Microsoft has been pushing hard for its users to sign into Windows with a Microsoft Account. The newest Windows 11 installer removed the easy bypass to the requirement that you make an account or login with your existing account. If you didn’t install Windows 11 without a Microsoft Account and now want to stop sending the company your data, you can still switch to a local account after the fact. Microsoft even had instructions on how to do this on its official support website - or at least it used to…
I installed Linux Mint last week. I was waiting until I had a 2nd drive to install it on so I could still have windows if needed.
It was easier to install than windows ever was, and easier to find help to do the things I want. It makes a world of difference when your OS isn’t actively fighting you all the time. I even had an easier time connecting to my media tower over the network (which is still on Windows) and accessing its files than I ever had trying to connect to it from a Windows machine.I haven’t touched my windows drive once since I installed Mint and I’m planning on taking it off to free up my SSD.
I’m 6 months into fulltime OpenSUSE Tumbleweed and love it. KDE is amazing. The Steam Deck converted me. Linux users rise.
“Welcome to GoogleWindows. Please lick the screen so we can have your DNA to track you globally. Your 30 minutes of ads will begin shortly while we install our spyware on your device. Thank you from the MicrosoftAlphabet Family.”
Error!
You must wear your User Attention Validation Goggles TM during the device initialization period.
The only reason I even have a microsoft account is to play Minecraft. Other than that, most of their services have perfectly good alternatives that are a lot better IMO
Microsoft stole my copy of minecraft during the migration. A company I didn’t purchase the product from stole it from me.
Minecraft also has an alternative - VoxelLibre
thanks didn’t know that
For privacy reason. local account is the best
For privacy reasons, not using Windows is best.
Convert your Microsoft account to a Linux account
The accounts started out optional with benefits to entice
They’re now mandatory for Home and hard to bypass
How long before they extend this to Pro and Enterprise? To Server? To Active Directory itself?
They’re not done yet, not by a long shot.
I appreciate all of the privacy and ethics-associated reasons why it is preferable to start a Windows 11 installation with a local account, but if I could just add one more…
When you use a Microsoft account to do so, the operating system still requires a fucking username for the name of your user directory (because a local account must be created regardless, yes,) and all it has to go on is the email address you used to set up your Microsoft account.
A few years ago when I first installed Windows 11 on my home PC, the email address still associated with my primary account was
ihadtopee@gmail.com.So, what do you think my user account folder was named? You’d probably assume it’d be
ihadtopee, right?No. Through whatever process they set up to decide upon this, Windows 11 came up with
ihadt.Perhaps it makes me a superficial person, but that shit bugs me far more than anything else about the whole thing.
If I’m a buffoon and didn’t know about this bypass, is there any way to convert my newest win11 install to a local account or am I doomed?
I suspect it’s not dissimilar to the way spam emails are full of typos and grammar errors. You may wonder why they don’t just get those fixed, but they’re specifically to filter out the people who notice them and dismiss the spam, as they (the spammers) are far less likely to successfully scam someone who is offended by the way the spam is written. They are a kind of first level filter.
MS are filtering out the vocal, knowledgable people who will cause problems next time they have some security breach or do something shady around privacy. Convert that relatively small number of people to Linux, and you’re left with a compliant and fully tracked customer base—far more use in the long run.
