Windows 11 adds auto-recovery, kills offline setup loophole Windows Insiders will soon get their hands on Microsoft's attempt to ward off another CrowdStrike incident, and the company is also closing a loophole for users who don't want a Microsoft account. Quick Machine Recovery (QMR) is rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Beta channel as part of build 26120.3653. It is aimed at …
In my case, I waited until my Win7 box was coming apart. It was literally breaking into pieces. The screen had split from its backing, it would slowly fall backwards when in use, the mousepad stopped working, can't read the keys anymore, ect. You na e it, it was going bad. Pull the power off and it woudlld die within 30 seconds because the batteries were shot. I definitely got my money's worth out of it.
The new one, I had to create a Windows account because it refused to allow me to get access to the firmware menu before an install was completed, but the same day I started using it Win11 was gone. Well, it's still lurking but I'll never use it. Eventually when I have a free day, I'll do a full wipe.
I saw the writing on the wall and did exactly that in 2020. Five years on I don't regret it. Microsoft has totally lost the plot when it comes to Windows and satisfying their customers. I know businesses must make money and please shareholders, but not while taking the piss out of product users, especially me. I don't take kindly to it, especially when there are better products for my use case. YMMV, of course.
I installed Linux when RedHat was at 6.2 .. never used anything else at home than Linux since. Over 20 years,
Mint for at least 4 years if not more. Main reason ? , pain free. Stress is at 0. Never had an issue so big as to need a reinstall .. on and on .. no giving up all my rights to a company and kissing my privacy goodbye. I mean .. You done a great step.
Congrats.
Wow. I used to have respect for Tom's Hardware. Haven't looked there for many years, but this article shows that they have no idea.
Yes, the important info is in there. But stating that adding a registry key will re-enable a .cmd file that has been removed is complete rubbish. It performs the same actions that the .cmd file used to perform.
Yes, microsoft intentionally leaves things like that so the suckers always have a "workaround", that ensures they always end up installing the latest version of the proprietary malware with enhanced spyware in the end (which means the profits never stop flowing).
There's a reason why microsoft has also only made it mildly difficult to avoid the "license key" payment - the profit they make from spying on the user and the network effect is enough in the end.
If they can't get you to install windows, the second best thing to microsoft is for you to install a proprietary GNU/Linux distro, regard it as "just Linux" and run their proprietary software on it (as they still end up winning and you lose in the end).
What they do not want you to do is to install GNU/Linux-libre and refuse to run any of their proprietary malware, or any malware from their buddies, as that means they lose and you win.
All of the claims above are the result of careful research (they sound insane, but they're true).
> mildly difficult to avoid the "license key" payment - the profit they make from spying
Well, the real reason is something else: A simple driver update was enough to make Windows XP or Server 2003 (R2) stuck. Same could happen if you upgrade network cards. Stuck in the sense of: Unless you call the hotline, you could not activate the computer - especially if you upgraded network cards, since you couldn't install the driver yet. And either the important machine the XP controlled, or the important services (Mail, domain controller, DHCP...) which were installed on Server 2003, would not start. This caused a lot of issues with good customers, and MS had to pay quite some compensation money to avoid some law suits. But even if the customers did not receive compensation: The higher load on the activation hotline, only 'cause of that, was a financial burden. Edit: And there were even worse situations: The activation UI would not start unless you install an older IE version in safe mode...
Therefore, since Vista and Server 2008 (without R2) the machine always boots to the desktop, and starts all services normally. Only some optics cannot be changed, and you get a constant reminder in the lower right corner.
The only exceptions are eval versions, which display how long they still run, and then they shut down after a few hours operation. (Or minutes? Never checked, only read about it)
You appear to be describing a minor backpedaling on the restrictions, so the "license check" would occur later (rather than too early, which caused problems) and also degraded operation, rather than total failure to operate (which avoided other problems).
I was referring to how trivial it is to avoid even degraded operation with activation software right from microsoft github, for example; https://github.com/massgravel/Microsoft-Activation-Scripts
microsoft could quite easily ban all of such software from their git host and prevent such activation scripts from working, but there's a reason why they allow those kind of things to work - it gets suckers who aren't a big enough sucker to pay, but are a big enough sucker to use their spyware OS if they don't need to directly pay.
Try talking a normal user through connecting a rebuilt machine to the internet for said "essential" Microsoft account if the Network/Wifi Driver isn't in that version of Windows install media - lots of secret shortcuts and powershell-fu.
Even as someone who *Can* do it, it quicker and easier to shove an old USB network device in.
removing /BYPASSNRO says loud and clear Microsoft care more about getting Microsoft accounts in place than you having a working PC.
what's the betting this is the prepwork for Windows 12 Home removing local accounts completely? Heck, at this point, I wouldn't bank on Windows 12 Pro allowing Domain Join over Azure...
Christ alive that's unlocked a core memory. That was probably my first home internet experience on the family PC with a 1-month "free trial" (but, to my parent's and then my dismay, a billable phone number...) and working out that while it was connected, Netscape Navigator worked just fine and you weren't locked in to their little window.
The joyfulness of reinstalling W11 on a year-old (intel 13th gen) Lenovo LOQ gaming laptop and finding that it didn't support the wifi chipset out of the box....thankfully it recognised one of my cheapo wifi USB dongles and allowed me to complete the install.
Barely a month later I switched over to the latest Ubuntu 24.04 LTS - it runs far better and even had driver support for everything out of the box.
More fool my work colleague who bought a ThinkBook for his wife only to find W11 didn't have the drivers from the factory during OOBE setup!
No ethernet port either - he ended up bringing it to work where I had the bits and bobs to get it talking to the internet.
It won't be long before the last W10 machine in the house gets Linux Mint slapped on it, and then it's just a matter of tolerating W10 at work (my workbench PC being far too old for M$ to support - and long may it stay that way).
Ah.... drivers....
Fun, that none of the windows machines knows the newer WiFi standard WPA3 - I did get a few machines with Win10 and Win11 preinstalled for the kids, they would not connect to my WiFi. Installed Linux on them, and it even works out of the box on Devuan on both laptops. I have a second router on my network for the windows machines, so they can be segregated from the rest. Oh, and my Raspberry Pi 3.
I've been putting it off for years... I know I need to migrate away from W10Pro this year... But I'm in my mid 40's now and getting to a point where I'm resistant to learning a whole new environment.
As this system is mostly used for gaming and web browsing, and my work system doesn't require an MS account... I've happily avoided having one forever.
I'm kinda waiting to see what Steam OS for desktop is like as that will at least be the most compatible platform to carry on using my games...
Our PCs should be free now, paid for my MS, as they basically own and control them. They have a backdoor into our system and the ability to observe our use of it. They gate what we put on it and can scan all the files on it. It's not 'personal' any more. It's just a telescreen.
At this rate, your keyboard will freeze whenever your system cannot connect to a MS server.
Windows has become malware.
>Our PCs should be free now
Yes, you should install GNU/Linux-libre.
>paid for my MS, as they basically own and control them.
You pay the master, the master doesn't pay you - they own and control them totally, there is no "basically".
>your keyboard will freeze whenever your system cannot connect to a MS server.
Yes, the plan is to turn everything into a subscription, with each program running on m$'s servers accessible via the "windows app" (remote desktop), meaning everything would freeze without that m$ server connection.
>Windows has become malware.
Windows was malware from the very start, considering the very first version contained malicious features.
Quick update; Testing this today with a 7th Gen Surface Pro laptop with Windows 24H2 (build 26100.2033) install media, there is now a GUI Load drivers button during the Out of Box Experience: that means while you still need an "Add Driver" style LAN/Wifi software loaded onto a USB stick, at least you don't have to dive into the command prompt now - the lowest of low bars has been cleared.
Still, this is a MICROSFT SURFACE laptop, which didn't have a compatible LAN or WAN Driver baked into the install media; heck, it didn't have a touchscreen or keyboard driver loaded in, so had to use a USB set to get through setup - this is how good the driver support is in Microsoft's own hardware, let alone the myriad of other brands out there - this is not an edge case issue...
> ignore that Microsoft account long enough, Microsoft will deactivate and eventually close it.
"my" MS account was originally a Skype account in the day when eBay had just bought it. So 20 years? And I am sure we totally ignored it for most of a decade. No 'just checking', no pinging email, no logging-in at MS websites. It may age-out, maybe is supposed to age-out, but MS can't even do that right.
<old-nickname>@hotmail.com, created for I forgot why. I never thought it would be used that long, and for so many things... Like insider feedback, a stranded office 2013 license, some MS-Certifications, MS-Forums... But not used for "sync all my crap to MS", local account be it must.
Do you have <firsname>@hotmail.com ? They're the real elders.
Not quite, but I do have firstname_lastname@hotmail.com - actual, real and quite common first & last names at that.
I also have the same firstnamelastname as my separate Skype ID from its pre-Microsoft days.
Not that I use either much anymore - there are better voice/videocall services out there and I have my own email domains & servers.
I don't know what counts, but I've had Microsoft accounts expire in that same scenario. However, if you ever once allowed any of the elements of Windows 10/11 that want to interact with a Microsoft account to do so, even if you're not using a Microsoft account to log on to the machine, then that would probably do it. You could sign in to said account on the web and check the recent activity, so see if some part of Windows is signing in without you realising it, although at the cost of certainly resetting the "counter".
Did an install the other day after an upgrade to a processor. Just created a new online account with a silly name. Did the setup. Created my usual local admin account. Deleted the other account and removed its profile. If MS want to play these games, I’ll just created a new account every time, then abandon it. If everyone does this MS will soon get tired of the mess it makes of their servers.
I can't remember the details, but wasn't MS turning on Bitlocker automatically for those who had an online account- or at least one tied to an email adress with a Microsoft-owned domain- causing problems for people who'd created an account solely to placate that demand during installation and had then forgotten about it until they later realised they needed it to recover the drive they didn't realise was Bitlocker-enabled?
Does not have to be, "any point" is simply wrong. But if you blindly create an MS-Account during install (or enter your MS-Account) and always log in that way, it does unless you tell it "no". You can control it in fine detail - at least on the non-home version. But who in this forum does use a home version for self? I hope none since XP era... And gpedit.msc is not much of a secret to members of this forum too - and if they learn fast.
I had to reinstall a windows10 laptop for somebody without internet access recently. The whole "you must have a microsoft account" thing is a massive pain the ass. All of the loopholes I've used to get around it in the past *no longer work*. It took me over an hour of fannying about to make it install (I'm not a newbie, I have been a developer and sysadmin for over 30 years).
And then it was locked in fucking S mode. And they tell you that the only way to remove S mode is to install an app from the Microsoft Store, for which you need network access and a Microsoft Account. I eventually found a way around that too but seriously what a huge waste of time to do something that should be simple and easy.
It just shows what utter contempt Microsoft has for the their customers that they deliberately go to such lengths to make life difficult for them.
This.
Unless you want to partition the harddisk you can just hit [enter] [enter] ... until it installs. Oh, and punch in a name and password at one point. It's so easy that I don't even have a template for the VMs I set up - it's only once a quarter, I'd say, so it#s not worth the extra work (yet).
Serious question - can you recommend a good starting point, either online or old fashioned print for someone like me who has never installed an operating system or worked outside the MS ecosystem? I've seriously had enough of MS and want to switch to some form of Linux but don't have the vaguest idea of how to start or what version of it to choose.
Mint Mate is the closet to Win look and feel.
Install? Create ISO thumb drive. Make PC start from thumb drive. Mint will load and ask if you want to do one of two things. Run from thumb drive without installing, or go ahead and install. If you choose install, it then asks what drive. If you already have Win installed, it sees that partition and asks how much of the harddrive you want to use for Linux. (partition) You can use all of the drive or part. It will let you choose.
And that's it. Just self explanatory button clicks. Really, that's as hard as it gets.
Hardware? Unless you have something exotic, rare or very unusual, it will work straight away. Settings buttons need some exploring, but everything you need is there. Wifi sets up more is or less like Windows. Available networks, enter password, done.
Truly, the hardest part is learning the settings menu layouts.
I do not recommend dual boot, but it can be done. However, you will have to hit F12 (change load drives) every single time you reboot and the Linux drive name will be something arcane and not obvious. It can be changed, but I never bother. Once I see the Linux partition is named G45xxxK0976 (or some such arcana) I just remember what it is.
Anonymous Coward
I had to reinstall a windows10 laptop for somebody without internet access recently. The whole "you must have a microsoft account" thing is a massive pain the ass. All of the loopholes I've used to get around it in the past *no longer work*. It took me over an hour of fannying about to make it install (I'm not a newbie, I have been a developer and sysadmin for over 30 years).
And then it was locked in fucking S mode. And they tell you that the only way to remove S mode is to install an app from the Microsoft Store, for which you need network access and a Microsoft Account. I eventually found a way around that too but seriously what a huge waste of time to do something that should be simple and easy.
It just shows what utter contempt Microsoft has for the their customers that they deliberately go to such lengths to make life difficult for them.
Do you know that was the exact reason that I decided to dump MS on a new laptop and go with Mint instead.
I was told by the sales bloke that it came with a free trial of MS Office which I said I didn’t want. I asked if they had any machines that didn’t have Windows installed and he said no you have to have it don’t you or the computer won’t work. When I mentioned Linux he just looked a bit blank, so I said what about Apple? Again he just looked blank. Frustrated by the Windows Account and that blasted S Mode, I got a USB stick out and wiped out Windows with Linux.
Not necessarily 1998, he just knew that Mac OS won't easily run on the non-Apple hardware.
Retail staff must really love the customers who are deliberately obtuse to make their job harder.
But, if it helps with self-esteem for the smart-arse then at least does some good.
I work in retail and I have dealt with staff* in the businesses I’ve worked at, and also elsewhere. This bloke for my laptop wasn’t a very communicative person and not the best at technology. He was a little bit clueless as to whether the laptop I was enquiring about had USB-C as it wasn’t mentioned on the ticket (no display model) and he didn’t have the initiative to check on the internet or their internal systems. He also had a total disregard for the customer, as he went to talk to a colleague after initially talking to me and then spent 10 minutes talking to the colleague rather than coming back to me with the information.
It was only when I walked over to the pair of them that he suddenly remembered I existed. He then had to go and find the information he’d gone to get because the bloke he was talking to didn’t work in that area and didn’t know. He did know that Nick was having a party on Saturday night, that it was bring a bottle and that it was worth going just to see Nick’s new girlfriend who apparently was (and probably still is) extremely good looking and a bit too good for Nick. I know this because I was able to hear them talking from where I was standing.
*who have in one case been hired for no reason other than they turned up for the interview and no one else did, on a transport strike day.
Where the f were you buying a laptop, Argos? I genuinely can't think of any retail environments that sells laptops that aren't on display apart from there. In any case, asking about whether you could buy a laptop without Windows in a retail environment, might I suggest you were being deliberately obtuse.
>> We're removing the bypassnro.cmd script from the build to enhance security and user experience of Windows 11. This change ensures that all users exit setup with internet connectivity and a Microsoft Account.
Stick to LTSC. Microsoft won't remove this or it will fail the "offline from inception" requirement most businesses have for imaging. It would be commercial suicide.
Well the LTSC only exists for that, and you can have an Office 2024 nor, and you can still get OnPrem Exchange (possibly even with Lync / Skype For Business working with the Exchange SE).
Those options are not offered by choice, they exist 'cause governments say that everything else is unacceptable for security reasons.
of course you can buy Office LTSC. Be a bigger company, and then you can buy it in volume. That is the only way to get it. Home user? Forget it, wait for the monthly update on .torrent or emule or gnutella or whatever network - if you actually need it at home! Starmaker Office is a good alternative, better polished than Libreoffice, which works for most (including me, despite my pet bug not having an xyz chart, but then I write a powershell script, use DOTNET draw functions and do it on my own...)
Nope Libreoffice does not have an xyz chart. Not "a different name", not even as a "gnuplot plugin" or something similar. Feature request open as "bug" since 2012. In 2018 I added the "Excel 4.0 from 1992 can do it" screenshot to that bug - by that time running Windows 2000 VM with Excel 4.0 installed, just to test that. Rumors are that older Excel versions can do it as well, but I could not make it work with older Excel. But I bet there are DOS-Spreadsheet programs around which can do it on a 1989 PC, but I did not invest time in it. Ashton Tate Framework III comes to my mind as a candidate to test with... Before that you simply programmed it yourself in MS/Commodore Basic 3.5 on a C16 or higher, or qbasic.
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I support small businesses that are large enough or have software requirements that result in them having an on-premise file server, but for various reasons do NOT use Microsoft 365 or Entra.
Our process for these businesses is to take any hardware purchased or turned in during turnover and start with a fresh repartitioning, format, and operating system load of Win 11 Pro. These steps all take place offline. Then we disable automatic updates and put this known-clean system on a designated VLAN, load OEM drivers, an initial set of pre-downloaded Microsoft updates, and install our RMM application. Then we use the RMM to finish the updates, log system inventory, etc.
It then goes back on the shelf until needed, at which time I join it to the domain. All of the preceding steps take place at a location that is inaccessible to the domain controller, in fact, we often don't even know to which site or domain the machine will eventually be deployed. Of the machines that we DO know, we usually have no idea who the end user will be. It may be a new hire or be used to exchange existing equipment.
At no time during this process is a Microsoft account wanted or needed. If a user is using Microsoft 365, THEN a Microsoft account can be added.
Given these changes, what will be the "Microsoft recommended and supported" method of preparing these machines?
They would say "We'll happily sell you M365 with InTune provisioning and EntraID (or whatever it's called this week) for your login requirements so you don't have to worry about prepping the laptops, just hand them out fresh from the manufacturer and we'll take care of the rest as soon as your user logs in for the first time"
I just use the "setup /PRODUCT SERVER".
No account, no OneDrive, no CoPilot, or the rest of their shit.
I have 17 outbound firewall rules to stop the telemetry bullshit.
Then disable the update crap(only allowed to update every 3 months).
Edit the registry and set the enterprise=1 flag and off and running. Edit a few other thing's and it looks like a plane Jane WIN7 shell.
There's lots of ways around microshits crap, but for the average user Rufus is probably the easiest/safest.
I also have ISO's from 22H2 and 23H2 to work with. If I get a machine that's already polluted I just mount one of the above and "format c:" then "setup /PRODUCT SERVER". At this point though you need a good activation key, but that's not hard to do for free.
Just my 2¢'s worth of telling MS to kiss my white walking ass.
Microsoft said: "We're removing the bypassnro.cmd script from the build to enhance security and user experience of Windows 11. This change ensures that all users exit setup with internet connectivity and a Microsoft Account."
Id love for someone from Microsoft to explain how removing a feature that clearly lots of people want, the ability to set up a PC without requiring a MS account, is enhancing their user experience?
It doesn't "enhance security" either. For most home users, the only firewall is the one running on the PC. The one they are installing. The one that might be infected before the install has even finished. Things may have improved. The last time I made that mistake was with Windows XP, so a ling time and a few versions of Windows back in time. I got caught out because my only Windows installs happened at home on my own network protected with a Smoothwall PC (again, yeah, it was a while ago), so I didn't really give much thought to it when helping a friend out and didn't think to pull his broadband Ethernet cable out before starting the install. Fscking Windows XP started screaming about malware as soon as it's built-in scanner started on the first proper boot. So we started all over again without the Ethernet connection and made sure all 3rd party protections were in place before going on line.
Yeah I'm also wondering what level of Orwellian filter they're running to come up with a reason as to why they think using a Microsoft account is "more secure". And what level of security they think the average home user really needs.
Only one I can think of, they store a copy of the bitlocker key, so you can unlock it for whatever reason. But as I've posted previously, no idea what they think bitlocker is necessary for the average home user either.
For it's time, Smoothwall was quite suitable for protecting a home (or even a small business) network without requiring too much effort. I originally put it on a redundant Pentium 100 system which had no CPU fan and a very quiet power supply, even before we had always-on broadband. Using the dial-on-demand feature with a flat fee internet provider (at the time Virgin.net) on a dedicated 2nd phone line enabled me to distribute the Internet firstly to all of the systems in my 'office' (which turned into a gaming room as soon as the kids got home from school), then through thinwire Ethernet to the rooms close to the office (I could have used twisted pair, but I had the cables, terminators, T-pieces and NICs scavenged from bins where I worked as they got thrown out), then twisted pair as computers and laptops got RJ45 Ethernet connectors and I got TP hubs/switches, and then via WiFi to the parts of the house that that would reach.
Was pleasantly surprised when we had ADSL installed, that I could just replace the modem that provided the Red network with a second NIC connected to the router and re-run the network setup to change the Red definitions, and the whole house had access to broadband (at least where the WiFi would reach) with minimal changes, way before ISPs provided wireless routers.
I sometimes regret that the community edition of Smoothwall fell into an unmaintained state, although I did contemplate trying to contribute to help keep it alive, but I didn't have the time.
Given that reliable 'free', no payment or subscription required, operating system variants exist, upon what basis does MS continue to believe people/companies will pay considerable sums for the privilege of using Windows and associated products?
For individual users of Linux flavours, there exist nowadays online user groups containing considerable expertise. Similarly, business can acquire 'enterprise' versions with varying degrees of 'pay-for' technical support.
Register readers, almost daily, are regaled with tales of Windows mishaps, sometimes with further annoyances arising from attempts to fix them. MS is highly restrictive over user options to tailor the product to their specific needs, this being an irritant to knowledgeable folks capable of navigating through the labyrinthine structure. Additionally, apparently increasing use by MS of Windows intrusively to promote its other products and those of "trusted partners" doesn't sit well with the growing number of people unhappy with advertising-based culture (Amazon being the greatest offender). Moreover, the ease by which an almost ubiquitous OS available from only one source can morph into surveillance/control apparatus for state agencies, 'rights' holders, and marketing trackers, should be apparent.
The aforementioned concerns tie into the growth of 'cloud computing'. Fast Internet connections allow high level operating system functionalities (e.g. running 'office software', many 'entertainment' options including games, and highly specialised applications such as image processing and 'AI') together with some processing-related memory (e.g. RAM) and longer-term storage memory to be devolved to proprietary clouds. Not only is control over data delegated, but also there is incentive for 'consumer' level computing products to be simplified into Internet dumb terminals. Taken a step further, the state could license only certain individuals and institutions to possess stand-alone and non-cloud computing. Ultimately, when long-term storage becomes, for most people, available only in the cloud, it becomes feasible for agencies to check upon legitimacy/legality of 'content'; also they could detect most instances when disapproved encryption has been deployed.
The sketched scenario offers beguiling simplicity for users of computational devices: unobtrusive apparatus requiring only to be plugged in, text and images viewable anywhere connected without fuss to the household Intranet, most interaction via speech, and mobile phones as intermediaries for uploading homemade images and audio to the cloud. So-called 'influencers' can be recruited to plug this idea as a desirable, economical, and clutter-free, lifestyle choice.
"upon what basis does MS continue to believe people/companies will pay considerable sums for the privilege of using Windows and associated products?"
The fact that people actually do do that.
They do so because there are always people hanging about to assure tham that Linux is hard - FFS read through the contortions some commentators are describing to have to undertake installing Windows.
They do so because there are always people hanging about to assure them that they'll have to learn a new UI to use Linux despite Microsoft imposing new UIs on them whenever marketing decides to do that.
They do so because there are always people hanging round to tell them that the choice of distors in confusing despite the fact that they make choices in everything else from breakfast cereals to cars or where to live.
They do so because they're being slowly boiled like forgs.
They do so, because they have a f'ing old application that they need. There were the pains when they removed the Internet Explorer, because that broke stuff.
Or they do so because work forces them to. But for me that's our IT department's job, and I just use the machine (to log into my actual development machines).
You're not the one who's paying them. Your IT department does that. I could investigate whether your old application will run under Wine, but no, it's been persuaded that it would be too difficult for IT professionals to do things like that.
"We have increased our subscriber base by 23% over the last six months because of this change" /s
Microsoft, much after DOS 6.2 became a seriously traded stock, and an awful lot of folks rely on that stock, so Wall Street BuzzWord Bingo applies. More "subscribers" means more income, means more value, means better stock value, means higher paypackets and golden parachutes for the C Suite. Thus such nonsense will continue unabated, not just with MS, but with pretty much any WallStreet BuzzWord Bingo victim technology corporations. Sadly, there are very many of them.
It's all about an entitled Tech entity thinking that everyone who uses a computer has always-on internet access so you can scrape their data and make them beholden to you.
Well, here is the message you stupid morons, NOT everyone has internet access. All you are doing is making people use a non-Microshit OS because they cannot go online to register the PC with you! Really clever marketing, you bozos.
I read somewhere (sorry don't remember link) that an online account give MS a unique advantage of knowing the user location and demographic (age and sex). This kind of information can be leveraged for targetted ads in a more efficient ways than the browser cookies.
Also having a large verified online user accounts could favor MS as authentication provider for various service providers.
This seems to make sense to me that MS uses the online accounts as a source of revenue stream. If you are specialists in the domain of ads/auth provider. Hope you can confirm or develop further clarifications.
Given that the Microsoft account forces you to use OneDrive, I do wonder why Dropbox aren't making a monopoly complaint. Would have to be in the EU at the moment to have any chance of success at the moment I'd think. Although if they did, I wonder if Windows Defender might suddenly designate Dropbox as malware. Purely by accident, of course, I mean - after all, typos do happen, don't they?
Do people still use Dropbox? Their storage prices went to insane levels compared to competition a long time ago and lots of people abandoned ship. Their egress limits were also shit...also Mega exists...you get 10 times more for free than at Dropbox with much more generous egress limits...even if you pay, on Mega you can transfer more than your storage limit, with Dropbox you can transfer orders of magnitude less than your storage limit. It's just shit.
"I wonder if Windows Defender might suddenly designate Dropbox as malware"
I haven't used Dropbox in... probably over a decade but I'm not sure that it wouldn't be an accurate designation anyway. I think they only ever got reasonably big by having generous limits and the moment they shrank those (to ridiculous levels) their product was imho entirely uninteresting.
I assume this removal of the Microsoft Account workaround will only apply to the home version? The Pro / Enterprise version doesn't require a workaround at the moment - it's simply a case of knowing which non-obvious option to click during setup (join to a domain, which actually creates a local account and doesn't join to a domain).
Anyone who continues to use Windows, year after year, while it becomes more and more abusive, needs some serious help. You're supposed to get OUT of abusive relationships. Windows is not going to get less abusive if you just try harder to be a good little user. It's going to get worse and worse. You're being harmed. Get out.
Whilst I pay for Microsoft services and have a Microsoft account, I always insist on creating a local account on my multiple machines, so this isn't great news. MS are an odd bunch and I wonder whether they are slowly going downhill. The new windows taskbar is a disaster - apparently, it's too difficult on a technical level to allow it to be docked anywhere other than the bottom of the screen. As a developer, either their devs are morons or they are talking nonsense. The right click menu that hides all the other options that you want is also unwelcome in Windows Explorer. Thankfully, ExplorerPatcher fixes this nonsense, but it really shouldn't have to be this way. Rather than new features and constant nagging to use one of the world's most naff browsers (Edge), I'd much rather MS concentrate on making the OS more polished, more customisable, more performant and more secure.
As for the people crowing on about moving to desktop Linux, what do you guys actually do on there? I've tried Linux for over 20 years on and off and it's just a complete disaster on the desktop. I admit that I was very impressed with a boxset of SuSE that I purchased back in the early 2000s, but there just weren't the apps to keep me on there. My last attempt was within the last 6 months or so when I tried to put Ubuntu onto a laptop that initially wouldn't upgrade to Windows 11. First off, the TPM didn't work with disk encryption. Then, I tried to get hibernation working, but for some reason, the geniuses that work on Linux think hibernating to a swap file or swap partition is a sensible idea. Except, as they should know, a swap file is used (I'm over simplifying here) when the RAM is full, so you may go to hibernate and find there's no space left. Also, even with space available, it didn't work. And then I installed Vivaldi on there and it looked awful. There are also quite a few applications that I like to use that won't run on Linux.
So I thought to myself, I can either spend 3 days of my already busy life getting basic things in Ubuntu to work and continue to face more and more problems the longer I use it, or I can go back to installing Windows on my laptop (there was a workaround for the older CPU support which was blocking the Windows 11 upgrade) and be up and running in less than an hour without any problems. Linux and an open source OS is a nice idea in theory, but the current state of Linux on the desktop is real amateur hour stuff, surely for those with far too much time on their hands. So out of Mac, Linux and Windows, the latter is the best of a bad bunch. I just wish MS would make it better, though I'm not holding my breath.
You have some pretty basic misunderstandings here, but it's simplest to say that most things anyone needs to do can be done just as easily under Linux.
The OS requires less work unless there are missing drivers, like any OS including Windows. Windows uses a separate file for hibernation, Linux does too (or partition). Ubuntu has supported using TPM for full disk encryption for years and you could do it manually since the function became available, I don't know what your problem was.
Ultimately you real complaint is "it's different and my stuff isn't there", which is fine, but also a sign you weren't interested in funding out of you could make it work for yourself. It's a different OS, you will need to use different things.
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