Monday, July 1st 2024
Microsoft Closer to Removing Local Accounts from Windows 11, Removes Help Page on How to Switch to One
Microsoft really wants you to use Windows 11 with an online Microsoft Account. This lets the operating system integrate the single login for Microsoft Store, all the apps on it, Office or 365, Teams, OneDrive, Outlook, and more importantly, put a face to your name (making you and your machine identifiable to it). Some users, particularly power-users, tend to avoid this, by preferring local accounts—an account that's authenticated and maintained locally by the machine. Microsoft is viewed as making it increasingly difficult for users to create local accounts, particularly on the client versions of Windows, such as Windows 11 Home and Windows 11 Pro.
The Windows Setup by default flows you into creating a Microsoft Account, or logging in from one. Over the past several versions of Windows, Microsoft has made it harder, if not impossible, to create a local account during Setup. In what could be a step closer by the company to wean the market off local accounts, Microsoft removed the online Help page that guides users on how to switch from a Microsoft Account to a local one, as Tweaktown found out. The publication dug the page out using the Wayback Machine. Will Microsoft completely remove the ability to create local accounts? We don't know. All versions of Windows 11 and Windows 10 sit on the Windows NT architecture, which requires some form of local accounts. The Microsoft Account itself is layered on top of a local account. So, the ability to create a local account shouldn't go away for those who really want one, but it will be close to impossible for the vast majority of users trained by Google and Apple to have online accounts on their phones.
Source:
Tweaktown
The Windows Setup by default flows you into creating a Microsoft Account, or logging in from one. Over the past several versions of Windows, Microsoft has made it harder, if not impossible, to create a local account during Setup. In what could be a step closer by the company to wean the market off local accounts, Microsoft removed the online Help page that guides users on how to switch from a Microsoft Account to a local one, as Tweaktown found out. The publication dug the page out using the Wayback Machine. Will Microsoft completely remove the ability to create local accounts? We don't know. All versions of Windows 11 and Windows 10 sit on the Windows NT architecture, which requires some form of local accounts. The Microsoft Account itself is layered on top of a local account. So, the ability to create a local account shouldn't go away for those who really want one, but it will be close to impossible for the vast majority of users trained by Google and Apple to have online accounts on their phones.
142 Comments on Microsoft Closer to Removing Local Accounts from Windows 11, Removes Help Page on How to Switch to One
Because this was a large change I couldn't sign in with a pin or fingerprint which is understandable but here is the really stupid part, I couldn't even sign in using my password as there was no option to!. Windows wanted to verify my account online only, normally this wouldn't be a problem but being all new hardware it didnt have the driver for the ethernet and of course I can't login to fix that.
Just glad Windows had a driver for the WiFi because if it didn't I would have been locked out until I found a way to get the internet working. What stupid decision was this at MS that I need to verify my account online. I had a proper password to login so this ridiculous issue should never have occurred.
I work in IT, I have worked as a systems administrator, Domain Administrator, Firewall Administrator, Network Admin, Now I conform to business practices in the business world and do most things by the book. But on my personal machines I know better. I trust no company period!. Adobe, MS, Apple, even some linux. Everyone is out there trying to steal or take your info and use it. Your best antivirus is your human head. I have not run antivirus for years. I have hardware based firewalls upon firewalls. I do not give my phone # or email address to any company or store that asks for it. The social engineering and phinshing is insane these days.
PS. A side note to add on this. When the Internet came out to the public in the 90's there was in place a Privacy act and Internet Protection laws. Federal laws in the USA to protect consumers from companies stealing info and selling it to others. This was put in law by the Clinton adminstration. Now when Bush got in office that law was torn down. His government said he hurts businesses. Ya hurt them protected us. So he decides we are not to be protected and let businesses do what ever they want.
www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/state-of-privacy-laws-in-us/
Pretty sad the state of affairs now for Protections.
Online is therefore a direct and unconditional loss of control over your stuff. And given the 'agility' MS has these days with their updates, you can rest assured next time there's a different but equally game breaking issue going on. Its anyone's guess really. This is why I'm forever going to be on auto deny mode for these moves. Just simply GTFO with that shit, or pay me to use it instead. Every time the experience with all these services really is that you're screwed out of more money or otherwise decisions you'd never make on your own.
Its fine if we depend on something once and then go our merry way, like it is with most DIY'ing, right? You go to the store, you get your nuts and bolts, you go home and you fix your shit. But now there is MS acting like that annoying rodent that keeps chewing your cables forcing you to get new ones. This has already escalated way too far imho.
For what it's worth, you can do local accounts on MacOS, iPadOS, and iOS, though you give up a lot when doing so on the latter two since all software is through the Appstore. On MacOS, you just can't download from the Apple Store or use iCloud features.
I mean come on, EVEN APPLE/Mac OS isn't forcing this.
Wake up MS
My current Windows install is about 3yrs old now and has had a MS account the entire time and that was the first I had to do an online 2FA to access my own private bloody desktop.
I always like seeing governments standing up to MS but not enough do imo.
More like "woefully inadequate."Better as in "possible," not better as in good.
If you have anything even remotely recent (like RTX 2xxx+) and dont have some wack manual kernel build distro you found the disk of on a public bus nvidia drivers are fine on atleast all the mainstream distros.
You start running into problems when you download them straight from nvidia and start playing with the kernel module signing. I encourage most linux users on nvidia to use your distros repo. Its the same unmodified nvidia driver with all the automagic your distro provides so it isnt a nightmare to install.