enough to do otherwise that it's effectively forcing the move.

Though what I find odd about Microsoft's strategy is that I honestly don't think that MS understands what makes Windows a great OS any more, and I think as they imitate their competitors more and more (which seems to be the general tactic in the OS industry), drawing factors like backwards compatibility will be gone. At which point, why choose Windows? IMO the answer to that question will be like their competitors: attempts at vendor lock-in.

You may still be of the opinion, "so what?", and if you want to be a happy little consumer with your choices steadily removed in favour of business models that don't likely match your needs, then you do you, but don't think that you're in any kind of position to mock others for their choices.

 

[mikeymikec]

I'm still using 7 with no intention to move beyond it.

New Windows 11 preview makes Microsoft accounts mandatory for (almost) all

PC World|9 minutes ago
The latest build of Windows 11 eliminates the option to sign in with a local account on Windows 11 Pro, forcing users to sign in with a Microsoft account instead.


Guess I need to explore something else.

Be aware of the workaround for the MS account requirement:

Install Windows 11 (no network connection)
At the point that it asks you to connect, do so, then as soon as you click 'next' (while Windows is 'checking for updates' or whatever it says), do this:

Shift + F10. Command prompt appears.
ncpa.cpl <enter>. The network connections window appears. Right-click on the active/connected network connection, disable. Close those windows.

Setup continues, then it'll ask you to set up an account, but it's a local account rather than an MS one. Just like with Win10 you'll get nagged by MS that you ought to be signing in with MS and using OneDrive etc, but you can cancel those messages and they'll stay away for a few weeks.

 

[Zoozuu]

man its boring posting here..everyone already said theres a workaround and even a boob knows theres a difference from logging into your computer compared to logging into a website. im bored..done..

 

[igor_kavinski]

everyone already said theres a workaround

I just hope Microsoft is not "smart" enough to plug that hole. Based on their past dumb mistakes, I'm optimistic

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

I know nuthink!!! about Win 10 or 11 and hope I never have to, but .... isn't the comment in the original article that they are planning to close holes and force account use?

 

[igor_kavinski]

I'm still using 7 with no intention to move beyond it.

Same on my work PC. It has Windows 7 while backup work PC has Windows 10. Though I use Windows 8.1 on my Thinkpad and I have to say it is the next best thing to Windows 7 in terms of stability/responsiveness as well as generally staying out of your way and not bugging you with stupid notifications. It is still getting updates from Microsoft.

If you have a spare PC, try Win8.1 out as Microsoft will likely force people to abandon Windows 7 at some point (like internet browsing refusing to work due to not backporting some required security protocol).

 

[Red Squirrel]

When Windows 8 came out I felt the writing was on the wall, and switched to Linux. It seems they're trying to make Windows like a phone, where everything is cloud tied, account based, app based etc. Basically a black box where you have less control, full of spying. Basically following the "you will own nothing and be happy" route by taking away your control and ownership of it. I hate this trend with everything. Same with how so many products require you to have a phone now. I had to setup internet for someone and the stupid router they give actually requires an app just to set it up! What kind of BS is that? Can't even console in with a laptop or anything. It's basically a black box, there's hardly no knowledge of what's even happening, no admin interface or anything.

I do have a windows 7 machine for games and at some point I'll probably be forced to "upgrade" to 10 but that machine is strictly for gaming and is on a different vlan. So if worse comes to worse I'll do it, but I will block all the MS IPs right at the firewall so it can't call home.